How to CARVE LOW - WC Technique + DRILL

we've all heard this insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results you need to stop what you're doing you cannot possibly carve like World Cup racers without mastering the fundamental underlying technique here's the deal you are never going to achieve those extremely high Edge angles and lightning fast transitions you see on TV if you keep extending up into and through the transition no you need to flex down through the transition you need to learn how to flex to release you need to learn how to stay low during the transition maybe you are aware of this type of skiing but you have no clue as to how it's done or how to practice it no worries in this video I will help you read that old dreaded up move and guide you on the right path to High Performance carving using one simple drill only stay tuned hi I'm Tom from TDK ski racing combining ski instruction with race coaching here to help you become a better skier [Music] let's start with a fictional story Sarah had been skiing since she was a little kid and became a quite successful fist ski racer in her days before retiring into college a day job and Junior coaching but she's still reaping and tearing the slope apart with a mental picture in her head that she's skiing like shifrin [Music] aren't we all not much to her surprise she didn't but she wasn't expecting the difference to be that huge when she saw the footage of herself on video At first she didn't even recognize it was her and she even made a comment of How High that person was extending into the transition when compared to Chris Sarah's story is unfortunately not that uncommon in fact I think most of us have a false perception of how we ski and we can more or less all identify ourselves with her in her situation as we can see from the footage as she comes out of the turn she extends herself up at all joints ankles knees hips and waist and the reverse as she exits the transition and starts tipping into the turn It's a combination of primarily two things one an old ingrained movement pattern where we extend legs and upper body at Edge change to up and weight and pivot our skis into a basic skated parallel turn two the old ingrained coaching queue the athletic centered stance in which we strive to align our hips up and over our feet at all times even if both transitions are used for vastly different applications both force your hips and upper body up and over at Edge change note these are both valid techniques but not in this context where we want to stay as low as possible and be as quick as we can from edge to edge if we look at World Cup racers in slalom it is more than obvious that they are not extending into the transition no they are flexing into the transition if you watch closely after pushing off at the Starting Gate and after a few Gates into the racing track they do not stand tall and straight up anywhere on the course before crossing the Finishing Line so why are coaches and instructors still forcing their athletes and students up at transition there are of course multiple even valid reasons but one common belief is still that World Cup ski Racers do extend into the transition and here's why it's because of our bone structure our lower legs need to valve from side to side like a motorcycle and if you look at the knees from straight ahead you can see that they are forced to travel up in a half circular motion and then back down again tipping back and forth from one turn to the next as a direct result also our hips and upper body are forced to move up and over this can easily trick us into the false illusion that World Cup racers and expert skiers still extend into transition even if they do the complete opposite their Center of mass goes up but they are flexing their legs at the same time and after the transition their Center of mass drops as they are extending their legs why simple as in the turn itself when our skis are turning and the turn forces acting upon us are the greatest we want to be extended and stacked while in the transition we just want to be as quick as possible from edge to edge at the end of the turn as you approach the transition so start releasing the turn by flexing your outside leg and releasing the outside skis inside big toe Edge from shaping the turn a good visual cue is this key tip coming up off the snow keep retracting your outside leg until you reach the infamous toilet seat position this position so often considered bad by coaches instructors and TV commentators is just as much a part of high performance carving as you see and bulk leaning forwards in a hundred meter dash for Olympic gold note that when you Flex to release you don't always have to flex very deep Flex to release can be done at moderate speeds as Chris shows here in his Javelin drill demo back to Sarah let's put Chris and Sarah side by side and compare positions the difference is striking Chris stays low and carves surprisingly sharp turns with his giant slalom skis while Sarah extends up and struggles to engage her slalom skis quickly enough for a clean tight carve let's see how both skied on the racetrack just to make sure Sarah doesn't alter her technique on the course first let's watch Chris entire run then Chris and Sarah side by side nice run by Chris second fastest on the track that day but as we can see from the footage the same pattern is repeating Chris is flexing nicely through the transition Sarah is extending sorry for the bad video quality on Sarah's part as it was made in a rush but if we look at another ski racer in a similar situation we can see the same extension pattern repeating by now we should have a basic solid understanding of what flexing through the transition is and the benefits quick transition early pressure High Edge angles tighter turns and an undisrupted flow of the center of mass down the slope next let's see how you can incorporate this technique into your own skiing here's the drill I promised you at the beginning of the video one of my all-time favorite drills but first a short recap just to remind us what we are trying to do the traditional way of skiing is to extend into the transition and flex throughout the turn we want to reverse this movement pattern we want to do the complete opposite we want to flex a transition and extend throughout the turn on a very easy groomer start out by skiing across the slope extended then Flex down and drop your arms low don't worry if your weight is back and you feel like you are sitting on the toilet seat or in a chair this is only a drill as you roll your skis onto their new edges extend your legs note because you are starting to turn this extension move where you straighten out your legs will not cause you to stand up the extension is diagonally in the lateral plane causing your whole body to be inclined into the turn pull down by gravity however because the turn forces quickly kick in all forces are balanced out keeping you from falling to the inside you sometimes hear that to start a carved turn you should fall to the inside of the turn this may be the case if you are standing upright and tall at Edge change or just skiing for fun but as Ted Legacy once told me you should not fall or drop into the turn you should push yourself into the turn and the only way you can push yourself into the turn is from a flexed low position push yourself horizontally towards the next gate be sure to spend enough time going across the slope for you to flex down properly between the turns after you get the hang of it shorten the time spent between the turns until you are linking card turns with distinct pressure and floating faces if you are not getting tired in your legs you are not doing this drill properly it is very hard on your leg muscles common mistakes are not bending from your knees as you Flex down you only break at the waist another is extending up at the start of the turn even if you started out with in a flexed position many ski Racers use this kind of retraction transition without knowing what they are doing however if you do not coach your students how to flex to release some of them might never learn this technique properly and fail to reach their fullest potential as they never skied well enough to start with like Chris anyone can be taught how to flex through the transition and incorporate it into their own skiing let the students decide how good they are going to be and you decide how good you are going to be That's all folks I hope you have enjoyed this lesson and please subscribe and share and give me thumbs up if you found this video useful also please leave a comment in the commentary section below I will personally read every comment and answer any questions you have or send me clips of your skiing to my email for personal motion analysis or simply just for fun stay tuned for more videos in the near future ski safely and see you out on the slopes [Music]

Channel: Triggerboy62

Views: 576,253

Keywords: ski, skiing, slalom, lesson, instruction, coaching, winter, lappland, levi, noux, vihti, chris, tom, sara, carving, flex, extend, release, CoM, pressure, float, LTE, BTE, OLF, ILE, atomic, marker, drill

Id: gTvcFiIy_74

Length: 14min 58sec (898 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 12 2022