what's here
- - skill pre-requisites
- - equipment
- - coaching
- - environment
- - striding without using poles
- - "scootering" with only one ski
- - 1-2-3-Glide
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I wrote up these exercises and created this page because committed
weight transfer and balance on one ski are so key for getting into more
kinds of fun on classic skis, and for more speed and efficiency.
All good XC instructors and books I know agree.
But I
haven't found exercises for balance available on the web written with
this level of specific detail for learning skiers. (Actually, I
have not found instructions written like this in books currently
available in English in the U.S., or any other media either.) So
even though I'm not an expert on exercises and learning about this, I've
tried to make something available here that could be more helpful for
some learning skiers.
I first learned and practiced exercises like this at the XC ski camp
at Silver Star in British Columbia, Canada. What I've written here
is not exactly what they taught, so please assume that any mistakes you
see are mine, not theirs. I've filtered and modified it with my
own learning experience, my "philosophy" of ski learning, and
ideas I picked up from expert skiers, books, and videos.
My hope in writing this page is that some gifted and experienced
instructor will see this and be inspired to write something
better -- so my attempt would no longer be needed, and instead I could
just have a link to those better instructions together with a few of my
own comments about them in light of my own learning experiences.
So I hope you find some things on this page helpful, and I'd be glad to hear about suggestions
and corrections -- or links to other web pages or resources with help on
this key topic.
skills you need before learning this
Everything on the page Get
Comfortable on Skis.
Get skis that are suitable for this technique:
- Skis with a waxable ski base work best for this stage, because you
need to glide in order to practive balance.
- But have a coach
or instructor help with your waxing job (or at least check
it).
- A no-wax ski base could be OK -- but not with the no-wax ridged or fish-scale pattern covering
almost the
entire base from tip to tail (because that would not permit enough
glide).
- If you use a no-wax ski, get some glide paste or liquid for
waxless skis, and apply some of that to the ski base -- for best
glide.
- Flex of the ski not too stiff: using "the paper
test", the paper should be solidly held under the wax pocket
with your body weight center over your whole foot on one ski -- see
the Fit of Skis
"secret".
- Flex of the ski not too soft (so that it's hard to make one
ski glide with all your weight on it). Don't use skis that are
only good for shuffling.
Even if your skis are within an OK range of fit for you, it's still
good to have your coach and instructor to review the fit and design
factors of your skis and how they interact with the snow conditions of
the day -- to help you distinguish whether some of the results you are
experiencing in your exercises are from your technique, or from the skis
and snow conditions.
Like if your skis are too stiff for conditions, then
you're not going to get decent grip even if you use good technique in
the exercises.
Or if your skis are too soft or your waxless pattern
too strong, they you're going to get grip even if your technique is
not good. But then you might be getting very little glide -- and
it's hard to practice balance if you're not getting much glide.
instructor or coach
It's pretty important to work with a good instructor or coach on
this -- especially in the first couple of practice sessions -- then
again at later points for "check-ups".
The reason is that learning solid balance and weight commitment
depends on a complicated interaction among ski flex,
waxless pattern (or grip wax), body position, pressure distribution, etc. -- so
it's tricky to sort out what's going right and what's going wrong --
and some of those key factors difficult to see without experience.
The other important reason is that this stage of the learning
process can be difficult, so it's good to have someone who can see signs of progress,
and keep you from getting into a discouraging rut.
The best way I know to learn this critical balance is to find about
50 yards (or 50 meters) of straight ski track either with a very slight slope or else
flat. Wide open, no trees or other obstacles around. Not crowds of other
skiers. You have to know you're safe and feel comfortable with the
conditions and slope and surroundings.
Really top cross country ski centers have a wide-open practice area
-- with no obstacles and with multiple groomed tracks -- designed just for this sort of
practice. If there's no area, at least find a flat wide trail with a Classic track on it where the track is
set far away from the sides of the trail -- so that there is no danger
of you hitting trees or rocks or other obstacles, or falling over a
steep drop-off or cliff -- in case you fall or lose control.
Choose a day and time when:
- it's not snow conditions where nothing
works (see FAQ)
- your chosen flat wide trail is not crowded with other
skiers.
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These are a sampling of the some of the exercises that helped me a
lot with balance and weight commitment on one ski.
Your coach or instructor likely knows other good exercises which will
be a good fit for you and the kinds of snow and terrain in your
region.
Skiing classic technique without using poles has two three advantages.
- It forces you to learn to balance and control without leaning down on
a pole for support.
- It forces you to learn how to make the ski grip the snow when you
push with your leg -- without being able to push back with your pole
to keep from slipping.
- It simplifies the action to allow you to focus, and to help you
and your instructor sort out what's working and what is not.
Actually the first two advantages go together, since the main reason for
doing so much
special work on balance is to enable the most effective grip.
That's why striding without using poles is the "secret"
break-through exercise for advanced classic technique: because
it focuses on the key things that really make classic striding
tricky. Once you've solved the problems of striding without
poles, you've solved the key problems of classic
striding.
The objectives of this exercise are -- more or less in sequential
order:
- Get some sort of forward motion without poles.
- Some sort of balance and control without poles.
- Complete weight commitment to one ski.
- Solid grip on one ski for a strong leg push off that ski.
- Stable balance gliding on one ski.
Here's the main exercise:
- Make sure you've found a good location for this exercise, as
described above under Environment.
- Put your poles off to the side out of the way.
- Start with both skis on your feet and in the set classic track
(those two parallel grooves in the snow). If the track has a slight slope in
it, then face in the downhill direction.
- Put most of your body weight on your right foot. Right hand
back, left hand forward.
- Push your right ski down and back strongly against the snow, to
push your body forward.
- Immediately transfer your weight sideways and forward to your left
foot and ski as you stride onto it.
- Swing your right hand forward vigorously, as the same time your
are striding onto your left foot -- like walking or running, but
more emphatic. And swing your left hand go back, again like
you would in walking.
- Glide on the left foot and ski until you stop.
- Repeat several times, then stop and rest. Don't let your
right leg get tired out too quickly.
- Probably you'll feel more comfortable leaving your right ski down
on the snow at first. This is normal while you're getting
accustomed to the feeling of this new approach to skiing.
- As your balance improves, try not to touch your right ski down on
the snow while you glide -- let it continue back and up out behind
you. (But some skiers find it easier to learn this first in
the 1-2-3-Glide exercise below.)
- When you have some success getting some grip and leg push and
balance with a single stride, then you can try linking strides on
alternate sides.
Some hints:
- If you feel you just must have your poles in order to have the
courage to get started on this exercise, do not put your
hands through the straps. Start by holding each pole with your
hand around the shaft just under the handle. As soon as you
can, try to switch to grasping each pole around the middle of its
shaft, half-way between the handle and the tip.
Finally do
really try this without holding your poles at all -- since you were
supposed to have chosen an area that was very very low-risk for you
-- see above under Environment.
- If you did not fall down at least twice in the first ten minutes of
this, you're not doing it right.
- If you did not fall down at least twice toward the outside
(i.e. toward the left if you're gliding on your left ski) during the
first ten minutes of trying to lift your pushing foot out
behind you -- then you're not doing it right.
A critical skill is for your nerves and muscles to
learn to deal with hanging out there over the outside of those two
parallel tracks. When you're too far outside, what are some
little recovery moves that work to bring you back in without falling
-- quicker than your conscious mind can figure out. Your nerves
and muscles cannot learn those critical things unless you're far
enough out on the edge that you actually fall over a few times.
Another reason you have to find a very low risk area to do this
exercise.
- To get the side-to-side weight transfer, some people find it helps
to think of lining up your nose directly over your knee and the toe
of your boot which is on the gliding ski.
- Play around with things like:
- - Shifting your weight forward or
backward.
- - Focusing pressure through your toe or your heel.
- - Bending or
straightening your ankle -- your knee -- your waist.
Which of those help you
get better grip? longer glide? better balance?
- If you have trouble getting enough grip with the ski for a
significant leg push, you may need to switch to the other basic
exercise: "scootering" --
since that let's you push without ski grip.
- If your coach or instructor sees that you keep gliding a little on
the both skis, not just one, but you have trouble being aware of
this, that's a reason to switch to the other basic exercise:
"scootering" -- since that makes
it easier to feel touching down with the second foot.
- You can also try this in the upward direction, on a slight gentle
uphill slope.
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There are two advantages of this "scootering"
exercise. Most important is that it makes it very obvious if
you're touching down the second ski, and not fully committed to the one
new ski. So it helps focus on really balancing on truly one
ski.
Second, if lack of good grip on the leg push is preventing you from
getting strong forward motion needed for a substantial glide phase, this
exercise is the simplest way to solve that -- assuming the snow
alongside the parallel tracks is soft enough so you can dig your toe
into it.
Here's the main exercise:
- Make sure you've found a good location for this exercise, as
described above under Environment.
- Put your poles off to the side out of the way.
- Release the binding of the right ski; take it off, and put it out
of the way someplace safe where it won't slide off downhill.
- Stand by a groomed set classic track (those two parallel
grooves in the snow) -- and put your left foot and ski into the right-hand
groove. If the track has a slight slope in it, then face in
the downhill direction. (If the downhill direction doesn't
feel safe for you, then this is not the right location, so go back
to step 1).
- Dig the toe of your right boot into the snow to the right side of
the pair of groomed grooves. If the snow is too hard for you
to dig in, then it's not a good day for this exercise.
- Put more than half your body weight on your right foot.
- Push your right foot back strongly with its toe digging into the
snow, to push your body forward.
- Immediately transfer your weight to the left foot and ski.
- Glide on the left foot and ski until you stop. Try not to
touch your right foot down on the snow. (If you fall over to
one side or the other -- not usual at this point -- get back up
again and go back to step 4).
- Repeat several times.
Some hints:
- As you get more confident, you don't have to wait until your
glide comes to a stop between leg pushes.
- If you want something to do with your hands, you could try fake
pole-push and pole-recovery motions.
- If you did not fall down at least twice in the first ten minutes of
this, you're not doing it right.
- You can also try this in the uphill direction, on a very slight
gentle uphill slope.
- If you feel you just must have your poles in order to have the
courage to get started on this exercise, do not put your
hands through the straps. Start by holding each pole with your
hand around the shaft just under the handle. As soon as you
can, try to switch to grasping each pole around the middle of its
shaft, half-way between the handle and the tip.
Finally do
really try this without holding your poles at all -- since you were
supposed to have chosen an area that was very very low-risk for you
-- see above under Environment.
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This exercise comes after you've done the other two. It
forces you to keep your balance in spite of a big variation in
rhythm. It lets you play with trying to hold your balance on
one ski even longer.
- Make sure you've found a good location for this exercise, as
described above under Environment.
- Put your poles off to the side out of the way.
- Start with both skis on your feet and in the set classic
track (those two parallel grooves in the snow). If the track has a slight slope in
it, then face in the downhill direction.
- Take three strides with your skis (like Left - Right - Left) to
get a little speed.
- On the fourth stride glide long on one ski to a stop (like on your
Right ski). Without touching your other ski down.
- Repeat several times.
Some hints:
- Some skiers find 1-2-Glide easier to learn.
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- This is all difficult. Don't be surprised if it feels hopeless at
first. One of helpful functions of an instructor is to keep you from
getting into a discouraging rut.
- Play around with things like:
- - Shifting your weight forward or
backward.
- - Focusing pressure through your toe or your heel.
- - Bending or
straightening your ankle -- your knee -- your waist.
Which of those help you
get better grip? longer glide? better balance?
- It's likely going to take multiple sessions like this before you make real
progress. So don't try to make it your whole day. When you start
getting
tired, just stop and go out for some fun skiing: normal striding with
poles, exploring some interesting trails.
- If you did not fall several times in your first session -- that's a
sign you're not really trying the right things yet.
- Pressing your toe can help your grip for the leg push -- see the Exploiting
the Wax Pocket "secret"
- Getting videotaped is valuable for this stage
but only after you've spent a day or two of
practicing with an instructor. And it's important to have an experienced observer
or coach with you to help interpret your video -- because there's so much complex
interaction to sort out, with key factors difficult to recognize -- and the most visible deficiencies in
your form are
not necessarily the most important ones to work on improving.
- In some snow conditions you can be performing the best technique possible, but
you're just not going to get much grip. If you think this might be
happening to you, see on the FAQ
page: "Are there snow conditions where nothing
works?"
- If you have multiple pairs of skis -- or you're leaning this
together with some buddies -- this could be a good opportunity to
try out different skis and see what difference it makes.
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- Try skiing a whole regular ski trail without using poles --
striding through a variety of terrain and snow conditions.
I carry my poles with me with my hands around the
middle of the shafts, just in case.
- Play with finding out what hills you can climb up without
using poles.
It's like the "final exam" in weight
transfer and grip tricks.
See also the Climbing
Up a Steep Hill "secret".
At first you might want to just touch the tip of
your pole to the snow on each side -- but try not to put any weight on
it -- just have it there in the right position to hold you just in
case your ski slips.
Even though I've been doing it for awhile, I carry my poles with me with my hands around the
middle of the shafts, just in case I lose confidence -- or run into a
hill so steep I know I need poles.
- Use which body parts to commit over onto the single ski?
The best elite racers move their shoulders
sideways over onto the single ski they are committing to, while
keeping their hips fairly centered over the parallel groove tracks.
I think this is mainly because they are focusing
their hips on directly adding propulsive power to the leg-push
through the
forward-hip-rotation move (see under "Making
the stride longer" on the
Smooth Classic
Striding secret page.
Best example I know of this is to analyze the
video segment with the view from straight behind the great Elena
Vaelbe in the Norwegian Ski Federation video of the 1997 Trondheim
5K Classic race.
- How move the body parts sideways over onto the single ski?
Most skiers push the outside edge of the previous
commitment ski against the outside of the snow-groove-track for that
ski.
The great Elena Vaelbe would pull with the
inside edge of the next committed-balance ski against the inside of
the next ski's snow-groove-track. (Carefully analyze the video
segment with the view from straight behind the great Elena Vaelbe in
the Norwegian Ski Federation video of the 1997 Trondheim 5K Classic
race.)
The advantage of pulling-toward against inside the
track is that the snow-groove-track is wider than the ski, so the
distance of the required sideways motion is 1-2 cm shorter than if
pushing-away against the outside of opposite track. Therefore a
shorter time is taken by the weight-transfer move.
- If using waxable skis: If it is
getting too easy to ski without poles using your current grip wax and ski flex, try shortening the grip wax coverage of
your ski's grip wax
zone.
- To re-introduce the pole-push while keeping it away from the
leg-push, try "kick single pole".
First learn "kick
double pole" -- see its description
page. Then transfer that same time sequence to "kick
single pole": (1) first leg-push, (2) then pole-push during
glide.
Push off with the leg, and step onto the other
leg. Then push with only one pole as you glide on that other leg
only (with the pole and leg on opposite sides, "diagonal"
style). Think of using the pole-push to "extend the
glide".
At first hold only one pole, and do it repeatedly on
one side only -- like "scootering". Then switch and
practice the other side for a while.
When you've both sides down solid, you can try it
using both poles, and alternate sides with kick-single-pole
strokes. Almost like classic stride, but with exaggerated
glide.
See also more
on pole-push timing options.
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