I just started working on making the movement of my head much quieter in my
V1 skate technique ("offset", "paddle-dance"). It's a big change for me,
and it's giving me a strong feeling of stability that I like a lot. But I
suddenly have lots of little sore muscles everywhere on my neck.

What do other people do with their head moving? (or not do?)

By "quiet head", I mostly mean minimizing sideways tilting and turning --
still allowing the up-and-down motions. I guess eliminating those "extra"
motions is not a big concern for skaters following the Quiet Upper Body
approach -- since their shoulders are already pretty quiet regarding
twisting and turning, so then a quiet head follows naturally.

But for most of us who use substantial rotation of chest and shoulders in
our V1 skate (especially to help us climb up hills), there are several
options:

(a) head motions follow all the tilts and twists of the shoulders. This is
the obvious way: The torso turns or twists from side to side, and the head
turns with it. Lots of people do it -- I sure did. (I even went beyond
that to having my head "lead" my shoulders -- all too visible in my
videos -- I was flopping my head around so much I was getting _dizzy_ on
some of my hill climbs.)
[Closest example in JanneG's World Cup technique videos: Vladimir Vilisov.]

(b) head faces straight forward, despite big rotation of the shoulders.
That's what I'm trying out now. For the first day it did not seem natural
at all. I had to be completely conscious of "counter-rotating" my head --
deliberately turning it in the opposite direction from each rotational swing
of my chest and shoulders.
[Purest example I've seen of this "quiet head" style: Bjorn Daehlie. Also
in the NEI XC Skating Technique from the mid-1990s, the solo demonstrator
woman in the red vest (Leslie Thompson?). In JanneG's V1 technique videos,
perhaps Elofsson comes closest].

(c) definite head turn toward the V1 poling-side, but avoid permitting head
to follow the torso to the pole-recovery "off" side.
[Examples: Markus Hasler and J Muhlegg in JanneG's videos. In the Nordic
Ski Federation 1997 Trondeim video, all the leading Soviet skaters: Elena
Vaelbe, Nina Gavriljuk, V Smirmov, Alexei Prokourorov.]

(d) some turning of the head toward both sides, but not full.
[Example: Thomas Alsgaard].

I'm not seeing any big payoff in the biomechanical physics -- but I love the
new _feeling_ of stability. On my third day, it got to the point where I
sometimes caught myself doing the quiet head counter-rotation moves "by
accident". But I'm still making big sideways torso swings to help me climb
up hills (better than ever). So it looks like I can still enjoy the
quietness that I loved from the old "quiet upper body" style -- but now it's
only in my head.

Ken