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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Ski slower to race faster

Every heard this phrase before?  If so, what do think about it?  Is it true?  I hadn't heard this phrase until a couple of years ago.  I'll tell what it means to me, then you can formulate your own opinion and leave your comments.  A coach told me a couple of years ago, that you can cheat when you ski fast.  ?!  I didn't believe him then, but I do believe him now.  When you ski down a hill fast, there are a certain number of forces that act on your body.  You can actually feel them if you go fast enough.  You can actually feel them to the point of where you can't ski at all, unless you ski with these forces.  It is similar to the effect that you feel when you are on a roller coaster, going upside down and around corners.   Ever wonder what would happen if your seat belt came undone on a roller coaster?  Actually nothing.  The G force acting on your body would keep you pressed into your seat and you would arrive safely when the ride was finished.  It is the same way in skiing.  The faster you go, the less accurate you have to be with adjusting your balance.  Why?  The G force will make these adjustments for you, allowing you to stay in balance and get down to the bottom of the hill unscathed.  So then isn't that a good idea, to ski as fast as possible, so that staying in balance is easy?  You would think, but the problem with that is that you are not are not in control.  The force of gravity is in control of how you ski.  That is fine, if you have the hill to yourself and ski conditions are perfect.  But how often is that the case in a race course?  You can't afford to be "less than accurate" with your balance adjustments in a race.  You have to learn to make accurate balance adjustments so that you can always take over control if you need to.  This is imperative if you have to check your speed, change your rhythm, negotiate good terrain choices, adjust your turn shape.  You can't learn this, if you are always skiing at a speed where you allow the G forces to take over and throw your body into the correct position.  Even though that is what is fun about skiing fast, it won't help you on race day.  When I first thought about posting this, I wasn't sure about posting under "masters racing" or "alpine ski racing."  I decided it was more of a master's issue.  That is because, as a masters racer you will probably never reach the point of where you are skiing at top speed in a race course.  For this reason I feel it is more of an important master's skill.  If you are normally someone who skis fast enough that the G forces normally make your balance adjustments for you, I recommend speeding 3-4 weeks, skiing slow enough so that you have to make your own balance adjustments, regardless of the terrain.  Once you are confident that you can do this own your own, transfer this same skiing speed to gate runs.  What was the result?  Come back and post your thoughts here.

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