pdxjohn, good catch there…I saw that too.
Also, the follow through past the hips is a bit old school too. The reason is the hands can only apply force onto the poles once you get them back in front of you…and high.
This sets you up for high hands and high hips then the “crash” onto the poles…all of which Torin does well:-)
Kurt
Agreed…but this comes back to “high cost of good form”.
Clicking the heals together (almost) overexaggerates the weight transfer which is a good thing for beginner masters skiers, who (especially on rollerskis) have no hope world cup form. The two ways of improving technique is to really go super slow trying to be smooth with full weight transfer and balance, or full out race pace at high V02 trying to maintain form will going anaerobic with high cadence. Both are tough to do. Its the in between stuff that is easy (moderate pace good technique), where you can really build in bad habits, and sadly the beginner skier is always going at that in between pace cause they have too little balance to anything super slow, and too little control/coordination/balance/strength/fitness to do good technique at high speed (just like the average tri swimmer).
So I think overexaggeration of motions to build in good weight transfer are important at first, until you can move to more advanced levels. Pushing high cadence to beginner skiers is just asking to build in bad technique (and we all know how easy that is…)
Dev
Kurt
Is there a good drill for V2? I can’t seem to get more than two or three DP-kicks before I becoming unstable (i.e. too far over and my weight on the outside and having to hop…). Dev started me double poling then picking up alternate legs with each double pole. Seems to help. Is there any other? I get the V1 and V2 Alt motions (altough not pretty) but V2…
Thanks;
a few things…balance (duh), done by lots of rollerskiing with no poles and working on exaggerated glide on the flats and false flats.
turnover, dont “try” to glide so much. V2 is considered second gear right, so the tempo should be pretty high. Most folks V2 slight uphills and false flats, and at this speed, a gliding ski is a slowing ski. So see my post above about the hand follow through. With a faster turnover, you dont have time for the hands to “fling” back and then recover them “high”. So do some V2 where you never let go of the pole, or flick it. This forces early power application and a quicker turnover.
Hope that helps.
Kurt
Let me know when you’re in town.
Ski then brewery (The Alchemist)
It’s gettin’ cold here. Hopefully on snow soon.
will do, might be up for the Eastern Cup at Stowe…maybe. It is 2 days after Cross Nationals.
Kurt
Count me in! Sounds like a good Feb…I wanna do the Forestville 100km in March…you in for that too?
Kurt, I hear you about all the power coming up front as you fall onto your poles. I’m not talking about hand follow through during the power phase…I’m talking about Trevor’s hands stopping beside his hips to grab his poles on the recovery phase.
Schermy, I’ll be going to Forestville for the 100K. If Kurt shows up, he should prepare to be spanked…excuses about losing 1000 calories from his bottle cage will not suffice 
whats the date on that 100K?
March 3rd…looks like a blast
Kurt…www.boreal100Kloppet.ca…Yikes…they just changed the date on me to March 03…I better get clearance from my wife.
Looks like there is a “Tour de Quebec sur Ski de Fond” in March:
March 03 Boreal 100K Skate Ski Forestville, Quebec (www.boreal100Kloppet.ca) March 17 Tour Mont Valin 50K skate Ski, Chicoutimi Quebec (www.tourmontvalin.com) March 25th XC ski National Championships 50K skate ski Mont Ste. Anne Quebec (http://www.skinationals.com/2006/ last year’s website…can’t find this year’s)
Now I have to figure out who is going to coach the kids on March 3rd!
Yeah, that was the other thing he emphasized, getting those poling arms just to the hips then bring them quickly forward again, almost creating a forward lunge effect.
Dev,
It’s actually easier to do at ANY speed, since it places less total emphasis on balance (the biggest problem in beginneers is lack of balance). The heel just naturally swings forward and slightly inward, then you step on it. You no longer have to think of “hanging” on the balance legs so long, especially in V1. Somewhat more balance required at faster speeds in V2 and V2 alteranate of course.
OK, this is what I do, but does it apply to guys just learning, or do they work up to it by overexagerating the weight transfer? I agree that clicking heel to heel does feel (and is) unnatural. Would it be better to go heel of recovery ski to toe of glide ski (or close)…Kinda like catch up for swimming ?
The problem I see doing it any other way with beginner skiers is that they never actually commit weight to one ski and get on a flat ski, they just sit in between edges of skis.
I was about to add the Tour of Anchorage on March 4 to your calendar but now see that you are already conflicted!
If anyone is interested in coming to Alaska for the 25, 40, or 50K Tour of Anchorage, chime in. I have plenty of local knowledge and, perhaps more importantly, plenty of floor space. Happy to host.
One year I will be in Anchorage for that race, and would love to occupy floorspace of a fellow STer! I’ve wanted to do this race for ~15 years, but can’t seem to pull it off!
ok, now here is a concept…dont teach them on skate skis…teach them real weight transfer…classic skiing!
With the new skis, new boots, hyper waxes, and better “engines” weight transfer is of less importance now skating (ok a little exaggeration, but you know what I mean).
For classic, to “set” the wax…you HAVE to weight transfer.
Kurt
Well, if not this year then I’ll have to set you up with a friend as my floor space will be available elsewhere in the lower 48 (we’re moving).
Last year I skied the 25K in 1:48 on my third day on skate skiis. This year I’m planning on the 40K, including actually training for it. I’m looking forward to it.
Dev, my friend, don’t slam the CSM! Anyone looking for more of the “mental prep” would benefit from this “little” outing. Skiing for 11hrs with a pack & camping out sure toughens the mind & body! Although not a race you sure can’t dally if you want to make the check point cutoffs. Check out http://www.csm-mcs.com/ for details on Canadian Ski Marathon. My “Tour de Ski” most years (for those who prefer classic skiing) looks like:
No one messes with the Queen. I think the Queen’s Tour and the Fleck Tour are the same…Fleck just did it back in 1991!