Regular training for slalom on the slopes of Moscow allow increase skill more and more. As far as run is no more then 25 s, physical conditions are not so important as level of skill. So it is possible to learn without much reference to the age or physical condition.
This season (2016) I’ve set to itself several objectives to fill the gaps in the skill. I want to share it in a series of notes. In this note I touch the specifics of training or self-study of adults. The main difference from a child’s learning is that an adult is fully formed in terms of interaction with the world. Therefore it is possible to improve the technique only based on present foundation which is (unfortunately) impossible to change a much.
I will write about approximate to my level. So not about learning to ski from zero point, but about improving the passing slalom runs. Quantity of such adults in Moscow is about 300. Begin with a few observations.
Coach
Pleased to note that now in Moscow there are a number of opportunities for adult to pay a reasonable price and get good the support from a coach.
Known me great trainers for adults. Boris Proshlyakov (left), Andrei Rogalski (right). Between them Didier Défago. Snej.com 2010
Of course, we are talking about individual work with each skier. That is formed a group say of 5 people, the coach installs the track but tells to everyone individually what to do. I put here criteria of suitability trainer for learning of adults. I defined it for myself 20 years ago, but oddly enough it is still valid. So. If the coach looks at skier on track and says: “For You is still too early to ran the track,” He is not suitable for train of adults. The coach there may be absolutely right in terms of the education of children. Student can have such a problem in the foundation that skiing on the track may multiply the problems. Therefore, it seems, you must first earn a fundamentally new technique in the exercises in free ski, and then move it to the track. But this is unlikely to work, because, as I said, an adult has already completely developed, including how it goes the route. Therefore, the coach is engaged with adults must go to the proper technique step by step from present conditions of skier.
Self work
A little from coach Boris Proshlyakov’s awards
Very good, if you lucky to find your coach. This unfortunately is not easy and more difficult as your skill increase. But, to my experience, the coach something can do, but something can not, namely, he can not jump into your body and understand how you operate it. Especially if the coach is from sport-gifted men (which is usually the case), while the adult student is from ordinary people.
Therefore, catching inner feelings it will be necessary by yourself anyway.
Puzzle and gaps in skill
Quite often you get advice from a wizard that you just have nowhere to attach, no suitable sensation for this. As skill increase suddenly it turns out that a couple of years ago you were told how to go, but you have not heard. This is normal, especially for self-study. I have a lot of pieces of the puzzle that are waiting for proper moments 🙂
The difference in trajectory in free skiing and track
Imagine a experiment. Skier chooses his favorite slope and goes through it by comfortably turns. Moreover, each time he trying to go down the same path. After a few descents it formed a clear trail. Now put slalom poles (gates) or Gummies so that a track was exactly correspond to this comfortable path. Run skier (mentally) and make sure that it can not go on this trajectory. The reason is simple, you turn in the free skating, where possible, and in the track – where it is necessary. This is a fundamentally different level of responsibility and the body also works fundamentally differently. The predictability of the trajectory in free descent can (and should be) trained, but here I want to emphasize the obvious: free skiing and slalom track – different worlds, and it is not necessary to be so surprised every time 🙂
Turning radius
Without track we try to ski only by cutting turns and usually (if we talk about colleagues from our club) it achieved. It is clearly seen (unfortunately from the side), the radius of such free curved turn is differ skier by skier. That is, the higher the skill, more narrow the turn. The obvious reality is that to the track can be transferred a clean turn only by this minimum radius as on free ski. At our trainings we usually install two tracks. At first one almost everybody can normally pass, and in the second, only two or three people (which, however, listed in the top ten in Moscow).
Asymmetry
An adult (which is not sportsman in the past) in my experience has much more asymmetrical movements than a child. For example my right leg is weaker, but much “smarter” than the left. So turn on the right foot going better than on the left (inching). It is not only in the legs, asymmetric is in bending flexibility and hand coordination, etc. I write about it here because it’s not just about me, but in our club almost about everyone. Therefore, one need take it easy and. This season I came to the fact that the left and right turns could be trained separately, with different inner sensations.
“Burnt” maximum speed
Unfortunately often faced with the fact that skill is growing while the results of the competition (with respect to time of friends) no. This is due to the fact that somewhere in the subconscious is “burnt through” your maximum allowable speed for a given route. You can clearly separate the conscious and subconscious mind in this regard. In the free skiing comfortable speed is usually determined by the safety of route among other skiers. It – consciousness. A limit of the subconscious is most likely associated with congestion. The body will not afford, for example, to go directly and then abruptly turn without braking because there is a risk to roll out your knees. In the track the subconscious is likely to play over safe and it need to work with it separately.
Stress. Step below
Optimal methodic if ski training for me is about like this. In the track I determine moments in the skill which need to work in a free descent. Or in a free descent I separate difficult movement to elements for learn it separately and the move it to the track. I constantly bump with the fact that the level of skill is lost when transferred to the track. Most likely this is due to the concept of “layer cake” of note “Bricks from basement of ski technique“, under stress from the upper level of skill is removed chips . This should be taken into account and not much lead to upset 🙂
Slalom trainings and free skiing Skiing is certainly assumed for skiing in the mountains. It is not so important, on the course or without a course. Skiing from small hills (for…
The main difference from a child’s learning is that an adult is fully formed in terms of interaction with the world. Therefore it is possible to improve the technique only based on present foundation which is (unfortunately) impossible to change a much.
I will write about approximate to my level. So not about learning to ski from zero point, but about improving the passing slalom runs. Quantity of such adults in Moscow is about 300. Begin with a few observations.
The coach there may be absolutely right in terms of the education of children. Student can have such a problem in the foundation that skiing on the track may multiply the problems. Therefore, it seems, you must first earn a fundamentally new technique in the exercises in free ski, and then move it to the track. But this is unlikely to work, because, as I said, an adult has already completely developed, including how it goes the route. Therefore, the coach is engaged with adults must go to the proper technique step by step from present conditions of skier.
Quite often you get advice from a wizard that you just have nowhere to attach, no suitable sensation for this. As skill increase suddenly it turns out that a couple of years ago you were told how to go, but you have not heard. This is normal, especially for self-study. I have a lot of pieces of the puzzle that are waiting for proper moments 🙂
Run skier (mentally) and make sure that it can not go on this trajectory. The reason is simple, you turn in the free skating, where possible, and in the track – where it is necessary. This is a fundamentally different level of responsibility and the body also works fundamentally differently. The predictability of the trajectory in free descent can (and should be) trained, but here I want to emphasize the obvious: free skiing and slalom track – different worlds, and it is not necessary to be so surprised every time 🙂
That is, the higher the skill, more narrow the turn. The obvious reality is that to the track can be transferred a clean turn only by this minimum radius as on free ski. At our trainings we usually install two tracks. At first one almost everybody can normally pass, and in the second, only two or three people (which, however, listed in the top ten in Moscow).
For example my right leg is weaker, but much “smarter” than the left. So turn on the right foot going better than on the left (inching). It is not only in the legs, asymmetric is in bending flexibility and hand coordination, etc. I write about it here because it’s not just about me, but in our club almost about everyone. Therefore, one need take it easy and. This season I came to the fact that the left and right turns could be trained separately, with different inner sensations.
This is due to the fact that somewhere in the subconscious is “burnt through” your maximum allowable speed for a given route. You can clearly separate the conscious and subconscious mind in this regard. In the free skiing comfortable speed is usually determined by the safety of route among other skiers. It – consciousness. A limit of the subconscious is most likely associated with congestion. The body will not afford, for example, to go directly and then abruptly turn without braking because there is a risk to roll out your knees. In the track the subconscious is likely to play over safe and it need to work with it separately.
Vadim Nikitin
