Sunday, December 8, 2013

Nice classic technique

We are spending sometime working on classic technique right now in the club.  Here's a great photo of perfect striding.  It's actually on a fairly steep hill.

Here are a few things to note:

1) All of her weight is on the right side (her left).  To help with the weight shift, she has a bit of body lean to that side.  In the old days, it was taught as Tony Knows (Toe-Knee-Nose all lined up on one side).  Rather than move the lean to the side, the better way is to shift the hips over a little bit so the body is aligned over the foot.

2) Her hips are not pushed back, nor is her body piked in a way that pushes the hips back.  By doing this, she is both keeping her body weight over the foot and will also be able to apply significant power from her hip and hamstring muscles in pulling back that ski to propel herself up the hill.

3) She has just generated that significant power on the left side (her right), so that foot and ski have come off the ground.

4) To help maintain that correct body position, she is looking slightly ahead and not at her feet ... Look ahead and you will shred.