Physical training and skiing fundamentals have always been promoted in ski racing, and even more so lately with the attention to long term development principles. As it relates to equipment, the current generation of skiers have benefited from incredibly forgiving skis. The current equipment can make up for the technical and physical deficiencies in athletes and allow a reasonable amount of success with mediocre physical preparation and technique. Judging by the comments and videos of those on the new skis, the equipment can produce similar turn shapes however they are much more demanding on the body and require more precision in movement and technique.
Comments from top athletes, who have had the chance to ski on the new dimensions:
“I think it’s going to be a lot more physically taxing to race on next year’s skis, requiring a greater level of endurance, so that will be a factor in my offseason training”.
-Ted Ligety
They felt super slow and boring to ski on.
The felt very dangerous to ski on as a small mistake would result in a ski that totally disappeared and went straight out. (when the old skis would find grip and come back and save the mistake)
They felt scary for straddling when coming close to the gates.
They are impossible to ski flats on, I felt more like a cross country skier that skated my way down.
With this said the change to ski on them was not as big as I expected, its almost the same thing only harder, more tiring and scarier.
Jon Olsson
The new rules
equipment-specifications-edition-december-1
While next season our athletes are not directly affected, in 2 years when moving up to U18, females will have to ski GS on 188cm and males on 195cm (-5cm tolerance for FIS/ENL). Of equal importance to the length will be the reduced sidecut of the skis, 30m for females, 35m for males. The equipment manufacturers are having some early success finding a good relationship between sidecut and flex pattern, however this testing is with world class skiers who already have good technique. These skis have not been tested with lower level skiers who are still developing technically and physically. Even for provincial team athletes, it will be difficult to acquire these skis early in the prep period. Those potentially qualifying for Europa cup or world juniors will have a short window to adapt to the new skis.
In others sports such as golf and tennis, the equipment has become much more forgiving than in the past and has allowed the general public to achieve similar results to that of the pros, this has also been the case in junior ski equipment. Young skiers, with a minimum of edge angle and in a weak position can perform carved turns. When athletes or coaches fail to see the big picture (fundamentals) this gets extremely dangerous. Emphasis shifts to short term outcome related results rather than a long term vision for fast skiing in the future.
I truly believe it has always been the case, since the inception of carving skis that we have given athletes a false sense of security, rather than elevating our standards for basic skiing skills. If basics are not addressed early enough, athletes will struggle against those technical deficiencies potentially for the rest of their career, or learn to compensate in other ways (equipment setup, movement patterns). This is also
reflected in the environment we provide for the athletes. Are we training them at the edge of their capabilities? or making them feel good? I believe in setting to challenge the athletes to turn their skis and ski with good technique. It is such a fine balance: setting for quality repetition with enough challenge to promote proper movement patterns and habits. This is why it’s so important to set and train with a purpose and plan your session.
Lately I am hearing that they are setting very round to test the limitations of the new skis. For sure if you adapt the setting to the sidecut success is possible, however, it’s doubtful that will be the case, especially when you look at venues like Val D’Isere with vertical distances from 20-25m. The world cup teams are preparing in consequences of this, no doubt.
In anticipation of these rule changes and to ensure the continued success of athletes in the Ottawa region we can prepare our athletes by emphasizing these areas:
1.Physical preparation
-Perform movement screens to identify deficiencies in mobility and strength and injury prone areas
-A structured strength and conditioning program from program entry. Athletes must start with the ability to handle body weight in a variety of different movements before receiving external load
-Properly address in season maintenance including: strength and power, mobility, recovery and nutrition
-Encourage other sports and activities to avoid early specialization, promote basic motor skills and promote overall athleticism
2. On snow fundamentals
-Increase on snow volume with emphasis on skill development, in all age categories, seek out more quality training. Spring training, quality local training.
-Promote overall athleticism on skis through freeskiing all terrain, jumps, speed elements
-Push the limits of the current equipment with course setting
Other technical notes:
The environment will play a huge role in how these skis react: snow type, snow hardness, course set, speed. Athletes seem to report if the speed is high and the snow hard enough, the skis react quite well, however, in soft conditions it is very slow and boring. I saw a video of world junior champion Henrik Kristofferson skiing on the new skis on perfect snow; looks great! This is an example of a kid with amazing balance and great fundamentals. Even on the old skis, he is not the biggest kid and his strength obviously lies in his technique, like Hirscher. Technique and good snow = great feeling on new skis.
The old skis forgive a lack of precision at the top of turn. The new skis will simply not come around if you are not in balanced position to properly engage them. Typical results in the past of poor engagement at the top of the turn would be low pressure and falling inside, especially in courses with changes of rhythm and turn shape. You cannot expect the same level of forgiveness on the reduce sidecut and increased length. The position will need to be there to also feather the top of the turn. A clean carve will not always be possible and we should see more steering especially on steep, turny sections.
Similar to golf, using your old man’s driver vs your 460cc titanium beast, not much room for error with the old wood head.
I’ve always said: Fast skiing is a reflection of your fundamentals. This will be more true than ever.
I’m personally looking forward to the challenge of developing highly adaptable athletes that can rip on the new equipment. Although it’s an unwelcome equipment change, we have to learn to embrace it somehow..
Coach P
