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#1
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new skis require a different skiing style?
I just bought some Atomics R:8's w/ Atmoic R:3.10 bindings and new
Salomon Xwave 8.0 boots to replace my almost 10 year old Dynastar 4.1 and Lange boots. I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. I did take them for a run for the first time this weekend and there was a big difference in carving, though I wonder how much of that is just me (or the boots also) since I'm starting to pick it up again. But I wanted to validate this statement if it some of you have noticed it to be true. That'll help me gather some info when I take a lesson the next time I'm at the slopes in 2 wks or so. |
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#2
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new skis require a different skiing style?
"Goldenset" wrote ... I just bought some Atomics R:8's w/ Atmoic R:3.10 bindings and new Salomon Xwave 8.0 boots to replace my almost 10 year old Dynastar 4.1 and Lange boots. I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. Skis have always worked best when there's some space between the skis. Look at photos and videos of racers over the years, they've almost always kept their feet hip or shoulder width apart, except in fairly specific situations. I did take them for a run for the first time this weekend and there was a big difference in carving, though I wonder how much of that is just me (or the boots also) since I'm starting to pick it up again. But I wanted to validate this statement if it some of you have noticed it to be true. That'll help me gather some info when I take a lesson the next time I'm at the slopes in 2 wks or so. A lot of the difference you noticed was probably the skis, the boots may have helped if the new ones fit significantly better than the old ones. -- mark |
#3
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new skis require a different skiing style?
"Goldenset" wrote in message om... I just bought some Atomics R:8's w/ Atmoic R:3.10 bindings and new Salomon Xwave 8.0 boots to replace my almost 10 year old Dynastar 4.1 and Lange boots. I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. I did take them for a run for the first time this weekend and there was a big difference in carving, though I wonder how much of that is just me (or the boots also) since I'm starting to pick it up again. But I wanted to validate this statement if it some of you have noticed it to be true. That'll help me gather some info when I take a lesson the next time I'm at the slopes in 2 wks or so. Somewhere around shoulder width apart should do nicely. You can't get much closer because the skis will hit each other. Also, a wider stance provides better stability. They carve better because they bend more easily tip to tail without twisting. That "feet together waggle" thing is an old European style. It basically locks you into doing nothing much more than repetitive, boring "S" turns down the hill. No versatility. You can do so many more things with the skis these days. If you watch some racing on TV, you'll notice a fairly wide stance, with one short leg and one long, hips forward and down into the center of the turn. This is quite a departure from the old days. It's all only possible because of the new skis. |
#4
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new skis require a different skiing style?
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#5
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new skis require a different skiing style?
"mark" writes:
"Goldenset" wrote ... I just bought some Atomics R:8's w/ Atmoic R:3.10 bindings and new Salomon Xwave 8.0 boots to replace my almost 10 year old Dynastar 4.1 and Lange boots. I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. Skis have always worked best when there's some space between the skis. Look at photos and videos of racers over the years, they've almost always kept their feet hip or shoulder width apart, except in fairly specific situations. Yup. That feet-glued-together stance was kind of like '70s disco platform shoes: some people really liked the look and went through all kinds of contortions to get it, but you can't really argue that it was functional. You simply can't get much edge angle with your feet glued together. This puts you at a disadvantage with any ski, but on a shaped ski what you lose is just more exaggerated. -- :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::: Mary Malmros Some days you're the windshield, Other days you're the bug. |
#7
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new skis require a different skiing style?
Goldenset wrote:
I just bought some Atomics R:8's ... I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. The new skis don't necessarily *require* a diferent skiing style, but you'll get more out of them if you ski them the way they were designed to be skiied. i.e. work with the ski, not against it. Basically, that means putting them on edge. Once you put the skis on their edges, the shape comes into play and they turn. You don't have to twist or pivot them to get them to turn, and any twisting or pivoting means that you're working against the ski, not with it. Modern skis work best when the tail follows the same path as the tip in a smooth carve. It is very hard to edge your skis when your feet are glued together, so you should have some distance between them. Personally, I think shoulder width is too wide, but there are some very good skiers who adopt a stance that wide. A wider stance makes it easier to roll the skis onto their edges, but a wider stance also makes it harder to transfer your weight from one ski to the other. A narrower stance makes it a little harder to edge, but much easier to transfer your weight. Somewhere in between a ridiculously narrow stance and a ridiculously wide stance lies the sweet spot. Feet glued together is ridiculously narrow. Looking like a shortstop ready to field a ground ball is ridiculously wide. -- //-Walt // // http://tinyurl.com/3xqyq |
#8
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new skis require a different skiing style?
John Moore wrote:
On 20 Jan 2004 18:03:52 -0800, (Goldenset) wrote: I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. You won't find universal agreement on that. Two highly influential ski instruction gurus, Lito Tejada-Flores and Harald Harb, both emphasize the importance of keeping your feet close together, and it's a major plank of Harb's Primary Movements Teaching System. Check out the little animation on he http://www.harbskisystems.com/olk1.htm but OTOH I don't think you'll find many ski schools anywhere in the world which won't tell you your feet should be about shoulder width apart. even the Austrians have seen the light -- Chris *:-) Downhill Good, Uphill BAD! www.suffolkvikings.org.uk |
#9
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new skis require a different skiing style?
John Moore wrote:
On 20 Jan 2004 18:03:52 -0800, (Goldenset) wrote: I was informed that these carvers are best used when feet are should width apart rather than that smooth and cool looking way of keeping the boots together (which I'm still trying to work on!). Is this true? Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis. You won't find universal agreement on that. Two highly influential ski instruction gurus, Lito Tejada-Flores and Harald Harb, both emphasize the importance of keeping your feet close together, and it's a major plank of Harb's Primary Movements Teaching System. Check out the little animation on he http://www.harbskisystems.com/olk1.htm But you'll notice that they don't advocate the old-fashioned technique of skiing with your feet glued together. Lito describes it as a "comfortably narrow" stance. Your feet are about as far apart as they are when you're walking - not shoulder width, but not right next to each other either. By adopting a walking-width stance, weight transfer becomes very easy since we're all quite used to transferring our weight when we walk. Weight transfer is a key building block to Lito's & Harold's approach, so they advocate adopting a stance that facilitates easy weight transfer. Something like 4 to 8 inches between your feet. Definitely not the old style of the feet touching, or with one knee tucked behind the other. But everybody agrees with the statement "Today's carvers are most effective when there's some space between the skis." How much space? Well, yeah, there's not universal agreement on that point. -- //-Walt // // http://tinyurl.com/3xqyq |
#10
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new skis require a different skiing style?
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 15:44:29 -0000, "MoonMan"
wrote: but OTOH I don't think you'll find many ski schools anywhere in the world which won't tell you your feet should be about shoulder width apart. even the Austrians have seen the light Harb's stance on this is very interesting and quite controversial. He reckons that the wider stance that has been settled on in teaching is a cop-out, a crutch which gives beginners enough stability so they don't keep falling over and can move beyond the snowplough, but which ultimately impedes their progress beyond a certain level. He stresses the opposition between stability and balance - he constantly stresses the importance of one-footed balance as being _the_ vital skill. What's more, he seems to have got more insistent on this in recent years, instead of less. The second of his 'Anyone Can be an Expert Skier' books (which I'm currently reading) stresses how bringing in your free foot next to your stance foot is a critical part of the method, not merely an aesthetic benefit. John |
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