PMTS Check List number 6

The inside arm and ski pole tip should be moving forward through the arc, this helps to hold the counter acting and stop rotation of the torso.

Use the "Phantom Move" to increase your tipping and angles.

Here are two movements you need with your inside foot, ski and leg. 

Small and simple movements with the correct body parts make efficient skiing.

 When the inside ski is light, off the snow,  like in these two photos, you can tip it easily.
Also notice how he hold that inside ski and ski boot back. Don't let that inside ski slide forward if you want a quicker turn.

Here you can see the effect of tipping. The inside ski base is visible and his body moved to the inside of the turn, the outside ski is angled and pressured.

All of what you want to know about a world cup slalom turn.

This photo just about tells you the whole story. 

-Tip the lower ski toward it's little toe edge before putting the upper ski on edge.
Don't move your upper body, keep it facing the same way as you were at the end of the previous turn, until you set the new outside ski on edge.

-Keep the skis pointed toward a target to the side of the slope, straight ahead. Do not turn your skis or pivot your skis. Just tip them onto new edge angles with the lower body.

-Stay bent and keep your skis light until you are in the falline.

-Notice how he has changed ski angles, with his retraction and leg tipping, yet has not changed direction. Lower level skiers and racers, will try to pivot and turn the skis here.

Counter balance, isn't accomplished by doing a few exercises, it's technique that you have to build.

Counter Balanced

Not Counter Balanced

                                           Counter balanced, yet over or too extremely counter acted.

Marcel Hirscher: What else would you expect, perfect counter balance, perfect counter acting.

Leaning in slalom, no longer wins on the world Cup!

Leaning the upper body toward the gate. Not much technical progression or evolution from this skier, he's the same skier as in the bottom photo years before. This shows the coaches are not aware of the evolving technique of the better skiers.

 

Keeping the head upright and the torso vertical. This is counter balance and today's technique.

Even guys who used to get on the podium have mistakes in their technique.

A straight line from the armpit to the outside ankle means he's leaning. This causes the stance to become too wide, because the weight is shifting to the inside ski too early, and reduces valuable pressure on the outside ski. Therefore; the outside ski doesn't bend as much or as quickly as for those racers who don't lean.

 This makes the turns longer and the skier has less rebound at the release. It also causes more often than not, a stepping movement out of the turn, which makes for a really slow late transition. This type of technique can easily cost 1.5 second a run.

Views of my You Tube videos from all over the word!

Gaining momentum every year and more developed videos coming for next season.

Hirscher poses like most gymnasts can't! Amazing body control.

Two more "Essentials" demonstrated clearly that no one else can accomplish in slalom except maybe his training partner Felix Neureuther. Counter balance and counter acting. Also inside leg flexing.

Skiing isn't about just strength, if you don't have flexibility you are not in the slalom game.

Key points to watch for in successful slalom skiers.

In this post I'll point out the key "Essentials of Slalom Skiing". These are common amongst the top three or four racers. The racers that keep these elements together for most of their runs usually are near the top 3. For the racers that lose or where the Essentials break down, time is lost and positions drop.

 (Above) Neureuther uses his bending and tipping of the inside ski to set up the outside extended leg. The ruts on the inside of his hand on the snow are from previous racers moving the hand forward through the arc.

 (Above) This is Marc Gini, no longer a consistently top slalom skier, but very talented. He lifts the old outside ski while holding the tipped angle to transfer, to the previous inside ski. This ski has to be tipped toward it's little toe edge throughout the arc, but held to the angle, at the end of the arc, to except the transfer at the release.

(Above) Felix, again exceptional skiing. Inside ski tipped and leg bent or flexed. Notice his hand is down on the snow, but he is not leaning his upper body toward that side. Many of the big errors happen when the upper body leans in, this is called "lack of counter balance". Many slalom skiers skied out of the course in the first run of Kitz because they leaned their upper body away from the outside ski.  I see this in juniors often, rather than creating "Counter Balance" with the upper body, they are trying to reach for the snow with the inside hand. Big mistake.

Here again Felix performing perfect Essentials, the hand closer to the gate should lead and the leg closer to the gate should lead the tipping into the new turn to develop the correct angles. In the essentials this is called strong arm (creating counter acting) and inside ski tipping. His upper body remains in the same relationship to the skis as at the end of the previous turn until the skis begin the top of the new turn.

The Essentials discussed here are: Tipping, Flexing, Counter acting and Counter balance. The only one of the 5 Essentials we did not mention here is Fore/aft Balance. Which I have discussed on the Blog in other posts. With some training these Essentials are recognizable and easily learned by skiers. 

When ski boot brands make a difference!

OK, Let's keep this really simple: look at every one of these photos and evaluate the outside knee relative to the inside knee. These guys all know how to ski. Yet there is a distinct similarity in their stance. Knees together and what we call an "A-Frame". There is also a common ski boot in this equation, it's a Fischer Boot!

                                                                Knocked-kneed!

                                                        Late release, knee inside!

                                          Huge counter, reverse or counter hip, "A' frame.

 Outside ski going straight, upper body rotated! J. P. Grange, previously a great slalom skier, on Fischer boots now.

Wow, Fisher boots again, Huge "A' frame. Manny!

More of the same!

Notice the difference in leg angles compared to the above skiers, these guys are winning. 

Now let's look at the difference: "A" Frame here!

(Above) Knocked-kneeed or "A frame"

        Notice the difference in leg angles compared to the above skiers, these guys are winning. 

Bow-legged

Much of this has to do with boot design and boot set up by manufacturer's boot reps.

 Felix Neureuther has a great set up, as do most of the Nordica skiers in tech events. .

 His legs or shin angles are very close to always being parallel. In big vertical separation situations;  is when you can really notice what the boots and movements create. The above photo shows his inside leg and ski more tipped and diverging. This is hard to do. But it's excellent, because it brings the hips lower to the side, and more access to bigger angles on the outside leg.

What does, Hold your counter", really mean?

Hirscher's chest is facing his outside ski, some people call that facing downhill.

(below) His skis are released and flat, his previous outside or downhill ski is lifted "a la" Phantom Move. He leads into the new turn with tipping toward the little toe edge of the new inside ski. This is all spelled out in PMTS and in the Essentials of skiing. And his upper body has not changed position, "That is holding your counter acting".

Here his inside hand begins to move forward for the next arc, no pressure on either ski yet. His retraction release has made his skis light to make the transition easier.

Holding your counter at the release and through the beginning of the tipping for the new turn is a crucial element of modern day World Cup slalom skiing.

Marcel Hirscher, The best slalom skier's little secrets.

Many coaches during the nineties and 2000s were hot on getting their racers to widen their (get a wider stance) stance. There are many still some out there telling their kids exactly that today. Becoming a better racer, never has been about making your stance wider, in fact, the World cup skiers "in slalom" ski with a very narrow stance. To those whom it looks wide, it's vertical distance, not horizontal, that you are after. 

In this upper photo, Hirscher has his feet almost locked. And he has great angles, but not good enough for Hirscher.

(Above) Now he has passed the gate and has increased his angles, how did he get it done? Again here, there is much misunderstanding by coaches. He didn't push harder, he didn't reach for the snow, he didn't steer his leg or ski, he simply used one of the "Essentials of Skiing". One that we teach to skiers in our camps with the PMTS system, all the time. He flexed or bent his inside leg further, that is the only thing that changed. 

His inside hand came forward yes, but that is counter acting, not increasing angles.  

His hip was able to drop inside further because the flexing of the inside leg takes the weight off the ski and allows the hip to drop. You have to be relaxed in your hip and leg and "let yourself" go to achieve this. And you have to be Counter Balanced, another thing Hirscher increased in the second frame. 

Hirscher uses all the "Essentials of Skiing", which I spelled out in my third book. More to come!

Want to know more about how Hirscher skis and the "Essentials of Skiing", click here: http://harbskisystems.com

Funny skiing skit on Conan.

Mikaela Shiffrin, Technical analysis.

Does Mikaela have what it takes to become a dominant slalom skier, like Maries Schild?

Here we see a strong finish to a fall-away turn. Strong flexed inside leg, the ski tipped to a high angle. Upper body counter balanced and very strong, inside hand leading. All good discipline.

This is  a great release, similar to what you see with Hirscher. She holds her CA (counter acting) while flexing the legs, to transition to the new edges. This is critical, holding the upper body in place and sucking up the legs, to get to the new edges. This holds the energy in the body until the last second, before it's released and pops or explodes her to the new edges. Without this energy and perfectly timed release skiers have to push themselves into the next turn, that's just too slow.

This photo although in the other direction, is just after the transition, where the energy is released. Notice how she kept her upper body still Counter acted  from the previous turn,  she holds her CA until the skis are on their new edges. She is still unweighted, yet tipping into the new edges here. Her next move is to begin leading with the inside hand and increasing the tipping angles.


This is where there is still progress to be made. At times she gets her feet too far apart and almost gets stuck. Mikaela has such good upper body discipline that even when she gets off balance, and her feet are too separated, like here, she almost loses the outside ski, but she still pulls off a turn.

                         

Below is an example of where her feet, get too separated and her new inside ski will be 

a problem to get set up for the turn.

                               

Her strengths are her strong upper body discipline, which means, strong counter acting and counter balance. She also has amazing touch for how much pressure she applies and when she applies it. She has a great inside leg pull back and flexing, but often it's at the last second. She absorbs and uses pressure extremely well, almost snaking between turns especially on the flats, which makes her transitions really smooth and gives her early angles.

So where are the areas of improvement or concern? Her technique is not as refined as Schild. She still makes mistakes, but recovers, very well. What are the mistakes? At the gate as she nears the bottom of her turns, her inside ski moves forward and separates too early, in many cases this splits her pressure and energy. On her right turn, left leg, she often sets up and pressures late, causing her to step out of the turn late, rather than releasing out, by flexing and retracting. (example of what happens in the above photo)

Where is the discipline lacking, it's the inside foot. It wanders around and sometimes shows not enough tipping or after the pull back, it's not held back under her body to finish the arc.

I hope she is able to work on these refinements, so she can get her technique as clean and consistent as Schild's technique. If she can clean up these errors, she could have a run of races like Schild, 5 or 6 slalom wins  in a row.

World Cup Overall Leader.

If your inside hand isn't moving forward in the arc, you are rotating. 

The amount of short, quick direction change around the gate, in slalom, would cause the upper body to rotate, if the skier didn't counter act the upper body. So if you are rotating, and not  controling that rotation; the upper body ends up facing the ski tips, which steals your energy for a good release.

Hirscher keeps pushing his inside hand forward to keep his upper body Counter Acted for the release.

Ted while you were stemming and rotating Hirscher was doing this.

 (click on title above for the whole story)

Very simple comparison of what works and what does not.

                                                 (Ouch, leading the world cup and winning races?)

 Ted's upper body rotated, in the wrong direction, and uphill ski stemmed! Leading with the wrong hand.

Ted's chest is facing the same direction he stemmed his uphill tip toward. Completely opposite what the best skiers are doing.

                 
                  Hirscher inside ski tipped and close to the outside ski, leading with the inside (correct) hand. notice how his chest is facing the outside of the arc.

Amazing Hirscher

This is going to result in an error, there is a hump there and he will become airborne, which means his skis will lose contact and he'll go straight for a bit and have to turn late.
He is slightly rotated, (more than he normally gets) but his inside hand is still pushing forward. His inside half and his inside ski tipping is what saves him most of the time when he gets in trouble. That might be something for everyone to adhere to as well.

Remember, if your inside hand is not moving forward in the arc, "You are rotating".

Neureuther modifies or refines his technique and wins.

Felix Neureuther (GER) scored his second win of the season, after winning the City Event, by .23 seconds; he ranks second in Slalom.

Felix used to reach down to the snow to get his body over to higher angles. That wasn't working for him too well, as he was very inconsistent and DNF'd frequently. This approach causes leaning and losing your outside ski. The Swedes still do it.

Now he has modified his approach and I'm sure it has something to do with everyone studying and learning from Hirscher's technique. It's amazing how fast Felix has adapted. He now gets his angles in the same way Hirscher does, he tips his inside ski earlier and further, then he puts his hand down just in case he goes too far. This is a change in priority and a good one. Start with tipping the feet and letting your hips drop by removing pressure from the inside ski. This is done by, very quick retraction and flexing of the inside leg. 

Felix also now holds his inside ski tipped to a greater angle than anyone, except Hirscher. I wonder where he learned that?

Congratulations Felix, well done. Now you are a contender in slalom. 

Mario Matt also, has great inside foot preparation and control.

       In my three books on ski technique the inside foot is always a major focus. 

My first book we self published n 1997. No one had ever heard of tipping the inside foot at the time, many coaches still don't.

Here in slalom, Mario Matt 34 years old, converted to a narrow stance, since his earlier days on the world cup and tips and holds the inside foot back. As soon as the inside foot slides forward you lose speed and edge carving. Pushing the inside foot forward is a braking movement. It often shows that the skier has fear of his speed and is desperate to stay in control.

Marcel Hirscher is the "King" of controlling and using his inside foot. He holds it back the longest in the turn, even below the arc or the gate.

 Marcel has an amazing ability to stay on his outside ski when the load is the greatest. He never flinches with his upper body or leans away from the pressure. He can do this because he's so prepared using and setting up his Counter balancing and Counter acting at the top of his arcs.

His inside leg flexing and tipping, happens so fast that he rarely loads or pressures the inside ski. This keeps his hips dropping to the inside, so he can develop bigger angles. Ted does this extremely well in GS, as I've stated before, but he has yet to figure it out for slalom. Marcel's CB and CA also keep him very compact, without arms and limbs flying all over. He's in balance when he loads the ski, and he therefore can hold the forces.

World Cup skiing when "The Essentials of Skiing", break down?

In this article and the one before it, on Hirscher's technique, I explain how my, "Essentials of Skiing", are easy to identify and where the lack of them breaks down skiing technique. Without all of my "Essentials" in place, racers lose time and struggle with the course. 

Here is a position you see too often with Ted Ligety in slalom. It's easy to explain why Ted doesn't break into the top 10 in slalom. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but there are explanations for it. Ted's fundamental, "Essentials", are missing. Feet too wide here, he's leaning and rotating to the inside with his torso, showing lack of counterbalance and counter acting. Compare this to Hirscher in the article I posed about World Cup skiers using "Essentials", on this Blog, just before this article. 

 Here is Manny Moelgg, he's already rotated before he's even close to the gate. (compare this to the article with Hirscher below) His feet are too spread and he's already on his big toe or stemmed ski before the top of the arc. This shows he has not released his stance ski properly , he stepped out of the arc. You never see Hirscher doing this unless he has really screwed up the turn. This is a consistent pattern with skiers in Fisher boots. I'll post other skiers doing the same in another article on skiers who use Fisher boots.

Here again we see Ted with his upper body and torso rotated. This takes the pressure away from his outside or stance ski. These are not one time photos or occurances, these are consistent technical breakdowns I see in every race. He's dragging his inside arm and pole, and leading with his left, that's backwards. Notice how this causes no angles to develop with the inside ski. His balance is moving away from the outside ski, that's where it should be focused! . OK, so there are at least three "Essentials" of skiing missing in this one turn. 

Many observes often comment that all the top skiers ski alike. Well I disagree, these are not small differences between the top skiers, they are huge technical differences. 

Here is Andre MYHRER he is often fast, but inconsistent. His inside ski is scissored or pushed forward; therefore no angles develop on the outside ski. His upper body, also like Ligety, is leaning toward the gate, most of his weight and pressure are on the inside ski. You can't concentrate the pressure to the outside ski with this skeletal alignment. Also, if you weight the inside ski, you can no longer tip it to a higher angle. His hips and torso are square to the skis, this is a huge biomechanical disadvantage.

Compare to Hirscher!
The difference between these three top skiers are enormous when compared to Hirscher. They have breakdowns in technique in almost every turn. The question is why? Is it lack of discipline in training? Are their coaches aware of the breakdowns? Do they train with the "Essentials of skiing" as a focus? I would love to be able to sit down with them and show them the differences in their skiing compared to Hirscher's, (Marcel may no like it)  that are costing them the race wins.