Advice needed - Best warm up drill for first run

[newbieM]

Hi,

My first few days skiing my legs seem to not remember this at all. They hurt, they seem out of balance, etc

do folks have suggestions for good warm up drills?

should I immediately start with small s shape turns, big c turns, etc. some concrete suggestions would be helpful.

also, sometimes when I get ready to do a run I don’t know how to just enjoy it. I don’t spend enough time pointing the skis down and just traversing the course. I feel like I need to turn to control the speed etc.

Is there a good video or advice on the mentality of it? I feel like I’m just over thinking.

sometimes I’ll try to do something like count to 3 and turn count to 3 and turn but that didn’t seem to work.

clearly I’m too much in my head. I get it. I try up the lift to just tell myself - I can do it, go have fun.

I end up limiting the terrain I do which I’ve done before and I feel like I’ve taken a few steps back. If I can have a routine for the morning that made me feel strong and confident that may help.

thanks in advance!

 

[TNtoTaos]

I've recently started watching Deb Armstrong's videos on YouTube. She has videos for all stages: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, etc, and most are short (3-10 min), but with great instruction.She also has several videos on the mental aspects of skiing that you might enjoy.

I personally find that sometimes, esp at the beginning of the season, I find myself pushing too hard on the first day, and fighting against myself, gravity, etc, so I end up feeling sore. I finally realized that I need to just take it totally slow on the first day, just enjoy the feeling of skiing -- no difficult or steep runs, etc. Then by the next day I loosen up and start feeling normal again, become "one with my skis" (sounds weird, but that's how I think of it), and am able to spend time working on basics, drills, and working my way back into more advanced runs. But I find I need to ski at least one long, green groomer before my legs start to warm up and loosen up. If I don't, then I can end up with that unbalanced, "fighting gravity" feeling.

Hope this helps. Cjeck out Deb's (Ski Strong) videos.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Personally my first turns of the season, and yes, I go straight to turns, are all about not analyzing them at all. This is so hard for me.

I am not afraid to start on easy slopes if I have the choice, which I don't always.

A friend always skied the first morning without poles. Not my favorite approach. I like to start off with skidded turns, not high edge angle carved ones.

The only tech reminder I always give myself on run number one of the season is look ahead.

You mention going straight and traversing in the same sentence as though they are goals for you. Am I understanding correctly? I think wanting to make turns and controlling speed that way seem like much better goals then traversing across the hillor bombing straight down it. I think playing around with turn size sounds like a great way to return to the sport after the summer off.

I like to start off once I have skied a morning or two, by reviewing the basic skills such as fore aft balance, side to side balance, how to turn, how to get the skis on edge, maybe some timing and pole touches. Again, I really attempt to avoid being critical of my skills early in the season as so much comes back just from skiing rather than overthrowing the how.

 

[newbieM]

Personally my first turns of the season, and yes, I go straight to turns, are all about not analyzing them at all. This is so hard for me.

I am not afraid to start on easy slopes if I have the choice, which I don't always.

A friend always skied the first morning without poles. Not my favorite approach. I like to start off with skidded turns, not high edge angle carved ones.

The only tech reminder I always give myself on run number one of the season is look ahead.

You mention going straight and traversing in the same sentence as though they are goals for you. Am I understanding correctly? I think wanting to make turns and controlling speed that way seem like much better goals then traversing across the hillor bombing straight down it. I think playing around with turn size sounds like a great way to return to the sport after the summer off.

I like to start off once I have skied a morning or two, by reviewing the basic skills such as fore aft balance, side to side balance, how to turn, how to get the skis on edge, maybe some timing and pole touches. Again, I really attempt to avoid being critical of my skills early in the season as so much comes back just from skiing rather than overthrowing the how.

I just realized I meant to use the word traverse in non-ski terms. I meant make it down the run vs. traverse across. Im still learning all the ski terms - I need a ski dictionary.

Helpful advice!

 

[Jilly]

My daily warm up run is always a green slope. Easy turns. Warm up the body and the mind. Sometimes I bounce through a turn. This is warm up muscles and created balance. If there is no one around, swing the arm and torso too. Same reasons.

 

[KathrynC]

I tend to start on runs that are well within my capability and just loosen up. That's more about physically warming up than mentally warming up.

Once I'm physically warm, I usually tackle my first harder runs with something specific in mind. Exactly what that is will depend on what I've been working on recently. It could be a drill that's been working for me recently, or it could be a concept like "light heels" that doesn't have a specific drill associated with it, or it could just be a word like "smooth" or "dynamic".

The point is that for me focusing on a specific aspect of my skiing when I get on to harder terrain distracts from worrying about how steep it is or what the snow conditions are like or any of that stuff. It's not necessarily about being overly critical of my skiing, particularly early in the day or the season, it's just about filling my brain with something positive to focus on so that I don't have space for negative thoughts to gain any momentum.

I can also recommend this book, about mental training in sport. Sorry, it's an amazon.co.uk link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Steps-...5d-4837-9046-e487c578fcb8&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk

The book isn't specifically about skiing, but the person who wrote it is a ski instructor.

 

[TNtoTaos]

Another good book is "A Conversation with Fear", by Mermer Blakeslee.

 

[K.LoSki]

I've recently started watching Deb Armstrong's videos on YouTube. She has videos for all stages: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, etc, and most are short (3-10 min), but with great instruction.She also has several videos on the mental aspects of skiing that you might enjoy.

I personally find that sometimes, esp at the beginning of the season, I find myself pushing too hard on the first day, and fighting against myself, gravity, etc, so I end up feeling sore. I finally realized that I need to just take it totally slow on the first day, just enjoy the feeling of skiing -- no difficult or steep runs, etc. Then by the next day I loosen up and start feeling normal again, become "one with my skis" (sounds weird, but that's how I think of it), and am able to spend time working on basics, drills, and working my way back into more advanced runs. But I find I need to ski at least one long, green groomer before my legs start to warm up and loosen up. If I don't, then I can end up with that unbalanced, "fighting gravity" feeling.

Hope this helps. Cjeck out Deb's (Ski Strong) videos.

Love this mindset! Also Deb's videos are so great. Really good youtube channel and nice resource.

 

[K.LoSki]

I would also recommend doing some mobility warm ups before you hit the hill. I go through this like 15 minute warm up routine that include some light stretches, steps, and lunges in different planes of motion. It helps my limbs and joints at least feel a little warmed up. I also do it before i get in the car to play hockey. It's a great combo of stretching and getting the blood pumping.

 

[Iwannaski]

I’ve found that I need to do the following in sequence:
one easy run, without thinking
one to two attentive runs in which I really focus on what my legs, feet and arms are doing

Since my process is in the Midwest, in the west this may be a first half/bottom half kinda situation.

then I can do whatever

 

[Trailside Trixie]

I love a good warm up on a green trail. I practice short and wide turns, short, short, wide and go from side to side. We did a great drill today in my clinic with a band around our thights. The idea is if your stance is too narraow you can feel the band sliding down so you widen your stance a tad to keep the band in place. I also practice shuffling as I ski, 1,000 steps, picking up the uphill ski once I turn.