Unfortunately Isabel had a fever today so missed skiing. Hope she is feeling better by tomorrow.
Teaching was well received today and that was appreciated. Everyone was happy skiing black runs and bumps though more focused teaching is needed for the bumps – perhaps tomorrow…
Bea is coping really well considering her anxiety at the start of the week.
Tomorrow we will work on “compression turns” but meantime here’s a useful video showing proper compression turns at an advanced level. (Warning! – The drills used to “teach” in the clip are mainly inappropriate and fail to show the pivoting nature of bump skiing. However the advanced dynamics used by the demonstrators are correct.)
Leg Retraction Timing (advanced dynamics)
Today we did some work on “leg retraction” – the extended downhill leg at the end of a turn is retracted to allow the body to cross over the skis into the next turn the fastest way possible – then the new outside leg extends (independent leg action). The video below shows a top World Cup racer using this movement pattern. It’s easier to learn this pattern first and apply it to “normal” skiing before learning how to retract both legs simultaneously with the feet together to absorb bumps.