How to get equal foot action in skating

When practicing V-2/V-2alt on my roller skis, I keep overstepping on
my left foot (the weaker one). I've tried balance exercises
emphasizing this foot, with little success so far. What I'm observing
when I skate is that I need to make a conscious effort to place my
left foot at an angle to the direction of travel, otherwise it will
land parallel, making it that much easier to overstep. This is
probably like the marathon skate (with the left ski pointing forward)
except that ski actually leaves the ground. I'm actually seeing this
uneven stride in a whole bunch of rollerbladers, so this does not seem
a unique problem.

I would appreciate any ideas on how to make my stride more
symmetrical.

Thanks!

While on the surface this sounds like a weight shift issue, more
basically (and pedagogically) it's likely a body movement one, your
straight ski and overstepping being the symptoms. The quick cure, or
reorientation exercise, I use in teaching is to show the skier how to
move from their center of gravity. Pretend as though a 3' arrow is
coming out of your belly button (or out from under the roll of fat
just below it). What you do is move yourself by mentally guiding that
arrow in one ski direction, then the other, back and forth, letting your
rollerskis fall underneath. This has the effect of letting you move as
a center-guided unit (it also causes the hips to very subtly roll up
and forward, bringing your weight more consistently over the foot/skis).
It counters the incorrect idea that skiing is a leg/knee-driven
movement. Once you really get the hang of it, then the arrow image can
be used as a checkpoint, as needed.

I have intentionally not referred to what you describe as a balance
issue, though that is likely a component, because it creates a
catch-22: if balance is the problem, how can you solve it if you can't
balance properly? In addition, I think balance issues are best
approached first as technique ones, letting the experience of good
technique improve the proprioceptors and muscles that allow for
good balance. Using the arrow image in skating w/o poles for extended
periods is a good way to work on this.

Gene


On Wed, 26 May 2010 07:12:35 -0700 (PDT)
Larry wrote:

When practicing V-2/V-2alt on my roller skis, I keep overstepping on
my left foot (the weaker one). I've tried balance exercises
emphasizing this foot, with little success so far. What I'm observing
when I skate is that I need to make a conscious effort to place my
left foot at an angle to the direction of travel, otherwise it will
land parallel, making it that much easier to overstep. This is
probably like the marathon skate (with the left ski pointing forward)
except that ski actually leaves the ground. I'm actually seeing this
uneven stride in a whole bunch of rollerbladers, so this does not seem
a unique problem.

I would appreciate any ideas on how to make my stride more
symmetrical.

Thanks!

On May 26, 9:12*am, Larry wrote:
When practicing V-2/V-2alt on my roller skis, I keep overstepping on
my left foot (the weaker one). I've tried balance exercises
emphasizing this foot, with little success so far. What I'm observing
when I skate is that I need to make a conscious effort to place my
left foot at an angle to the direction of travel, otherwise it will
land parallel, making it that much easier to overstep. This is
probably like the marathon skate (with the left ski pointing forward)
except that ski actually leaves the ground. *I'm actually seeing this
uneven stride in a whole bunch of rollerbladers, so this does not seem
a unique problem.

I would appreciate any ideas on how to make my stride more
symmetrical.

Thanks!

Does your left ski angle out correctly when skiing up hill? If so,
would that help as a drill?
Along with Gene's arrow from the navel, one other way to practice this
is to stand upright without skis and lean to your left at about 45
degrees until you begin to fall; you will put your left foot out and
can watch that it is at the same angle as your lean. At least that is
what happens to me when I lean until I start to fall - the point is
not to fall on your face but to let your weight transfer over your
left foot until gravity takes over and you must take a step.

You raise a point I have wondered about: do good marathon skiers keep
the track ski down or do they lift it off the track as they prepare to
push with the outside ski? Seems to me you will go faster if you lift
it.

On May 26, 10:12*am, Larry wrote:
When practicing V-2/V-2alt on my roller skis, I keep overstepping on
my left foot (the weaker one). I've tried balance exercises
emphasizing this foot, with little success so far. What I'm observing
when I skate is that I need to make a conscious effort to place my
left foot at an angle to the direction of travel, otherwise it will
land parallel, making it that much easier to overstep. This is
probably like the marathon skate (with the left ski pointing forward)
except that ski actually leaves the ground. *I'm actually seeing this
uneven stride in a whole bunch of rollerbladers, so this does not seem
a unique problem.

I would appreciate any ideas on how to make my stride more
symmetrical.

Thanks!

Not sure I totally understand what you are describing, but when I've
experienced something similar it has been triggered by bringing the
ski back in too straight after the skate off. My mental correction
for this has been to think just of returning my heels inward and that
somehow keeps the ski angled out correctly for me.
-Jim

On Thu, 27 May 2010 06:57:26 -0700 (PDT)
Jim wrote:

Not sure I totally understand what you are describing, but when I've
experienced something similar it has been triggered by bringing the
ski back in too straight after the skate off. My mental correction
for this has been to think just of returning my heels inward and that
somehow keeps the ski angled out correctly for me.
-Jim

I would think this should happen automtically. When it doesn't, it
suggests something else is going on. Your correction may (or may not)
have the unrealized effect of dealing with that.

The irony about the OP's problem is that most of us who have decent
technique wish we skied with a narrower angle (skis more straight
ahead). While one can consciously adjust the angle for a bit of time, or
do it over time via improving conditioning, etc., ski direction seems
basically to be one of those unconscious synchronizations between our
bodies (nervous systems) and the terrain.

Gene

I thought I responded with some other comments, but not sure where my
post went. So here is the gist of what I was trying to say.

I think Gene is suggesting that I should keep facing in whatever
direction the gliding skii is pointing. This happens more or less
automatically in V-1. However, to pole symmetrically in V-2, you need
to be facing forward, more or less, otherwise you'll default to some
shade of V-1 where one side is emphasized over the other. Or keep
going in a circle A couple of years back I was trying to figure
this out and was involved in a quite impossible exercise of a) trying
to face in the direction of the ski for good weight transfer and b)
trying to pole straight and not to do V-1 on flats. After some
reading, watching and experimenting, it seems to me that in V-2 we're
still talking complete weight transfer, but without much twisting of
the body so as to be able to pole straight ahead. The body moves from
side to side but keeps facing forward for the most part. What I'm
findng is this is accomplished much better on my right side than my
left. I'm actually spending more time riding the right ski as there's
a noticeable pause in my pole action on right foot to allow for that
extra glide. Incidentally, no-poles skiing does make things easier -
I get a longer glide on the left and a better angle without poles,
especially when I keep my hands clasped behind the back. The problem
is usually when I'm poling.

I think you are overthinking this. Regardless of the technique, your
torso will rotate to some degree in the direction of the ski. Don't
worry about it or try to force or prevent it, just let it happen - or
bad things will... It's perfectly natural motion. Try my arrow idea
and you'll see the biomechanical truth in this (in fact, a helpful
technique for V2 on hills, taught at the highest levels, is to early
on turn the hip or inside of the thigh in the direction of the next
skate; it's also very helpful with V1 on steeper inclines).

The V2 poling problem you are raising sounds like either a timing issue
- unequal rhythm on right and left - and/or just that the left leg isn't
as supportive of the glide you are looking for. The answer to the first
is to arbitrarily pick a rhythm and practice staying with it for both
sides for some distance. The second is more complicated, and could
have some underlying physiological issues, as it does in my case
(hardly anyone is equal on both sides). A good exercise to help it is to
practice V2-alt skating off your left side for extended periods,
holding the glide for differing lengths (times), to gain greater
strength, balance and confidence there (use the right side to allow
rest). To improve my left side over the years, I've often had sessions
where that's all or most of what I did for anywhere from several minutes
to an hour or more.

Gene


On Thu, 27 May 2010 10:19:19 -0700 (PDT)
Larry wrote:

I thought I responded with some other comments, but not sure where my
post went. So here is the gist of what I was trying to say.

I think Gene is suggesting that I should keep facing in whatever
direction the gliding skii is pointing. This happens more or less
automatically in V-1. However, to pole symmetrically in V-2, you need
to be facing forward, more or less, otherwise you'll default to some
shade of V-1 where one side is emphasized over the other. Or keep
going in a circle A couple of years back I was trying to figure
this out and was involved in a quite impossible exercise of a) trying
to face in the direction of the ski for good weight transfer and b)
trying to pole straight and not to do V-1 on flats. After some
reading, watching and experimenting, it seems to me that in V-2 we're
still talking complete weight transfer, but without much twisting of
the body so as to be able to pole straight ahead. The body moves from
side to side but keeps facing forward for the most part. What I'm
findng is this is accomplished much better on my right side than my
left. I'm actually spending more time riding the right ski as there's
a noticeable pause in my pole action on right foot to allow for that
extra glide. Incidentally, no-poles skiing does make things easier -
I get a longer glide on the left and a better angle without poles,
especially when I keep my hands clasped behind the back. The problem
is usually when I'm poling.

An afterthought: If V2 skating/poling with equal rhythm on both sides
proves difficult, and you know the correct V2 timing sequence, then,
short of anatomical issues, the most likely culprit is body position
(e.g., hips back). That's where the arrow image exercise comes in handy
as a first step.

Gene



On Thu, 27 May 2010 12:46:01 -0600
wrote:

I think you are overthinking this. Regardless of the technique, your
torso will rotate to some degree in the direction of the ski. Don't
worry about it or try to force or prevent it, just let it happen - or
bad things will... It's perfectly natural motion. Try my arrow idea
and you'll see the biomechanical truth in this (in fact, a helpful
technique for V2 on hills, taught at the highest levels, is to early
on turn the hip or inside of the thigh in the direction of the next
skate; it's also very helpful with V1 on steeper inclines).

The V2 poling problem you are raising sounds like either a timing
issue
- unequal rhythm on right and left - and/or just that the left leg
isn't as supportive of the glide you are looking for. The answer to
the first is to arbitrarily pick a rhythm and practice staying with
it for both sides for some distance. The second is more complicated,
and could have some underlying physiological issues, as it does in my
case (hardly anyone is equal on both sides). A good exercise to help
it is to practice V2-alt skating off your left side for extended
periods, holding the glide for differing lengths (times), to gain
greater strength, balance and confidence there (use the right side to
allow rest). To improve my left side over the years, I've often had
sessions where that's all or most of what I did for anywhere from
several minutes to an hour or more.

Gene

A good exercise to help
it is to practice V2-alt skating off your left side for extended
periods, holding the glide for differing lengths (times), to gain
greater strength, balance and confidence there (use the right side to
allow rest). *

Gene,

I assume that skating off on the left side means that I'm poling as
I'm skating off with my left foot. While I agree with what you're
recommending, I'm wondering if poling on the right requires at least
as much, if not more, in the way of left foot balance as it has to
allow time to bring the right foot back under the body and prime for
the next push. I'm saying this because I can sure tell the difference
in how relaxed and confident I am on my right foot getting ready to
pole and skate off to the left compared with my left foot. As I said,
I'm trying exercises and am getting fairly comfortable with just my
left foot on the wobble board, but so far it hasn't translated into my
skiing.

On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:57:09 -0700 (PDT)
Larry wrote:

A good exercise to help
it is to practice V2-alt skating off your left side for extended
periods, holding the glide for differing lengths (times), to gain
greater strength, balance and confidence there (use the right
side to allow rest). *

Gene,

I assume that skating off on the left side means that I'm poling as
I'm skating off with my left foot. While I agree with what you're
recommending, I'm wondering if poling on the right requires at least
as much, if not more, in the way of left foot balance as it has to
allow time to bring the right foot back under the body and prime for
the next push. I'm saying this because I can sure tell the difference
in how relaxed and confident I am on my right foot getting ready to
pole and skate off to the left compared with my left foot. As I said,
I'm trying exercises and am getting fairly comfortable with just my
left foot on the wobble board, but so far it hasn't translated into my
skiing.

My experience is that wobble boards aren't specific enough. I think
downhill skiers get more out of them. You'd be better off doing
one-legged strengthening exercises of the type illustrated in Doug
Garfield's book (not easy to explain in text).

Let me try again. Pushing off the right foot and extending the length
of time on the left leg before poling off of it (real and pretend
poling) allows two things to happen: a) you practice balancing up over
the left leg/foot in a way that doesn't quite happen as readily when
poling off the right; and b) poling from the left helps strengthen that
leg, improve timing and develop your confidence on that side. Of
course, don't ignore poling off the right, as well as some V2 w/ and w/o
poles. Keep us informed.

Do you classical rollerski? Striding, as well as kick-dp on the left,
would help too. Keep us informed how it goes.

Gene