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Gravity shall become your new best friend! |
Anybody Can Ski
I’m at a party. Introductions abound. When I proudly introduce myself as a ski instructor there is a polite pause, then the usual questions indicating that the negative myths about skiing still persist. The truth is ANYBODY CAN SKI! It’s a matter of enthusiasm not fear, not needing to understand why or how (the physics) but of simply doing (going with its simple laws).
Everyday we use the proper attitudes involved in skiing. Walking down a stairway or down a hill, for example. Is it easier and less impact to go with or to resist the pull of gravity? Standing properly in one’s skis is no different than standing properly in one’s shoes. The difference, of course, is that walking down Main Street is arguably less anxiety producing than sliding down a hill. Trying to resist the inevitable, being defensive rather than offensive, tends to keep one in an athletically poor stance and state of mind.
AWARENESS: If you lived in Chicago and forgot where you parked your car in an icy parking lot in early February, would you stand tall like a giraffe and walk at full speed looking for it? I think not. Instinctively you would assume a wider stance and get smaller, kind of like standing at the base line waiting for a tennis serve. By doing this you would be in a better “ATHLETIC STANCE”, a more appropriate body architecture. Notice in your memory, that when you’ve fallen in those situations your feet come out in front of you and you land on your butt. In terms of physics, you were resisting the flow. It is all but impossible to fall forward, especially on skis. (Actually, skiing has been referred to as a controlled fall!)
TRUST: Trust is the biggest hurdle in any new endeavor. We must learn to trust the speed of the unconscious. PROacting is far quicker than Reacting from the conscious mind. We must let the brain interpret the impulses it is receiving from all the senses. We see, we hear, we feel, we smell, and we even taste what is going on around us.
We ski appropriately with the same system of awareness that gets our right foot onto the brake before we consciously realize there are red lights ahead of us while driving. We need to trust that our senses will read the environment very accurately through the unconscious. Medical people call it the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS). Timothy Gallwey and Robert Kriegle call it “FEAR II” in their fabulous and highly recommended book “INNER SKIING”.
We need to learn to trust the environment as interpreted by out brain and not our mind. What we see with our conscious eyes may be a rock in front of the ski about seven yards ahead of us. By the time we consciously REACT the rock is behind us, and more than likely we’ve skied over it, gouging the ski. One tends to get focused!
What we see with our brain through the optic nerve is the entire area in front of us. The brain will acknowledge every nook and cranny through which we are going. This includes the mountains across the valley, the tree line, the clouds above, and the snow below.
More than likely we will pass the rock without a second glance or second thought. WE go where we are looking! From our earliest initiation into navigating, whether it be walking, cycling, driving, we are told by our mentors to “ LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!” If one gets focused the arena the mind reacts within becomes macroscopic. Did you ever over steer in an anxious moment in your vehicle? What were the dynamics that caused this error in judgment.
If we ski reactively from what we consciously see, we are skiing largely defensively. If we trust the speed and accuracy of the ANS we are skiing offensively and consequently experiencing a lot less tension and having a lot more fun.
Skiing is natural when we ski offensively. Back to driving again, when you are in traffic,, where are you looking? - at the hood ornament?, at your foot?, maybe ahead as far as is logical? When you are on a highway at speed your focus should be as far as you can see ahead. If the highway is winding I would be looking at least five or more turns ahead, terrain permitting.
STANCE: Ask a friend to join you for this exercise. Stand erect, at attention. Ask your friend to push you to the side from your shoulder. And once again from the top of your sternum. Not hard - just a little shove. It probably won’t be too hard for your friend to make you lose your footing.
OK, try it again, but stand a little more athletic in your stance. Not braced, relaxed but athletic. Now ask him to repeat the same shove. More than likely your friend will have to use more effort to effect the same reaction in you.
Think, if you will, of standing in the bed of an open pick up truck. A different friend at the wheel, unbeknownst to you, is a mischievous son-of-a-gun. The light turns green in your direction and he peels out. What happens to you? More than likely you’ve been pulled to the tailgate and taken down.
Same scenario, but this time you know who is driving. You watch the change of lights and are ready when you get the green. You instinctively brace. NO HOLDING ON! WOW … you’re still up! That positive athletic stance, the relaxed bracing stance, is the same body architecture that is appropriate for skiing. Staying over your feet, not behind them trying to catch up, is critical.
Walking down Main St. you stand vertical, more or less. That perpendicularity needs to be maintained to stay over your feet. When we are skiing down a hill, by staying perpendicular to the surface the inexperienced skier feels more apt to be falling out of control. Quite the opposite is true. (Remember what I stated earlier - skiing is often called a controlled fall.) In this position, we are supported by our skeleton. Standing centered over our feet is the most stable and versatile stance. Being supported by the skeleton is more powerful and less abusive to the body as well.
WIND: Imagine standing erect with a gale force wind pushing at you, against your desired direction. Instinctively several changes in body architecture will occur:
You put your shoulders in to the wind.
You lower your Center Of Gravity by widening your stance and bending your knees and ankles.
You bend forward into the wind.
You’re in a heightened state of awareness. This is a good thing. Maybe your adrenaline is starting to pump a little. It’s bloody exhilarating! If you are going down the mountain at 20 mph, that relates to a wind blowing up at you at 20 mph. Brace into the wind. Stay over your feet!
Every person has their own learning curve. When a student accepts the physics, is offensive in attitude, and shows more gusto than fear … it is then that I can transform from mentor to coach. It is then that he or she can start learning skills. Until then it’s more about building trust and a broadening comfort zone. There is nothing wrong with having a mentor. Some people take longer than others. Accept your learning curve and enjoy the process.
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