@4:39 Brent's description of the "bounce" on that Fischer boot is reminiscent of Eric Schlopy saying Fischer's vacuum plastic was far too reactive for him? I wonder how Eric's impressions of Fischer boots might change if Brent U-modified one for him. Or are the plastics' physical properties too correlated to the subtle behavior of boot flex to be modified at all?

Vraiment top enfin une méthode progressive en plusieurs étapes, évidemment il va falloir rester humble et patient mais quel plaisir d'avoir compris le principe du jeu...

I think I understand what you mean by “upper body rotation.” Many years ago, we were testing different ways to do short turns, and I think I discovered this technique back then. When I showed it to a friend, he thought, “Wow, that looks really good.”

nice trick with the phone. excellent video. thanks.

In the old days of straight skis, you would move your COG throughout the turn . You would move forward at the beginning of the turn to engage the tips, then to the center for the middle of the turn, then back to finish the turn and which unloaded the energy in the bent ski. Fun to play with even on shaped skis.

This is great for a physics class. However, a skier is not going through a calculus equation to determine their balance. It is an intuitive reaction and flow through the turn.

Great video Tom. George Joubert’s book was my skiing bible in the 80s. Glissement.

What you say here is good and useful, however there is one more very important property, that you forget to tal about. This is the place of your COM over your skis. The COM should move backwards over your ski during the whole turn. It should be over your ski-tips and load your ski-tips when the turn starts and in an optimal carving turn the COM should move backwards and when you finish the turn the COM should be over the ski-tales and load the ski-tales. You use the whole edge of your skis from tip to tale. This means that you must move your COM from the tales to the tips, before you start a new turn of your skis. You do this during the cross over of your skis. You prepare this during the transition and then when you edge your skis you must really cross över your skis over your ski-tales and move your COM first so that your COM takes over your skis and the COM ends up close to your ski-tips on the inside of your skis. I think, that this forward-backward COM movement over your skis is more important than your angle change to the slope. skiingtechnique.wordpress.com/

Beautiful way to dig in

Great video, particularly as I knew about the virtual bump but never twigged that this is why we are always trying to "be centered in the future by changing our positioning now". Question: I understand now why we want to "get forward" at the top of the turn, so that we are centered by the middle of the turn (apex, fall line, etc). But why is it that being on our heels makes turn initations so hard in the first place? Is it related to the virtual bump, or something else - perhaps because parts of the ski (i.e. the front half) isn't fully engaged, or maybe biomechanics making it harder to shift balance to the big-toe edge, etc?

super helpful phone and pole demo !

Great info Tom ! I had never heard about the virtual bump . . . .very interesting !!

Thank you Tom for another great video. Good to see you in Niseko. Wish you do lessons there.

What a beautiful snow and skiing there :) Well about the virtual bump, the question is about absorption and not to flying after it. And in the fall line the question is about being active in your external ski going forward on it.

Great video. This is so crucial for any type of good skiing and it does not get the attention it deserves. Most instructors preach to you should stay forward and that is the wrong message (even though many many skiers are ‘in the backseat’ in the wrong part of the turn).

good footage.

Incredible tip I've been instituting the last 3 or 4 years We always taught never to rotate our shoulders stiff like a soldier but this technique is by far one of the best I have worked on and I'm so happy to see you explaining it to all of us and putting it into action Great work my friend.... Powder to the people

Yes. I got fed up with my inability to feel comfortable getting forward and did something "crazy": I completely removed all the forward lean adjustment in my boots. Finally - FINALLY! - I could stack over the balls of my feet. Instant turn initiations, even at very low speeds. Every bootfitter for 10 years had been trying to *add* a spoiler behind my large calves, on top of the maxed-out forward lean of the boot. So I basically did a double negative of what they wanted me to try. The icing on the cake? This past week I went back into your archives and listened to your conversation with Reilly McGlashan. He does the same thing to his boots! It always pays to experiment, and it always pays to be scientific about evaluating the change (like taking videos). Thanks for another great, cogent, video.

Great points Tom! Within our certifying organizations we often get caught on “absolutes”. Your explanation reminds me of my own experimentation last season with rotating my pelvis into the turn- something I thought was completely forbidden, as the hips are considered part of the upper body in nearly all PSIA language, and “shouldn’t” rotate. What resulted were short turns that were more actively steered and I remained more in balance with my outside ski. Very relatable video!

Well, the Austrians have it figured out. One thing they did quite recently: focus on efficient, relaxed and attractive skiing and stop the carving obsession. Carving is great but it is just one way to get down a slope and it is not for everyone all the time.

Hi Tom, we want to see the videos before and after :)

This blew my mind…love it ❤❤❤

Well I have you to thank about this in my bump skiing I switched my compression from the top of the bump to the backside of the bump standing tall at the top compressing at the bottom which is completely opposite of what I had been doing. Utilizing the pump track technique that you espoused in one of your videos and yes it did work and work well.

5:08 YES! Just last season I experienced exactly what I think you are talking about here. I was taking a clinic at Park City from Jon DoBoer who specializes in teaching older people how to deal with there limitations. He taught me to "throw" the soon to be outside shoulder of next turn into the turn. This sounded completely opposite of what I considered to be a "stable upper body" but I am a very open minded person and I love to try new things. I spent the whole season playing with this and even teaching it to guests where appropriate. What I learned is what he was teaching was how to ski from the core and initiate the turn through the core. I also took videos of myself and it doesn't look at all like I am initiating the turn through my upper body but rather I driving into the turn through my core. I learned that at stable upper body is not a static upper body, it drives into the turn through the core. ALWAYS KEEP AN OPEN MIND!

OMG, you’re giving me a headache now…. Don’t know if my mindset will allow me to do this!!

Follow harb🇦🇹

Thank you for sharing.

I think what this points out is ... functional skiing vs. portrait skiing. As instructors, we get so obsessed with how things "look". Now, I understand that a lot of this is based on good biomechanics. But I can absolutely say, for my own skiing, it sometimes results in a static position. A stiff pose. I will sometimes look at video of myself skiing and think, "god, what am I doing?" This afflicts the ski instructor community much more than the racing community. But you can see it there too at some phases of a racer's development. But at least with racing, you have a clock. You are trying things to shave milliseconds off that number. And you do this by being functional and using athleticism. I've had coaches tell me to do something that I know is absolutely wrong, like "get more aft." But then you realize that they are telling you the thing YOU need to get back to an optimum position. Is it possible he told you to "rotate the upper body" because it was static? Could you have been even more static because you were trying to impress him with your form? Food for thought.

Where did the second skier forget his helmet?

How would you rate the Daleboot infinitesimal adjustable flex system through their screw/spring design?

Skiing development is like having a very big bag of very small christmas presents, but being only allowed one one per year to keep and play with...and Tom has just presented me another one to wonder what's beneath the shiny wrapper! It's now clear that I'll go to my grave without ever playing with all the toys! Thanks Tom!!!

Yes Tom, I've had that experience too. With our skiing friends we often joke to say "you think you're doing something but you're not". That is often hindering progress. Trying opposites, or everything, is good and you need a way to review it, like filming. Thanks for talking about it. 👍

One day i was in Courmayeur, Italy, and saw a guy flying down on a black slope just after me, perfect round gs turns, and i thought, wow impressive. That guy turned out to be Christian Ghedina....

We gonna TEAR UP Friday flat in a couple of weeks, and try all the opposite things. It's gonna be fun

self-discovery

"Not much turn shape" creates a ski skidding in the direction of the fall-line, so in my opinion this is not advanced skiing. As soon you are able to avoid this kind of ski skidding, you make advanced ski-turns as I see it. This can be done by more turn shape. skiingtechnique.wordpress.com/

And you do not show the footage you speak of?

Were you possibly following your skis too much to where this rotation of the upper body into the turn was directing your body down the hill the way we do more in a short turn than a long turn?

You sounded like Lightning McQueen. 😊

Skier #1 is how the majority of skiers do it nowadays. They HAVE shaped skis, the just don't use them 💩

Awesome video, look forward to trying this.

Incredible improvement. Now buy some more suitable skis and save these for water skiing.

Why is this "expert" talking about flex rating as if it is standardized across boots? It just isn't.

Really interesting. Am a chicken leg lightweight. Sticktion definitely defines what I face. I'll try not doing my upper buckle up so tight in the future. What are your thoughts on the power strap? I swapped out the Fisher RC4 strap for an elastic booster strap as recommended by my boot tech.

P.S. Forgot to add that boot boards should also have one sideed teflon tape put on them as well.

A hint to eliminate stiction is to use one sided teflon tape on the interior of the shell. First of all the teflon surface allows you to get the liner into the shell easier. An added benefit is that the stiction is eliminated. If you grind your shells the teflon surface will smooth the ground areas, so the liner doesn't bind or stick to the shell.

There is something about skiers and their 911 and I love mine.

Very very helpful. My right foot is small than left. I understand better why it’s hard to flex my right boot than left when I tighten my right boot. I use liner sleeve to increase the volume of my right foot instead of tightening the buckles. Thanks again.

I have always wondered why manufactures do not make a full featured boots in the 120 range, or maybe I should say I have always been annoyed by manufactures not having a 120 full featured boot

What about when we all were using Derby Flex and risers? Talk about increasing the dead spot on a ski. Those mounting points were centimeters in front and behind the binding mounts.