This Deb Armstrong Video Transformed my Skiing!

[newbieM]

I'm doing a clinic with Deb in Steamboat the week after next. High on my list is the "what the eff do I do with my hips?" question! Thanx for posting this!!

Jealousyyyyyy I want all the details

 

[MissySki]

I'm doing a clinic with Deb in Steamboat the week after next. High on my list is the "what the eff do I do with my hips?" question! Thanx for posting this!!

Can’t wait to hear all about it!

 

[Sheena]

I'm doing a clinic with Deb in Steamboat the week after next. High on my list is the "what the eff do I do with my hips?" question! Thanx for posting this!!

Oh man. I would so love to do this. Jealous!!! I am sure you will learn so much.

 

[badger]

This video was made when Deb was teaching at Taos, which was quite awhile ago; so we will all be curious @BlizzardBabe, to see if she has a conclusion to the hip movement revelation she and Scott were playing with back then.

 

[MrsPlow]

I was thinking about this today and although there are good odds that I wasn't doing anything close to what Deb is talking about in the video, just thinking about what I was doing (along with thinking about everything I'm learning in my lessons this season) seemed to help keep me stable and smooth through the turn. Specifically that bit of a kick back I get sometimes at the end of a turn tends to throw me back on my heels a wee bit - concentrating on the hips seemed to keep me forward. It was mushy spring conditions today so this really seemed to help smooth everything out.

Thanks for sharing the video, I should watch more of these to balance out watching crazy young men throwing themselves down couloirs....

 

[AJM]

It's always fun skiing with people who are not just interested in skiing as fast as possible and never want to work on things.

I really enjoyed skiing with a guy who I've known for years last season. He was like me and never really got into the technical side of things but just got out there and did it but last season we both really enjoyed exploring the more technical aspects and doing drills etc together. I think a few people were bemused as they saw us doing the same things and the same run over and over again when we would normally be heading out trying to find the steeper more challenging runs but we had a blast and they were some of the best days I had.

 

[AJM]

All this talk of hips has me soooooo confused, I cant seem to get around all the lingo of biomechanics. A few years ago in a womens clinic I took part in our instructor was telling us to "lift the inside hip" at the turn initiation .... is this what Debs is doing @snoWYmonkey ??

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@AJM I don't think so. I suspect your coach was maybe working on side to side balance through the turn by teying to keep the hips on the same plane as the pitch of the hill but I honestly don't know. My personal take after only one viewing of Deb's video was that it had more to do with how much to actually point the pelvis towards the new turn and tracking in the same direction the skis are turning versus just turning the legs while the pelvis stays more facing down the hill. It also addresses the idea of increasing and decreasing the amount of flexion and extension, aka bend, between the femur and the pelvis. Wish I had a little skier bendy person to hopefully answer the question correctly. So hard to know what other coaches mean without witnessing the lesson.

 

[ski4fun]

Contesstant, It is really interesting reading through this thread as I think what you are talking about is one of my biggest faults when I ski, now I really hope we get a chance to ski together later this month so you can demonstrate this breakthrough for me !!

 

[contesstant]

Contesstant, It is really interesting reading through this thread as I think what you are talking about is one of my biggest faults when I ski, now I really hope we get a chance to ski together later this month so you can demonstrate this breakthrough for me !!

I'm still planning on it! It sure helped me in powder today

 

[TiffAlt]

I was going to post this in the "Aha Moment" thread, but felt like this video deserves its own thread.
Now that I am in a proper boot setup (after ten years!) and am feeling really balanced, I've been kind of trying to figure out how to get to the next "no longer skiing like an intermediate" level. My husband has been really hesitant to give much feedback this year, I think because he's tired of me telling him in the past "I can't!" What's ironic is he identified this issue in my skiing when we first met, but his cue was to "stand up". Well, stand up didn't work for me because, well, I WAS standing up. I needed to hear "open your hips!" I combined really opening my hip joint along with a forward lean of my upper body (this is where the ol' push the *&^* does NOT work.) What I felt was an almost unfolding of my entire posture, widening of my arms, and my skis came alive. I was skiing almost 10 mph faster than I have all season and truly riding my edges through the turn vs. the skidded finish I am so excellent at. I do think Stockli skis in particular come to life with this type of skiing (I was on my Nela 88s.) I felt a new performance level of this ski. What a blast!

Anyway, here is the video. I watch all of Deb's videos, but this is just what I needed to see this morning before I headed up for a few runs.

Love Deb and thanks for sharing! I'm going to try this next time I'm out on the slopes

 

[JaniceO]

I was going to post this in the "Aha Moment" thread, but felt like this video deserves its own thread.
Now that I am in a proper boot setup (after ten years!) and am feeling really balanced, I've been kind of trying to figure out how to get to the next "no longer skiing like an intermediate" level. My husband has been really hesitant to give much feedback this year, I think because he's tired of me telling him in the past "I can't!" What's ironic is he identified this issue in my skiing when we first met, but his cue was to "stand up". Well, stand up didn't work for me because, well, I WAS standing up. I needed to hear "open your hips!" I combined really opening my hip joint along with a forward lean of my upper body (this is where the ol' push the *&^* does NOT work.) What I felt was an almost unfolding of my entire posture, widening of my arms, and my skis came alive. I was skiing almost 10 mph faster than I have all season and truly riding my edges through the turn vs. the skidded finish I am so excellent at. I do think Stockli skis in particular come to life with this type of skiing (I was on my Nela 88s.) I felt a new performance level of this ski. What a blast!

Anyway, here is the video. I watch all of Deb's videos, but this is just what I needed to see this morning before I headed up for a few runs.

Thank you so much for posting!

 

[santacruz skier]

I finally watched the video, and I believe one of my Taos instructors gave us a drill to work on that concept with the hips.

 

[K.LoSki]

I'm doing a clinic with Deb in Steamboat the week after next. High on my list is the "what the eff do I do with my hips?" question! Thanx for posting this!!

Oh im so jealous! Let us know how it goes!

 

[BlizzardBabe]

As promised, I do have a report from the Ski Strong clinic at Steamboat this week. My detailed assessment is as follows: “WOW!!”

As I’ve posted in the past, I’ve taken a LOT of lessons over the past several years since I decided to get serious about skiing. Nothing even remotely approximates the level of instruction, analysis, and personalized attention that Ski Strong delivered. NOTHING.

I won’t get into the nuances of my own performance “issues,” since skiing is so individualized. Everyone, naturally, will have their own unique quirks, questions, and quandaries. I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone with my own poorly expressed analyses. Suffice it to say that I have my homework to do but I can now approach it with a much better understanding of my weaknesses and strengths. I also made several revelatory connections about form and function, i.e., “light bulb moments,” that I’m confident will stick with me as I work on improving.

As to the program in general, we had 5 women in our group (originally, we also were expecting a “Steve” who turned out to be fictitious ). A super group all-around. Very supportive and nonjudgemental – as we all would expect from a group of dedicated women skiers! One standout – and I, by no means, am suggesting that other instructors or clinics were lacking or deficient – but unlike any other lesson program I’ve been in, Deb genuinely wanted to get to know us all. There was no artifice or “marketing” – she clearly loves people and is truly passionate about helping everyone improve their skiing.

Again, I’m not going to get into details or this could go on ad nauseum. Let me just say that every one of us got oodles of individualized attention and instruction from Deb. Those of you who’ve watched her videos already know that Deb is a superior teacher and communicator. What you see in the videos is EXACTLY what you get. Down-to-earth, honest, clear, and often clairvoyant. No negativity – just incisive instruction and energetic (I would go so far as to say “joyful”) encouragement.

Lizzie, a young instructor (well, young in my aging mind) from the Steamboat Ski School accompanied our group as “sweeper extraordinaire” and had a boatload of helpful insights and nuggets of advice herself. She is a gem and is learning from the best. Deb occasionally provided tips to Lizzie as well. I’ll tell ya, if I could ski like Lizzie my life would be complete, so knowing that even the experts have stuff to work on gives me hope.

So, if I had to nail things down to one main takeaway from Deb, it would be that “skiing is lifelong learning.” Our experience, our attitude, our age, our fitness, our equipment, the conditions, and the terrain all dictate and demand different things to/from us and are constantly in flux. That is what makes this sport so amazing, challenging and exceedingly FUN!

Now on to the last tidbit – you all asked me to ask Deb about “the ‘hips’ question” re the video with Scott @ Taos. I did ask and she provided me with an excellent explanation. In the end, however, I know that I don’t have the expertise to relay it to you all accurately. So . . . drumroll . . . when Deb returns from a well-deserved break, she intends to become a “Diva” and give us all the REAL lowdown on the hips question. Stay tuned to this channel, Divas!

 

[bsskier]

As promised, I do have a report from the Ski Strong clinic at Steamboat this week. My detailed assessment is as follows: “WOW!!”

As I’ve posted in the past, I’ve taken a LOT of lessons over the past several years since I decided to get serious about skiing. Nothing even remotely approximates the level of instruction, analysis, and personalized attention that Ski Strong delivered. NOTHING.

I won’t get into the nuances of my own performance “issues,” since skiing is so individualized. Everyone, naturally, will have their own unique quirks, questions, and quandaries. I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone with my own poorly expressed analyses. Suffice it to say that I have my homework to do but I can now approach it with a much better understanding of my weaknesses and strengths. I also made several revelatory connections about form and function, i.e., “light bulb moments,” that I’m confident will stick with me as I work on improving.

As to the program in general, we had 5 women in our group (originally, we also were expecting a “Steve” who turned out to be fictitious ). A super group all-around. Very supportive and nonjudgemental – as we all would expect from a group of dedicated women skiers! One standout – and I, by no means, am suggesting that other instructors or clinics were lacking or deficient – but unlike any other lesson program I’ve been in, Deb genuinely wanted to get to know us all. There was no artifice or “marketing” – she clearly loves people and is truly passionate about helping everyone improve their skiing.

Again, I’m not going to get into details or this could go on ad nauseum. Let me just say that every one of us got oodles of individualized attention and instruction from Deb. Those of you who’ve watched her videos already know that Deb is a superior teacher and communicator. What you see in the videos is EXACTLY what you get. Down-to-earth, honest, clear, and often clairvoyant. No negativity – just incisive instruction and energetic (I would go so far as to say “joyful”) encouragement.

Lizzie, a young instructor (well, young in my aging mind) from the Steamboat Ski School accompanied our group as “sweeper extraordinaire” and had a boatload of helpful insights and nuggets of advice herself. She is a gem and is learning from the best. Deb occasionally provided tips to Lizzie as well. I’ll tell ya, if I could ski like Lizzie my life would be complete, so knowing that even the experts have stuff to work on gives me hope.

So, if I had to nail things down to one main takeaway from Deb, it would be that “skiing is lifelong learning.” Our experience, our attitude, our age, our fitness, our equipment, the conditions, and the terrain all dictate and demand different things to/from us and are constantly in flux. That is what makes this sport so amazing, challenging and exceedingly FUN!

Now on to the last tidbit – you all asked me to ask Deb about “the ‘hips’ question” re the video with Scott @ Taos. I did ask and she provided me with an excellent explanation. In the end, however, I know that I don’t have the expertise to relay it to you all accurately. So . . . drumroll . . . when Deb returns from a well-deserved break, she intends to become a “Diva” and give us all the REAL lowdown on the hips question. Stay tuned to this channel, Divas!

Welcome back and thank you for the summation. I was in Taos trying the hips thing and just gave up when I began what I can only describe as a rendition of hula dancing.

 

[MissySki]

As promised, I do have a report from the Ski Strong clinic at Steamboat this week. My detailed assessment is as follows: “WOW!!”

As I’ve posted in the past, I’ve taken a LOT of lessons over the past several years since I decided to get serious about skiing. Nothing even remotely approximates the level of instruction, analysis, and personalized attention that Ski Strong delivered. NOTHING.

I won’t get into the nuances of my own performance “issues,” since skiing is so individualized. Everyone, naturally, will have their own unique quirks, questions, and quandaries. I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone with my own poorly expressed analyses. Suffice it to say that I have my homework to do but I can now approach it with a much better understanding of my weaknesses and strengths. I also made several revelatory connections about form and function, i.e., “light bulb moments,” that I’m confident will stick with me as I work on improving.

As to the program in general, we had 5 women in our group (originally, we also were expecting a “Steve” who turned out to be fictitious ). A super group all-around. Very supportive and nonjudgemental – as we all would expect from a group of dedicated women skiers! One standout – and I, by no means, am suggesting that other instructors or clinics were lacking or deficient – but unlike any other lesson program I’ve been in, Deb genuinely wanted to get to know us all. There was no artifice or “marketing” – she clearly loves people and is truly passionate about helping everyone improve their skiing.

Again, I’m not going to get into details or this could go on ad nauseum. Let me just say that every one of us got oodles of individualized attention and instruction from Deb. Those of you who’ve watched her videos already know that Deb is a superior teacher and communicator. What you see in the videos is EXACTLY what you get. Down-to-earth, honest, clear, and often clairvoyant. No negativity – just incisive instruction and energetic (I would go so far as to say “joyful”) encouragement.

Lizzie, a young instructor (well, young in my aging mind) from the Steamboat Ski School accompanied our group as “sweeper extraordinaire” and had a boatload of helpful insights and nuggets of advice herself. She is a gem and is learning from the best. Deb occasionally provided tips to Lizzie as well. I’ll tell ya, if I could ski like Lizzie my life would be complete, so knowing that even the experts have stuff to work on gives me hope.

So, if I had to nail things down to one main takeaway from Deb, it would be that “skiing is lifelong learning.” Our experience, our attitude, our age, our fitness, our equipment, the conditions, and the terrain all dictate and demand different things to/from us and are constantly in flux. That is what makes this sport so amazing, challenging and exceedingly FUN!

Now on to the last tidbit – you all asked me to ask Deb about “the ‘hips’ question” re the video with Scott @ Taos. I did ask and she provided me with an excellent explanation. In the end, however, I know that I don’t have the expertise to relay it to you all accurately. So . . . drumroll . . . when Deb returns from a well-deserved break, she intends to become a “Diva” and give us all the REAL lowdown on the hips question. Stay tuned to this channel, Divas!

Wow, this sounds amazing!! So glad you had a great time!

Would you say during the clinic that there were at least loose focuses the whole group was working towards to an extent, or was it just pretty individualized overall based on your specific needs? I’ve definitely been curious about these clinics and how they work. I also take a lot of lessons, and have fabulous instructors, but I sure would love to ski with and learn from Deb someday. Her videos often spur discussion and focuses for the day with my favorite instructor who also follows her, how cool it would be to work with her directly.

And kudos on the encouragement for Deb to become a Diva! Would love to see her on the site for sure.

@RachelV if Deb becomes a Diva, even more reason to go back to Taos soon for a Diva West trip no..??

 

[HikenSki]

Wow, that paragraph on lifelong learning. As I read it, it was as if Deb was speaking it herself, I could hear her voice. Definitely hit home with me and all the fun life changes and adventures.

 

[RachelV]

Oh my goodness, it would be so cool if she joined!!!

 

[contesstant]

@BlizzardBabe, I am straight-up envious! Maybe I need to save my pennies and sign up for one of her clinics. For me, it's the ever-changing conditions that make it hard for me to advance, ESPECIALLY when flat or crap light comes into play. The open hips move that has helped me so much goes out the window in flat light--I just get so tentative and defensive.