- free skiing more slowly
- looking down the hill through the course similar to how I look down the hill when free skiing
- Making the exact same number of turns on the hill when free skiing as the number of gates there are
- skiing the same speed outside the course as inside the course.
- Taking up the exact same space on the hill horizontally when free skiing, as the corridor would dictate on course
- copying what is done in free runs, that was done in course runs.
- planning the phases of the turn the same way in free skiing as in course.
- distinguishing the difference between a technical free run and a course preparation free run.
- recognizing that gate training isn't "racing"
Friday, January 7, 2011
A word about gate skiing....
So this week I ran gates 2x. Tuesday morning it was GS and Thursday morning SL. This is after almost 3 years of no gate training. The coaches are yelling at me (in a friendly way of course) "get more aggressive," "remember you are racing, not skiing." "you are being too nice." Don't get me wrong. I love my coaches, after all, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be skiing the way I am now. But truthfully, this is the wrong focus for me at this time. I have just turned 40. I missed my window of opportunity to become a competitive racer years ago, and I did race masters 4 years ago, in a semi competitive league. It was a great experience, but it got to the point where it really wasn't the place I wanted to be. What it did get me was to "ski fast", with confidence. And also it gave me a taste of racing. It taught me the importance of tactics and conquering the mental aspect of being timed. I had some good races, and some bad races. I even won a few. But then I got to the point where I realized I was at a plateau, and it was time to change my focus. For the last three years, I have been working on my technical skiing, outside of the gates, and skiing very slow. Then this season, I decided to introduce gates again. This week reminded me of how fun it is to run gates, and how great it is to be a part of masters racing. I like meeting people who like running gates as much as I do. So what is the problem? I don't really want to "race" gates. I want to "run" gates, yes, but not "race" them. So how the heck to I avoid falling back into the mindset of "you are in a race." Already I talked to one of my former teammates, who is a lot more focused than I am with respect to racing. I felt the pressure of being influenced back into "races" and the mindset that goes with it. But that isn't what I want out of the sport. How do I respectfully communicate that to those around me, who are also a part of that world? I have one sole purpose this year which is the reason I decided to re-introduce gates back into my ski training repertoire. I want to ski "in gates" the exact same way I ski "outside of gates." This means no "racing" of the gates. What does this mean? Probably the following:
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This is an interesting training strategy.
ReplyDeleteI have a question that I would like you and/or others to respond to: I am fairly new to gate training/racing and would like some good advice on course inspection. What should I look for and how can I use that when skiing the course? I am mainly working in GS courses.
What I do when I inspect a course is a routine based on the following: I start by looking down the course where the start is, to try to get an idea of how it will feel to ski the course, for example turn shape, how far apart the gates are, is it a fairly straight course or is it turny etc. Also I look for changes in rhythm. For example some courses start out turny and finish straight. You have to be aware of the change in rhythm. Then after that I slide slowly through each gate and check for terrain irregularities. For example, are there any bumps or rolls that might be difficult to ski over at a fast speed. Also there is something called a fall away gate. You have to watch for these as well as knolls. They can be difficult to turn around. It is difficult to memorize which gate they are at, especially if there are a lot of gates, but as long as you are aware of them, you can keep on the lookout as you ski through the course. A fall away gate is basically a gate that has a dip in the terrain where you would be turning. The skis tend to fall into the dip and make it difficult to stay balanced and pressure on the outside ski. The last thing I do is look at the position of the finish. Where does the last gate put you. Sometimes it is angled so that you could easily miss going through the finish if you aren't paying attention. In one race the corral was even too small and there wasn't very much room to stop at a high speed. You always have to look at how much room you have to stop, you may have to throw your skis sideways really quickly when you pass through the finish line. I hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteInteresting as I reread this post from back at the beginning of the season. My thoughts on this have changed. It was a good piece of writing, so I am going to leave it up. I have discovered that it isn't really possible to ski inside a course the same way you ski outside the course. At least from the perspective that I had back then. This is showing an example of how much my understanding of racing has grown over the season.
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