Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Birkie Class, Valentines Day. Answer: GRAVITY


OK, I’m impressed. Our little balance ditty last night was great. Steady and stable. Balance comes not only side to side but also fore and aft. I saw that last night. Balance also comes
in both a static and a dynamic form. Static is the passive form like standing
on a 2X2. Dynamic is like when you ride a bike. Both are NOT mutually
exclusive. When you see a rider doing a “track stand” that is, balancing while
not moving they are blending dynamic balance with static balance. Skiing
involves mostly dynamic balance but the longer you can hold on to your glide
phase (static) the farther you will glide. (My track stand analogy works until
a rider applies pressure on the pedal while holding the brake but that is
another doctorate dissertation).

The point of this rambling??
Balance takes many forms, side to side, front to back, passive and static BUT
ALL CAN BE DEVELOPED! It happened while you were not looking. Whew!

It was a rewarding night, especially my schooling of Paul Braun on the finer points of ego mania. (Megalomaniac?) We finish up next week with a softer tune-up and some wax words and prognostications. Check out http://www.skinnyski.com/ for updates and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzSVkcGpTnk&feature=youtu.be
this video on scraper technique. Ian scrapes like a pro. This is the right way,
there is technique involved. I would add that you only scrape 2-3 passes at
most. Great night, find snow, wax skis and we go again at 6:00 pm next Tuesday.

No comments: