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MID-SEASON
DAVE LAWRENCE
Contributing Editor for the Master Skier
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
David Lawrence is a full time ski instructor and PSIA divisional clinician in the Methow Valley, Washington. David has a Masters’ degree in Instruction and Curriculum and spends his winters teaching ski lessons, leading seminars and clinics, coaching the local ski team and racing in the local master races. He can be reached at: david@leaveboringbehind.com.
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Torin Koos at West Yellowstone
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There are four main phases of propulsion during the diagonal stride: kicking, falling, driving and poling. To improve your skiing this winter, teach yourself to think of your diagonal striding in these four simplified phases.
By deconstructing your skiing into four movement patterns, you’ll be able to tweak and tailor your technique days into optimal technique improvement sessions. This article covers the first three phases.
First, you need to experience propulsion completely deconstructed. On skis or in your socks on a slick floor, try these exercises.
Put all your weight on one foot with the other foot barely off the ground. Spring forward and land on the other foot so that you slide or glide a little on the new balance leg. That’s kick. You moved forward by pushing or kicking backward. Simple enough: kick equals propulsion.
Now stand on one foot again. Instead of jumping onto the other foot, fall from your standing foot with your whole body and land on the new glide foot. If done correctly, you should get a little glide, although much less than your “kick.” Simple enough: fall equals propulsion.
Lastly, focus on drive. Stand on one foot again and swing the other leg as if it’s a pendulum. If standing on skis, use your poles for balance. As your leg passes underneath your body, move forward so you can land with a bent knee and flexed ankle, and follow the momentum of the pendulum swing. Done correctly, you’ll get a little glide by “driving” your swinging leg. Simple enough: leg drive equals propulsion.
The Kick
The kick is where good striding starts. A great kick will set you up to generate even more efficiency and power from the other two phases. Here are a few tips to help you get even more grip.
1. Jog. Quick steps from ski to ski while you’re moving forward is a great place to find your timing. After you jog awhile on skis, let yourself glide a little between each step. Keep the force in your jog under your foot and under your hip.
2. Stand on both feet. Keep your feet on the ground and pick up your toes. Set them down. Pick up your heels. Set them down. Now, keeping your feet on the ground, pick up your toes and your heels at the same time. Find the balance point just behind the center of the ball of your foot. That’s your sweet spot. The final phase of your kick should be launched off that spot quickly and powerfully.
3. If you’re slipping, there are many elements to evaluate, but the most common problem is stepping off of your foot when it’s too far behind your hips. Your step should be a quick pop that sends you off of your power ski and onto your new gliding ski.
The Fall
The fall is a subtle and difficult phase of power to isolate. Another way to think of falling is to think of complete weight transfer.
You cannot fall effectively if you don’t make a complete weight transfer. Make sure that you transfer your weight completely to the new ski so that your weight/mass/core is stacked over your new glide foot when you fall. When you land on the new ski, the ski you fell from should lift off the snow.
The ski lift is a reaction to an action. The action is complete weight transfer: core over the ankle, in other words “falling.” The reaction: the ski you left lifts off the ground. When you ski, concentrate on getting your core from over your power step and onto and over your new glide ski, hips moving forward, generating power from the “fall” phase of your stride.
Notice, I introduced the fall as the second phase of power and not the first. Why? Because without a good, solid kick, you cannot get an explosively forward fall. The kick (first phase of power), is the platform where you launch the second phase of power, the fall. The fall moves your body and core down the track.
The Drive
The final phase of power is “the drive.” In the drive phase of power, the force of your leg swing should propel you down the track. To enhance your drive, focus on the following aspects.
1. Keep your knee bent, ankle flexed and hips moving forward when you land on your new glide ski.
2. As your knee and ankle pass underneath you, engage your drive-side hip to blast your knee forward.
3. Transfer your weight! It’s easy to forget, but when you’re focusing on driving your knee and hip, remember to shift all of your weight to the new glide ski.
Think of the kick as the yang and the drive and fall as the yin; there can be no yang without the yin.
A good, solid, quick kick is critical in developing the more subtle but extremely effective phases of power. The kick gives you a platform on which to launch your core and drive your offside leg.
Improve your overall power by deconstructing your stride into three phases: kick, drive and fall. Focus on each separately and then combine together slowly. A few weeks of deconstructed practice will guarantee a well-constructed stride.
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