Video of My Skiing :(

[contesstant]

I took another lesson today with a fantastic instructor who I have worked with once before. I FEEL like I have been skiing like the shiz lately. So much faster, starting to make nicely shaped turns, all that good stuff.

Well, he took video of me on our final run of the day, and I just look GOOFY. My form is almost TOO perfect, I look like I'm going 10mph. I'm supposed to share it with my bootfitter but there is NO WAY.

So, has anyone else had this happen? Gotten video of themselves and just felt humiliated?

Yes, I'm looking for validation, and no, I'm not going to post it!

I keep watching it and thinking my 40 years of riding and showing horses is carrying over into my skiing a LOT--all that pretty, quiet form is great on a horse. But in a dynamic sport like skiing, it's not such a great thing.

 

[Kimmyt]

I'm a perfectionist, so every video makes me feel like this. I prefer stills because I can throw out the shots where I look like crap and focus on the ones where I look like a badass.

 

[contesstant]

I'm a perfectionist, so every video makes me feel like this. I prefer stills because I can throw out the shots where I look like crap and focus on the ones where I look like a badass.

Ok, so I'm not alone, and lord knows I know you can ski, @Kimmyt! If I even take stills off the video, I think, "oh, well that looks OK!" I should video my husband just to see if he looks like a tool, too.

I DO think I'm arching my back too much. I'm going to focus on that tomorrow. Another horse riding thing that I'll have to fix even for riding my new horse!

 

[Jenny]

The only video of myself that I've seen made me look like stick figure/robot. I swear I was skiing dynamically, but the video evidence says otherwise.

 

[contesstant]

The only video of myself that I've seen made me look like stick figure/robot. I swear I was skiing dynamically, but the video evidence says otherwise.

Yes, exactly! I'm starting to feel better already...

 

[Jilly]

Well..OK I have to agree with you. I had a video done earlier this year with my Summit Club instructor. It was just on his camera. I could critique myself. It's amazing and the best tool we have out there. You remember your run and then look at it.....Oopps!!

 

[badger]

LOL. Yep, I can empathize. Just last week I had three days of great instruction with the same instructor. Learned a ton, and was doing very well with incorporating the new skills, until my husband decided to use his fun new "GoPro" to capture me in my glory. To say the least, whenever he skis with me, my technique falls apart. Totally psychological I know, but what I see on camera is not the same skier my instructor saw. Nor did I even feel like I was doing anything from the new skill set correctly.

 

[Kimmyt]

lord knows I know you can ski,

heheh thats because i only post pictures where it looks like I know what I'm doing. Editing is our friend on the internet.

I DO think I'm arching my back too much. I'm going to focus on that tomorrow. Another horse riding thing that I'll have to fix even for riding my new horse!

I have that problem too, and a ton of other women. We have a tendency towards anterior pelvic tilt (or as an old ski instructor used to call it, 'the T&A position'.

 

[bounceswoosh]

So, has anyone else had this happen? Gotten video of themselves and just felt humiliated?

Yes. So much yes.

I'm supposed to share it with my bootfitter but there is NO WAY.

I've recently realized that there's no point in hiding from video - it just shows me what everyone else already knows about my skiing. Except maybe your boot fitter, who's the one guy in a position to directly help your skiing.

 

[tinymoose]

I get it. All of my tightness and control from gymnastics makes me a very tight skier. Even when I feel like I'm being dynamic, I look really uptight when I ski. I think it's good to know, but on the other hand... it's all about having fun in the end. (says the perfectionist)

 

[contesstant]

OK, I feel so much better, I really do! It's funny, my instructor loves my stance, says I'm skiing better than I was in December, etc. etc. but the video looks the same to me! I love using video to improve my horse skills, so I know it's a great tool, but all I feel is that I LOOK like a tool when I ski!

I will work on pushing my hips forward even MORE tomorrow. @tinymoose, I can see how gymnastics would have the same effect of trying to drop that "pretty posture" that has been drilled into you.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

Yup---and I have a similar problem with looking stiff--or mechanical when I ski. Last year an instructor told me it looked like I was somehow searching for perfection in every turn. In a way he was right.
I even hate still pictures because I never look dynamic even in those--even though I feel like I have improved a bit in being more dynamic it never looks like it.

 

[Sheena]

I hate, HATE video of me skiing. I feel, like I see the camera, or know its there, and start trying to do *good form*, which always makes me look goofy. I dunno, maybe its what I look like all the time, but I know I try to ski differently when I know there is a video camera watching me. Its like it brings on performance anxiety.

 

[Serafina]

I'm still trying to figure out why having a quiet body and really good technique is a problem. There are a couple of kinds of beautiful skiing I see at my hill. One type of beautiful skiers are hitting glorious arced slalom or GS turns and moving at a good clip. The other type of beautiful skiers are the ones with a very quiet and relaxed body making graceful and totally controlled turns down the run. Some of them are moving along, some of them are skiing slowly. They're still beautiful.

I'd like to point out that it's an axiom here that skiing the hard line slowly is a much more challenging thing than skiing it fast. Speed doth not make a "good" skier. Control, and fluid motion does.

There's nothing at all wrong with skiing dressage- or equitation-style.

 

[contesstant]

I hate, HATE video of me skiing. I feel, like I see the camera, or know its there, and start trying to do *good form*, which always makes me look goofy. I dunno, maybe its what I look like all the time, but I know I try to ski differently when I know there is a video camera watching me. Its like it brings on performance anxiety.

And you ski very well, I can attest to that having seen it personally!

@Serafina, some of my favorite people to watch are the women in particular, who tend to be older, who just gracefully glide their way down the hill making beautiful C shaped turns. I guess I'm aiming for that but when I see it on video, I look like I'm locked into position and very robotic, as others have said.

 

[pinto]

I've recently realized that there's no point in hiding from video - it just shows me what everyone else already knows about my skiing. ....

I think this is only partly true. I have noticed that everyone looks a little worse on video than IRL, actually. I'm not exactly sure why -- I think it might have to do with the fact that most "moving pictures" we see are ski movies, WC races, etc, and that subconsciously we expect the same. Even if we aren't even close to being pros.

But I have taken quite a bit of video where I think, "Wow he/she just killed that!" after seeing it in person, but then on the video it's rather mediocre. Not bad, but not nearly as cool as I thought it was originally, if that makes sense.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Whenever I teach the women ski camp, the video analysis component is the one I dread the most. It is rare for skiers to see themselves for the first time and be excited about the results. However, it is incredibly useful even if it is painful.

As was stated earlier in this thread, most of us do not ski at speeds comparable to those we see in most Ski films. Case in point I was in a race clinic, where a participant commented to the videographer that it was very sweet of him to slow down the video of her. He had not. It just so happened that the group that she and I were in, was that slow.

I like to freeze frame video for analysis. It is more useful at times than looking at the body in motion. A great trick that the videographers use, is to speed up the video. Try it. It makes us all look like rockstars.

Ultimately what the video has taught me in regards to dynamic skiing, is that more and bigger movements are needed from the top of the femur down, even if they feel so exaggerated and over the top.

Have fun with your videos, seriously, we always goof off , wear silly costumes etc... It helps.

 

[Skier31]

I think it can be helpful to look at particular components of video, for example, my focus was to turn my legs under a stable upper body. Did I do that? Yes? Mission accomplished. Analyzing video piece by piece instead of did I look like Lindsey Vonn puts things in perspective.

I once ran a half marathon where my mom took video of me. I was running as fast as I could and when I saw the video it looked like I was walking!

 

[Bluestsky]

I think it can be helpful to look at particular components of video,

True! My instructor often takes us to what he calls the Hollywood...a short groomed run and then we watch the videos. He freezes the frames pointing to aspects of our skiing. The instructor's comments are pretty mild (he is in general, the praising guy,) but we have an outspoken person, a good skier, in a group and she gives excellent critique. Actually we all comment there, but nobody but her pointed out my hunched back! Guess what I'm going to focus on?

 

[Bluestsky]

...and you might not be as slow as you think either.

https://physics.stackexchange.com/q...-person-view-seem-slower-than-perceived-in-re