I'm curious if any instructors, or divas in general, have any suggestions for dryland training that helps with the concept of absorption? Probably a long shot.. but part of my issues in bumps definitely result from tensing up and getting knocked into the backseat....
I do a couple of things in the green season that I've found very helpful in bumps. hese things are not specifically absorption practice. As long as I am not skiing the zipper line, I don't exactly need the type of absorption that mogul skiers talk about. That type of absorption is the way zipperline mogul skiers do their speed control as they go straight down the hill. I rarely do that.
1. Learn to do pivot slips on groomers when on snow.
What messes people up in bumps is getting thrown into the back seat. One thing that helps to prevent this from happening - that you can teach yourself while actually skiing on groomers - is to fully complete each turn while using up very little lateral space. Completing turns slows you down so the bumps do not come at you so fast, catching you off guard before you're ready, which is a sure thing for throwing the skier into the back seat. Unfortunately I have found no dryland practice for completing turns. But when on snow a good thing to do is learn to do pivot slips on groomers over and over until you can do them in your sleep. There are descriptions for pivot slips somewhere on this forum, or a new thread can be generated. Then take pivot slips to the bumps. You can head down the hill very slowly, snail-slow, with pivot-slip-type turns.
2. Learn to plant each foot behind hips when running (extra credit if you do this running downhill).
One thing to practice in the summer that can prevent back-seat-bumps is to go running, and teach yourself to keep your feet back behind you as you run. This can be practiced while running downhill to make it even more transferrable to skiing. Work on monitoring in your head where your feet land beneath you as you run. Plant each foot a tiny bit behind your hips, and extend back to propel self forward. Work on sensing where each foot lands relative to the hips, and work on making sure it's a bit behind the hips. Each foot will move in a "foot circle" with its most forward spot being that landing spot.
If the foot lands in front of your hips when running downhill, you'll get some unwanted impact on your knees; you'll be braking with each forward footplant. Another way of looking at it: you'll be backseat at the start of each running step. Avoid this when running downhill. Runners call this less-than-optimal way of running "overstriding." When skiing, it translates to leaning back uphill. This is definitely not good in bumps.
One summer of consistent downhill running with foot plants happening behind the hips, not in front of them, can produce good muscle memory for staying "forward" in the bumps.
3. Teach yourself to look ahead while running rocky trails (extra credit if you do this while running downhill)
A third thing to do in summer is teach yourself to look ahead in the bumps. The farther ahead you can look, while your feet and skis are working beneath and behind you, the more you can avoid being caught off-guard by bumps coming at you. Looking continuously ahead instantly produces extra time to take care of each bump beneath you. It's like time slows down. So cool!
I found it quite difficult to look ahead for seasons and seasons, but several years of downhill trail running on rocky terrain with this focus have helped purge myself of this crippling habit. I no longer look down directly at each bump as I ski it, or at each rock as I encounter it on the trail. Looking down at obstacles, let me tell you, is a recipe for disaster, because the next bump or rock will come at you by surprise.
If you look ahead continuously, selecting where to put each foot, or selecting your line around the rocks, and if you trust your short-turn memory to direct where you foot actually goes since you aren't looking down, your foot will not smack into that next rock or bump. So, run on rocky trails, maybe even downhill, teaching your eyes to watch the trail ahead continuously, selecting the line for your feet, while planting each foot "blind" beneath you/behind your hips. If your eyes are tracking ahead, your feet will go there even though you are not looking at them.
These three things will help keep you from getting in the back seat in the bumps, they will slow your travel down so the bumps don't come at you too fast, and they will give you extra planning time to place your skis where you want them to go. Back seat impacts with bumps should disappear once these habits are established.