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Stiff as a board... agility and flow issues
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I'm sure I'm probably going to get flack for this, but I gotta ask anyway since it's driving me nuts.
I notice in a lot of the videos posted here on NS that kids are able to pull 3's off of practically nothing, sometimes even on flat land.
It also looks like a lot of cats are able to really just flow smoothly with their motions and pop around on nose and tail switching from normal to fakie and back again as easy as if they were just walkin' around.
When I'm out fooling around everything feels awkward and stiff. Nothing "flicks" easily. Popping on flat land from switch to regular and back requires some awkward effort to pull my skis around. It NEVER feels like my skis are an extension of my legs, but rather something I'm having to consciously manage. I think this is in large part to my boots being way to big, but still.
I generally feel like I'm lacking "quickness" in loading and unloading my weight when coiling for spins, there's no "pop". Everything feels too forced.
Now I'll admit that I'm 26 w/ joints that have been beat to hell by 20+ years of skiing and 10+ years of mountain biking, but I'm really trying to push and progress, but it just isn't comin' too quick :)
Any advice or similar experiences?
I already know I shouldn't be gay, or a fag, or a homo, or a pussy, or any number of other things so I've already got that in mind, no need to point it out again ;)
-Nathan
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I hear ya man, I get the same feeling. The thing I think that those guys have that maybe you and I don't....tons and tons of time on their skis. They ski so much that their skis ARE extentions of their legs. Now granted, I consider myself a good overall skier and it sounds like you are too. But I'm too much of a "weekend warrior" (9-5 jobs suck!) to get that much time on my skis to make jibbing feel second nature.
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i think your boots may be a pretty big issue to, boots that are too big can have a major effect on your skiing, just a thought...
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my boots are huge too. sometimes i get sketchy, but sometimes everything just works. its feels great when it all works
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probably just keep working on it and feel it out, dont worry so much what you look like, eventually youll just do it. If youve really been skiing for 20 years, i assume your plenty comfortable on a pair of skis. just work it out
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Well I know when fear kicks in... it's when I go to pull a 360 or 540 and manage to go about 90, lol :) Though most of that is just not committing to the trick and getting distracted. Doesn't happen that often, but I tell you... it hurts like hell when it does :)
I came over from racing too, but never raced on shaped skis, and I think in some ways I'm still getting used to how a shaped ski works differently in clutch situations (though it doesn't really apply here).
Life got MUCH easier when I mounted my Karmas at the FS mark rather than FR... balance and that feeling of having to drag the tips of my skis around dropped noticeably. I snagged a set of 04/05 Rossi Scratch FS's for cheap and kicking around on those is much easier still (though they're not even close for ripping down the mountain).
Having boots that are a full size too big and have an incredibly stiff racing flex can't be helping. It's been affecting the rest of my skiing for a while... makes it too easy to accidentally get too far back seat when skiing aggressively, and being able to partially role my ankle over in the boot makes it way too easy to screw myself over when skiing in the glades because I can get on my outside edge of my lower ski... which is really annoying.
Despite all that though I just feel super tense and tight though. Anybody have experience with stretching and/or deep tissue body work helping loosen things up and making your skiing more fluid?
Thanks!
-Nathan
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I know you don't want to hear this, but I am going to say it is age. I am 25, and I definitely don't feel like I used to even 2 or 3 years ago. Just keep working on your motions and have fun. Also, how much do you weigh? Being a bigger skier makes spinning quickly or having a ton of pop a bit harder.
Last tip though, make sure you are making good use of your edges. They are very helpful in spinning fast
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lol, yeah I'm an old timer :) I totally miss being 16 though. I used to go to Utah a few times a year to do big mountain skiing. I lived through some pretty nasty spills and would just pop back up on my skis and go for more...
Things are a little different now... :) I keep pushing myself hard into the newschool style, and I totally LOVE it.
It took a full day of doing nothing but skiing switch to get used to it, but other than bombing through the glades I prefer shooting fakie. The last time I went up about a week and a half ago I'd say I spent probably 80% of the day going backwards.
Anyway having converted from ski racing to snowboarding and now to freeskiing I'm totally sold. All the freedom and fun of snowboarding with all the speed and versatility of skiing.
As a boarder friend of mine put it, "It's weird, suddenly skiing isn't gay anymore." LOL, and he's right.
-Nathan
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I'm only 167 pounds and 5'10"... makes my 177 Karmas a bitch to ride sometimes :) I've dropped 90 pounds of baggage in the last couple years, so I'm sure that's having some effect too... it totally fucked with my mountain biking, my balance was all out of whack.
Use my edges? Really? How? I'm just popping straight up with my bases flat.
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Yeah once I move back to Portland I expect to solve this problem. It's just too much of a pain in the ass to get to Schweizter for me me... I always have to find a ride. A luxury sedan is nice to drive, unless your a ski fanatic :)
Being able to get to Mt. Hood quick and easy should really help at the end of this season and next.
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yeah, when your popping, holding an edge is key, because it allows you a solid footplant. also, as im shure you know, keeping your tips detuned makes it much easier to butter and revert without your edges catching and interferring. but to me, sounds like the biggest problem is the boots. go get something like a dalbello or a lange that has a nice tight fit, and a medium flex. it creates a much better interface, and you will be able to control stuff MUCH MUCH easier. that alone will make moving your skis around much more natural.
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It takesa bunch of time to get used to skis. the karmas is a big ski too so it's not as easy to move for butters and stuffs liek that.
the ski being heavier makes it a bit harder to spin around fast as you need to pop more and use more of your stranght. Exemple doing a switch up with a pair of ak maden wont be as easy as with a pair of triplets or thruster.
so it' normal to have more difficulties to pop to switch with the karmas.
So, to get more comfy on your skis to do some newschool stuff, I higly suggest you to spend a bunch of time goofying arround the mountain riding at a slow pace and just making turnsand changing you body position, being more foward, a bit more on the tail ect. that will give you an idea of how the ski flex when you do certain movement. this way, you'll know what will happen if you do a certain thing
exemple. knowing how far back you need to set your wieght if you wantto do propper ollie
Or how far foward for a nolluie
then the ski will be a lot easier to control for pretty much everything.
You might wanna find boots that are your exact foot sizetoo as it helps ALOT!!!!!!
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