what was 'the New Skate' ?

Looks to me like Marsh Jones has nailed the two reasons why pushing higher
turnover cadence too soon and too much causes trouble.

Shows the big problem with using the written New Skate ideas only as a
"checklist" of right skating moves. It needs to be used together with a
sound sense of the _progression_ of learning. Some skiers are not ready for
key points of the New Skate. Others are ready to refine their technique
beyond it, once they've got the New Skate ideas as a sound base.

The other problem is that the list I summarized from Vordenberg's earlier
writings is not _complete_. Because they were just two magazine articles
with a particular focus (provocative attack on an older style) for a
particular audience (experienced adult racers). So they didn't include
things like basic single-ski balance and pushing out toward the side,
because you can't say everything in two short articles. Vordenberg never
intended them as a survey of his complete technique.

We're still waiting for the _book_ of the New Skate. Maybe Nathan Schultz
is busy writing it now -- or better yet, I hope he's already working on the
Next Skate.

For now I think the closest thing is Endestad and Teaford's 1987 book -- but
supplemented with new focus on strong ankle flex and moving the hips forward
at the start of each stroke that includes poling.

Ken
__________________________________________
Marsh Jones wrote:
We've several brand new skiers on our high school team this year, and
the two biggest 'sins' I see are never transferring weight onto one ski
(wide stance, inside edges) and 'bucket butting' from not using the
torso to initiate poling. There's a lot more to it than that, but the
combination of never getting on one ski and arm-poling seems to raise
the cadence without raising speed.
If I analyze it correctly, the failure to commit to a ski means you get
a very short poor push off the power ski, and lots of friction due to a
small running surface on the glide ski; coupled with a very short,
choppy pole and an almost terminal inability to catch up to the skis
since your weight is so far back and down. That means you never do get
your arms out in a powerful initiate position, which re-inforces the
whole cycle.

--- Ken Roberts wrote:

Shows the big problem with using the written New Skate ideas only as
a
"checklist" of right skating moves. It needs to be used together
with a
sound sense of the _progression_ of learning. Some skiers are not
ready for
key points of the New Skate. Others are ready to refine their
technique
beyond it, once they've got the New Skate ideas as a sound base.

The concept of learning progressions is the key. Most young skiers
have upperbodies that are wiggling around like a string of cooked
spagetti. They need to quiet down their upper bodies so that they get
good glide and weight transfer. THEN they can add in twist and motion
on the platform of a quiet and stable upper body.

All these principles must be flexible based on the situation. For high
school students who are not transferring their weight I recommend going
back to nose-knees-toes for the V2. By turning totally toward their
ski they tend to step more onto the ski. Once they have a good, total
transfer they can straighten out their upper bodies.

Rob Bradlee