During a routine video session, Kevin got into a spot of bother doing a "slide back" drill. Never one to shy away from a teaching moment, we've turned it into a breakdown of what happened and how you can learn from his, um, mistake.
With that, let's get to it.
when good drills go wrong
The Slide Drill.
Below is the original video where things went a little off-book. Coach Kevin was working on the "slide back". A well-used static drill (no movement) to help skiers find a good fundamental body position when climbing.
→ How is the drill supposed to work?
1️⃣ Find a steep climb.
2️⃣ Position your body with the inside edges engaged, get flexed and low, and the zipper line of your jacket (hips, pelvis, center of mass, meaty middle, etc.) pressed into the hill, hands and eyes up.
3️⃣ Simply release the inside edges to slide back - slowly and controlled.
when good drills go wrong
Let's Take A Look At What Happened.
Here are 5 crucial moments that helped Kevin find the bottom of the climb.
Thumbs-Up.
Kevin is showing great, fundamental climbing and general skate position at the start of the slide.
→ He's flexed and low, with knees over toes
→ His hips (meaty middle, pelvis, zipper line, pockets, etc.) are all pressed into the hill
→ Head, shoulders, and hands are up.
We're Still OK.
As Kevin initiates the slide, his main joints absorb and react to the added pressure.
This is closer to a V1 body position under power. BUT, he's NOT actively climbing, he's sliding backwards so those dropping hands are...worrisome.
We're kinda OK, but also not.
Kevin's hips, hands, shoulders, and head are moving into an "unideal" position and that hot pink pom-pom is dropping at an alarming rate.
Because his weight - that center of mass, pelvis, hips - has shifted behind his heels the slide is accelerating.
Kevin got into this position within 1/2 second from the last slide.
We're def not OK.
Gravity has the upper hand. Every major joint is out of position and his center of mass (hips, pelvis, etc.) is even further behind his heels. Now, Kevin has to counterbalance the movement by dropping his shoulders.
At this point in his slide, all bets are off and recovering from this position is really, really tricky. The pink pom-pom is now BELOW the horizon. Zoinks.
Nope.
He's off. With 170+lbs of man meat, Kevin is now careening his way down the trail and only stops when he finally lands face first. There's a moment of reset, with an extremely wide arm, legged stance - but it's over. And with the perfect bow.
"Thank you for coming, I'll be here all week, don't forget to tip your waiter."
when good drills go wrong
What's The Teachable Moment.
Between slides 2-4, Kevin's position changes, drastically, in less than 1 second. Causing a chain of events throughout his body that made it virtually impossible for him to over-correct a compromised body position. This is important for two reasons:
🏔️ When climbing, the stakes are HIGHER as gravity has a starring role. You have to be in an ideal body position BEFORE the climb, it's challenging to fix it or recover, IN the climb. As we could see from the stills, Kevin could never actually recover fast enough to reset from the compromised position.
🪢 Everything is connected. If you let your hands hang down at your sides too long, if you dip your shoulders, if you lose a forward position - it will create an outsized impact on the entire climbing process. (see point #1).
→ What's a nordie to do?
With Kevin's stills in mind, here are some things to try if you want to give the "slide back" drill a go:
1️⃣ Set yourself in the ideal position (as described above and shown above) and then ski UP. You will get immediate feedback on where your body is on your skis. Don't try to find this position as you are actively skiing. Find it FIRST.
2️⃣ Yo-Yos: Do the "slide back" drill interspersed with active V1 climbing and repeat. V1 up, slide down, V1 up, slide down, etc. Always be sure to STOP and find the position before you keep skiing.
3️⃣ NoPoYos: These are NO POLE YO-YOs. It's a more advanced drill but will also give you great feedback on what's working and what isn't. You will NOT be using your poles, so the climbing segment should be kept on less-spicy terrain.
the closer What We're Thinking About
That the original version of this drill was wicked funny. We did it as a reverso and shared it on the socials. We made lemonade from lemons and got folks giggling over their phones. When viewed in this order it looks like the trailer for an uplifting movie about a down-n-out skate skier who pulls himself up by his Fischer bootstraps and finds the escalator to the top of the climb.
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