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MID-SEASON
DAVE CIESLOWSKI
Contributing Editor for the Master Skier
Dave is a coach with the Rebound Sports Performance Lab in Bend, OR as well as the Coordinator for the Exercise Physiology Lab at Central Oregon Community College. He can usually be found teaching on the trails of Mt. Bachelor, or playing in the snow with his wife Stacy and daughter Hannah.
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Kris Freeman of U.S. Ski Team
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In part one of this three part series, we saw how using V1 improperly in flat terrain can lead to problems down the line. In this article, we will explore how the act of releasing the pole and “flicking” the wrist at the end of the pole stroke can lead to technique problems.
While watching people ski, timing of any skate stride sticks out more than any other technique issue.
What I see happening is people are trying to apply modern skate technique to a skill level that was developed in the early to mid nineties. And, mind you, this is not the skier’s fault. Many instructors and coaches out there, myself included, have neglected the necessary and small changes that need to be made in order for modern technique to work. I feel one of the main culprits of timing problems is the “wrist flick”.
Way back in the stone age of the 1990’s, we used to tell people to extend completely with the elbow at the end of the poling motion, flick the wrist back and release the pole. Not only did this give us some extra “oompf” at the end of our poling motion, but it also looked really cool as our hands released the poles and then quickly grabbed them again. All was well and good.
Then the Nordic world moved along for the next 15 years and V2 became the new buzzword. So, everyone started to try and V2 all the time. Some people got faster, some stayed the same, and some got slower.
Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Everyone was supposed to get faster! What happened?
I’ll tell you what happened, a little thing called the “wrist flick” and complete elbow extension went away for the fast folks while the rest of us still held onto it because we thought it looked cool. As your teenage daughter will tell you, ‘give it up’. Anything slow doesn’t look cool.
Modern technique dogma tells us that we must try and V2 everything that we can. This is accomplished by varying the tempo and power output dependant on the terrain.
For instance, when you are on a slight uphill, coupling slower tempo with higher power output will give you longer glide times, which equal a longer relaxation phase.
When you get into steeper terrain, the skier should ideally switch to a lower power output with higher turnover to keep the skis running uphill. In order for these ideas to work, you need to have quick hand speed.
Ah! There you have it! Hand speed. This is the key to not only the V2, but also most other timing issues. The reason why most skiers have trouble with slow hands is because they are fully extending their arms out the back and flicking their wrists.
When I say hand speed, I am talking about the rate of return for your hands as they finish the poling motion, and then return to the height equal to your shoulders.
In good skiers, there is no pause at the hips and the wrists don’t flick. The hands loosely grip the poles at the end of the stroke and then are quickly brought back to the upright position. It is almost as if the hands bounce off the hips to come up again. If there is any pause in the stride, it happens after the hands have returned to the upright position, not at or behind the hips.
There are many reasons why pausing with your hands “up” is important, and maybe the topic for another article. But, for now, just remember that skating is about 70% upper body these days.
If your wrists are “flicked” behind your waist and your skis are bleeding speed, it becomes quite a problem to get those hands back up fast enough to pole again. People start doing all kinds of weird things that just seem to exaggerate the problem than solve it. They start shifting their weight, over throwing their arms, and mixing techniques. But, they still flick the wrist. Go figure.
Try this the next time you ski. Vary your power/ tempo outputs based on the terrain, and only compress your hands to the waist and don’t release the poles. What you may find is that you start using more abdominals to drive the motion (like you should) and that the pole stroke becomes shorter and more concise.
The poling motion is all business! Gone are the days of pretty, flowing, poling. Say goodbye to the wrist flick and your skiing will thank you.
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