A First Allignment Session

[ToddW]

Mike,
A couple years ago, a jbotti post elicited a similar tipping comment from Harald -- the "Golden Rule of Skiing."

You can take this to the bank: The long arm of PMTS reaches only as far as, the words you choose to heed.

When I ski on GS skis or Super Shape Speeds, I don't cruise the side cut. I try to bend the ski into slalom turns. These efforts force me to refresh and refine my skills. When you go back to a bigger sidecut ski, like SS's, you can add tipping angle and get good results, the ski does more for you with less. Hopefully this will encourage you to do more. I can't tell you the number of times we have heard a student say, "Wow, you meant this much more tipping". "Yes we did, and you are not there yet". Golden rule of skiing: You are never tipping as far as you think.

Lazy tipping makes it difficult to do a superphantom/one-footed release because riding the inside ski on its LTE requires tipping ... hard (at least until you become proficient at this.)  So your body will do something "bad" (from a pmts-specific viewpoint) to start the turn if you don't balance on that edge as you release.  If that "bad" tactic involves pushing the tail out or "knee angulation" you can get a false appearance of being knock kneed. 

At the blue level camps, it's common to hear comments like "double it and then double it again" with it being tipping (your boot, not your coach  )  Take this direction to heart.  Imagine trying to touch the snow with your boot buckles each time you tip.  Keep tipping until you feel certain you're about to boot out.  Don't worry, the Golden Rule will save you from the boot out yard sale.  And by a big safety margin 

[LivingProof]

Todd,
Thanks for the research and for reinforcing Helluva's first comments to me about the status of my skiing. Surely, it puts the focus of what to work on over the next two days.

[LivingProof]

To bring some interim closure to the alignment issue, I am not going to get boot planning done. There are 3 principal reasons.

First, both Gary and Helluva, while not experts, state my alignment is not that far off. Even measured, we were only looking at 1 or 1.5 degrees.

Second, in my skiing, I can't state I feel a major difference with or without the shims during my 5 day NY trip. I have reviewed Helluva's video and my skiing just sucks. No doubt, I am not tipping my inside leg and counter balance is absent. I'll look at allignment when I am happier about my skiing. This may be counterintuitive, but, that's how I see it.

Third, my knees hurt for 2 days following skiing and that is unusual. I did ski with wide skis for half the days, so, that contributes to the pain.

I will continue to experiment, and, see how it progresses.

[Gary]

Mike, it makes me sad to see you say your skiing sucks..

Mikes skiing DOES NOT SUCK....Mike was skiing the hard pack, bumps,  the crud, the soft snow and the pow with out any difficulty at all. I think he was having fun...heck...I know he was having fun.

Skiing to improve without the joy of that moment can be frustrating for any skier. My thumbs can attest to helping  Mike work with shims beneath his bindings plus the edging and counter drills he worked on to improve his skills. I believe as long these efforts don't overpower your skiing self esteem and diminish the experience.....grea t.  Most I know including me are always working on something to improve, heck in every turn. AND do I hate it when a run skis me and I didn't ski it! 

Take a look at Tim Teebo or Jim Furek, these guys acording to all the best sports minds don't have the best technique but boy they are getting the job done.

I guess I'm saying ....part of our experience is sharing the yahoos, the glide, all those turns that felt perfect with great ski friends. The tipping and counterbalance on some turns is gonna be better on some than others...not gonna be a sport of perfect.

I know even if we want it bad enough, it MAY NOT be there this moment.  Maybe that light bulb turns on down the road on a green run, it just clicks...in any case Mike, you looked solid and comfortable on your skis....I know we skied hard cause we ate like horses! 

I always try to remember not to be overly self critical and remember how fortunate we are to be on snow with great friends and great conditions( I describe as anthing white underfoot).

Mike is a gentleman and great guy to ski with....always passing along positive reinforcement and kudos. Now if I could just teach him how to play euchre! 

Just like in golf, with skiing...."it's the journey"....g

[jbotti]

I will second everything that Max has stated. When you ski with improper alignment you are already compensating and developing bad habits. I just had a nice breakthrough in my skiing. Much of it came from working on my counteracting and my counterbalance in my skiing. But I also, after looking at video, added some more canting to my right boot. The difference was huge and it has helped change my skiing especially on that side. One of my chronic bad moves went away almost immediately with the additional canting. The point is that skiers often make movements that are not beneficial because they are compensating for the poor alignment.

Go see Glen and get it done properly and do it soon. It will change your skiing and you will know you are on the right path. This is worth a lot in my opinion (certainly a lot more than he will charge!).