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Hard landings

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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
Alright so im just getting into trying to get my skis off the ground and im wondering what some of yall do to make landings less harsh. Like stuff other than finding a steeper landing. Got any tips that might help?
Dec 18 2020 1:11PM
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SuspiciousFish
Posts: 2794 - Karma: 16,910
Do a bunch of power cleans with dumbells and stair jumps during the week. It will help strengthen your muscles and bones for hard landings and will make a big difference.
Dec 18 2020 1:18PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
SuspiciousFishDo a bunch of power cleans with dumbells and stair jumps during the week. It will help strengthen your muscles and bones for hard landings and will make a big difference.

Ok cool thanks man
Dec 18 2020 1:21PM
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SuspiciousFish
Posts: 2794 - Karma: 16,910
nathanlaylandOk cool thanks man


No prob. Stair jumps are the best. When you do them make sure to keep your eyes level and use your peripheral vision to spot your landing on each stair. This is what you need to do skiing and it will train your body. Also, do arm circles every day, 20 forward and 20 reverse. It strengthens the connective tissue in your shoulders and will help prevent dislocating your shoulder if you crash hard.
Dec 18 2020 1:24PM
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X_MEMESWERVE_XX
Posts: 3691 - Karma: 30,545
Definitely what SuspiciousFish said... but also treat your legs and knees as if theyre a shock absorber. Dont land completely stiff legged, and dont fully collapse to the landing either, cuz thats setting you up for injury either way. Find a comfortable, solid, flex in your knees when you land and kind of bounce with it like the suspension of a car would
Dec 18 2020 1:25PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
Thanks for the tips guys
Dec 18 2020 1:27PM
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brownetown
Posts: 448 - Karma: 4,385
sort of like when you lift weights, bend with your knees rather than your back. It will make a huge difference in keeping you balanced
Dec 18 2020 1:53PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
brownetownsort of like when you lift weights, bend with your knees rather than your back. It will make a huge difference in keeping you balanced


Thanks
Dec 18 2020 1:55PM
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WoFlowz
Posts: 8014 - Karma: 63,809
Well I do yoga every night, it rly does help. So does stretching before and after skiing. Also stretching your planters and Achilles and calf’s will help a lot but ultimately you need to exercise like box/stair jumps, squats, lunges, and presses
Dec 18 2020 2:09PM
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mountaindewgirl
Posts: 2290 - Karma: 20,850
You'd be really surprised by how many people wear body pads under their outerwear. It's pretty well accepted, like helmets. Makes a huuuuuuge difference when u fall. Kneepads, elbow pads, waist pads, back pads... Theres plenty of people low key wearing motocross gear without anyone able to tell the difference.
Dec 18 2020 2:22PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
larilinesignYou'd be really surprised by how many people wear body pads under their outerwear. It's pretty well accepted, like helmets. Makes a huuuuuuge difference when u fall. Kneepads, elbow pads, waist pads, back pads... Theres plenty of people low key wearing motocross gear without anyone able to tell the difference.

I always wondered if dudes wore knee braces or anything for those big hits
Dec 18 2020 2:24PM
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9395 - Karma: 61,994
strong legs and strong core. legs because they're your landing gear/shock absorbers and are well suited to the task, and core because in 90% of skiing maneuvers you should be flexing your core, it's basically the control unit for everything

strong everything means you're less injury prone and more energy mid-line so you don't get sloppy
Dec 18 2020 2:24PM
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9395 - Karma: 61,994
also just experience-- a lot of times it's an educated decision on whether you try to land bolts or if you might need to backseat it or even hot tub it if shit's going wrong

doesn't have to be only skiing, you can practice in other sports and activities and it's shocking how much you learn by just watching videos of good skiers
Dec 18 2020 2:26PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
SofaKingSickalso just experience-- a lot of times it's an educated decision on whether you try to land bolts or if you might need to backseat it or even hot tub it if shit's going wrong

doesn't have to be only skiing, you can practice in other sports and activities and it's shocking how much you learn by just watching videos of good skiers

I mtb so i understand using your legs as shocks ig i just have to apply it more to skiing
Dec 18 2020 2:27PM
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mountaindewgirl
Posts: 2290 - Karma: 20,850
nathanlaylandI always wondered if dudes wore knee braces or anything for those big hits


A fair bit of em, especially if they'd had past injuries. Definitely if they'd had a recent injury.
Dec 18 2020 2:51PM
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ericforman
Posts: 722 - Karma: 6,213
Snow conditions make a huge difference. Straight up powder can be hard at first - you can go over the front of your skis especially if your mount is closer to center. If you can find a day with like 2 inches on an already soft base it should feel way better. Landing on super firm snow kind of sucks, which is why so many people in the midwest / east coast have sick rail games. I find heavy, properly fitting boots with a plush liner help also. And then yea, stay loosey goosey if you can, bring your knees up and punch forward.
Dec 18 2020 2:59PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
ericformanSnow conditions make a huge difference. Straight up powder can be hard at first - you can go over the front of your skis especially if your mount is closer to center. If you can find a day with like 2 inches on an already soft base it should feel way better. Landing on super firm snow kind of sucks, which is why so many people in the midwest / east coast have sick rail games. I find heavy, properly fitting boots with a plush liner help also. And then yea, stay loosey goosey if you can, bring your knees up and punch forward.


I tried last night on some firmer snow...didnt feel great. Im running a stock liner and no custom foot beds maybe thats why it hurt my feet....
Dec 18 2020 3:09PM
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plugs
Posts: 107 - Karma: 419
Go find some stairs and start jumping off them, start at the bottom stair and go up a step every time. Eventually you'll be able to jump from the top of any staircase!

In all seriousness though jumping off things is going to help you coordinate absorbing impacts, focus on landing with your body as long as possible to give you more range of motion to absorb the impact. Footbeds are also key, you dont need any sort of padding but you want a footbed that fits well with your foot so the impacts get dispersed into the whole foot instead of a couple hot spots. That will get you on the way to being able to take hard landings but the only way to be able to take alot of hard landings sustainably is getting in shape with exercises mentioned previously.
Dec 18 2020 3:37PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
MortbrokemyskisGo find some stairs and start jumping off them, start at the bottom stair and go up a step every time. Eventually you'll be able to jump from the top of any staircase!

In all seriousness though jumping off things is going to help you coordinate absorbing impacts, focus on landing with your body as long as possible to give you more range of motion to absorb the impact. Footbeds are also key, you dont need any sort of padding but you want a footbed that fits well with your foot so the impacts get dispersed into the whole foot instead of a couple hot spots. That will get you on the way to being able to take hard landings but the only way to be able to take alot of hard landings sustainably is getting in shape with exercises mentioned previously.

Thanks for the advice
Dec 18 2020 3:41PM
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BradFiAusNzCoCa
Posts: 7208 - Karma: 63,510
100% pop off the balls of your feet, land on the balls of your feet. Have you ever noticed how guys like Antti Ollila land then immediately flex their tails?

I was instructing this last season and got shafted on some short skis. It totally taught me to correct my stance, land bolts on, then transfer my energy to tail. Commit 100% to your toes, then throw your weight all around.
Dec 18 2020 7:18PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
BradAusNzCoCa100% pop off the balls of your feet, land on the balls of your feet. Have you ever noticed how guys like Antti Ollila land then immediately flex their tails?

I was instructing this last season and got shafted on some short skis. It totally taught me to correct my stance, land bolts on, then transfer my energy to tail. Commit 100% to your toes, then throw your weight all around.

That makes sense. Thx
Dec 18 2020 7:55PM
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WoFlowz
Posts: 8014 - Karma: 63,809
nathanlaylandI tried last night on some firmer snow...didnt feel great. Im running a stock liner and no custom foot beds maybe thats why it hurt my feet....


If your feet are hurting try stretching your planters they can get rly tight or pulled from large impacts or hard ones
Dec 18 2020 9:56PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13126 - Karma: 19,229
Im 33, landings are tougher than when I was 16. But, there are ways to still get your jumps and not ruin your day.
1. Powder is everything. Softer landings are smoother than icy landings.
2. Landing angle. Landing on a slope is nicer than an uphill slope. When you land and loosing vert, its a nice feeling. You can even use transitions in moguls as long as you aim right.
3. Speed. Faster you go, more the forward inertia overtakes the gravitational force. Basically, you go foward so fast that landing impact forces are reduced. Its called projectiles in physics.
4. proper landing. No back seat, hand drags or afterbang. You need to land center, bend the knee and push into the landing. Anything else will hurt
Dec 20 2020 7:40PM
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nathanlayland
Posts: 26 - Karma: 130
Took yalls advice tonigjt and definitley helped. Feet didnt hurt and bending the knees made it much better. Was the air time huge? No. But i think thats pretty good everyones gotta start somewhere. So thanks for everybodies help!
Dec 20 2020 9:34PM
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