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#1
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
This discussion of the Kris Freeman Video got me to thinking about the
best info I've heard about Classic Skiing. For years begginning in the 1980's coaches were telling us to pull from the heel when loading the ski during the kick phase. Their theory was this would elminate slip and give a better purchase of the kick wax. A few seasons back during a race on the Tug Hill Plateau I was skiing behind Matt Belizi a former NCAA standout skier. He was getting amazing drive forward and his tempo was less than mine. I could never figure out his power until I read some remarks by Oddvar Bra last winter. Remember him...he won more Classic Worlds Cups than any other skier? The guy all the coaches use to tell us was perhaps the best technician at classic. In his comments he said after classic skiing the balls of your feet should hurt. He went on to say it is incorrect to pull from the heel as coaches tell skiers. So I experimented and surprise there was the power. Moreover, it reduces tightening in my lower back! I can run the Friends Lake Inn ski trails for hours, but everyone knows the lower back pain which can come from classic skiing up hills. My theory is a runner comes of the ball of the foot as he drives forward on hills not the heel. When pulling from the heel during skiing there is a slight hang time, in which the lower back muscles hold the leg high and back bringing on fatigue. I usually don't jump into these technique discussions at RSN, but I thought maybe this would help. |
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#2
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
Doug, this sounds interesting, but I don't understand what you're
saying. "Pull from the heel" -- what's that? And what exactly are you doing relative to the balls of your feet? Gene Douglas Diehl wrote: This discussion of the Kris Freeman Video got me to thinking about the best info I've heard about Classic Skiing. For years begginning in the 1980's coaches were telling us to pull from the heel when loading the ski during the kick phase. Their theory was this would elminate slip and give a better purchase of the kick wax. A few seasons back during a race on the Tug Hill Plateau I was skiing behind Matt Belizi a former NCAA standout skier. He was getting amazing drive forward and his tempo was less than mine. I could never figure out his power until I read some remarks by Oddvar Bra last winter. Remember him...he won more Classic Worlds Cups than any other skier? The guy all the coaches use to tell us was perhaps the best technician at classic. In his comments he said after classic skiing the balls of your feet should hurt. He went on to say it is incorrect to pull from the heel as coaches tell skiers. So I experimented and surprise there was the power. Moreover, it reduces tightening in my lower back! I can run the Friends Lake Inn ski trails for hours, but everyone knows the lower back pain which can come from classic skiing up hills. My theory is a runner comes of the ball of the foot as he drives forward on hills not the heel. When pulling from the heel during skiing there is a slight hang time, in which the lower back muscles hold the leg high and back bringing on fatigue. I usually don't jump into these technique discussions at RSN, but I thought maybe this would help. |
#3
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
Think of setting the kicking foot forward and initiating the kick from
the heel. The coaches were telling us by initiating the kick from the back of the foot would give the kick zone a longer contact and eliminate "late kick". Just try experimenting with both ideas on your roller skiis next time. It's still possible to set the foot forward and drive off the ball of the foot, which is far more powerful. If you want I'll send you Oddvar Bra's classic video via the mail. It's amazing seeing him skiing from the side. His foot and ankle shoot forward before each kick. In the mean time I'll try to think of where I read Oddvar Bra comments about how pullling from the heel was all wrong. Gene Goldenfeld wrote in message ... Doug, this sounds interesting, but I don't understand what you're saying. "Pull from the heel" -- what's that? And what exactly are you doing relative to the balls of your feet? Gene Douglas Diehl wrote: This discussion of the Kris Freeman Video got me to thinking about the best info I've heard about Classic Skiing. For years begginning in the 1980's coaches were telling us to pull from the heel when loading the ski during the kick phase. Their theory was this would elminate slip and give a better purchase of the kick wax. A few seasons back during a race on the Tug Hill Plateau I was skiing behind Matt Belizi a former NCAA standout skier. He was getting amazing drive forward and his tempo was less than mine. I could never figure out his power until I read some remarks by Oddvar Bra last winter. Remember him...he won more Classic Worlds Cups than any other skier? The guy all the coaches use to tell us was perhaps the best technician at classic. In his comments he said after classic skiing the balls of your feet should hurt. He went on to say it is incorrect to pull from the heel as coaches tell skiers. So I experimented and surprise there was the power. Moreover, it reduces tightening in my lower back! I can run the Friends Lake Inn ski trails for hours, but everyone knows the lower back pain which can come from classic skiing up hills. My theory is a runner comes of the ball of the foot as he drives forward on hills not the heel. When pulling from the heel during skiing there is a slight hang time, in which the lower back muscles hold the leg high and back bringing on fatigue. I usually don't jump into these technique discussions at RSN, but I thought maybe this would help. |
#4
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
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#5
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
Ok, now I know what you mean (and I have the Bra tape). I always
wondered about that little forward motion in Bra's initiation of the kick. Was it intentional or perhaps, as you suggest, the result of shifting his weight to the ball of the foot? For the past couple of years, some USST and Subaru team folks have been pointing to that same foot motion on tapes of Bente Skari at the Soldier Hollow Olympics. The thing I noticed is that motion wasn't there the following year, the one she won all the races. I've played with it this spring, but not from the thought of pushing off the ball of the foot (a lot of coaches suggest middle of the foot vs. heel). In looking at tapes, it's easy to mistake the motions one sees for what is causing them or what the skier is actually trying to do. Gene Douglas Diehl wrote: Think of setting the kicking foot forward and initiating the kick from the heel. The coaches were telling us by initiating the kick from the back of the foot would give the kick zone a longer contact and eliminate "late kick". Just try experimenting with both ideas on your roller skiis next time. It's still possible to set the foot forward and drive off the ball of the foot, which is far more powerful. If you want I'll send you Oddvar Bra's classic video via the mail. It's amazing seeing him skiing from the side. His foot and ankle shoot forward before each kick. In the mean time I'll try to think of where I read Oddvar Bra comments about how pullling from the heel was all wrong. Gene Goldenfeld wrote in message ... Doug, this sounds interesting, but I don't understand what you're saying. "Pull from the heel" -- what's that? And what exactly are you doing relative to the balls of your feet? Gene Douglas Diehl wrote: This discussion of the Kris Freeman Video got me to thinking about the best info I've heard about Classic Skiing. For years begginning in the 1980's coaches were telling us to pull from the heel when loading the ski during the kick phase. Their theory was this would elminate slip and give a better purchase of the kick wax. A few seasons back during a race on the Tug Hill Plateau I was skiing behind Matt Belizi a former NCAA standout skier. He was getting amazing drive forward and his tempo was less than mine. I could never figure out his power until I read some remarks by Oddvar Bra last winter. Remember him...he won more Classic Worlds Cups than any other skier? The guy all the coaches use to tell us was perhaps the best technician at classic. In his comments he said after classic skiing the balls of your feet should hurt. He went on to say it is incorrect to pull from the heel as coaches tell skiers. So I experimented and surprise there was the power. Moreover, it reduces tightening in my lower back! I can run the Friends Lake Inn ski trails for hours, but everyone knows the lower back pain which can come from classic skiing up hills. My theory is a runner comes of the ball of the foot as he drives forward on hills not the heel. When pulling from the heel during skiing there is a slight hang time, in which the lower back muscles hold the leg high and back bringing on fatigue. I usually don't jump into these technique discussions at RSN, but I thought maybe this would help. |
#6
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Classic Skiing-Don't Pull From The Heel!
The following from Steve Hindman (PSIA Nat'l team) in last November's
Cross Country Skier (p. 11) went into the what-do-I-make-of-this file: "Ski walking up hills, like skiing up hills, requres only a few modifications. Be sure to stand a little straighter... Bring your pole through and plant it with a more vertical forearm, and land on the ball of your foot, not your heel. Since you basically run up hills on skis, you don't need to simulate the glide phase. Instead, land on the ball of your foot and keep moving up the hill by instantly deepening the flex of the ankle and knee of your standing leg." Hindman was taking a lot of this article from Todd Eastman, "one of the top masters skiers in the nation over the years." Gene Hank Garretson wrote: PRIVATE communication Nancy says (for classic), "Ski heel to heel." Ski Exuberantly, Hank Mammoth Lakes, Calif. |
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