I took a lesson this weekend and the instructor showed me a drill to touch the pole in the snow then turn around the pole. Since then I've seen a couple of videos doing the same thing. So here's my stupid question. Is this a drill or am I supposed to do this all the time?
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Question: Pole touch and turn- is this just a drill or am I supposed to do this all the time?
- Thread starter eSki
- Start date
geargrrl
Angel Diva
as in deliberately planting the pole and mindfully making your turn around it, or, developing a rhythm that incorporates the pole plant time appropriately in your turn. If you don't understand this, then yes, keep doing it. The second is what you strive for, the first is how you get there.
geargrrl
Angel Diva
Why are you to do a pole plant and turn around it? (I think that's the question)
caveat, I am not an instructor so I'm sure some of our wise teaching divas will correct me if I'm wrong but...
-rhythm: pole planting facilitate the rhythm of skiing
- planting the pole in the correct portion of the turn helps with invitation of the turn
-pole plants in the correct portion of the turn, in the correct placement, help to position the body correctly. Pole plants help with the rise and fall movements of skiing, (flex/extend through the joints) and in keeping with moving the body "down" the hill; down the fall line.
-hands positioned correctly. You can't pole plant correctly if you are dragging your hands behind you or have them dropped at the hips. (ask me how I know that one!)
caveat, I am not an instructor so I'm sure some of our wise teaching divas will correct me if I'm wrong but...
-rhythm: pole planting facilitate the rhythm of skiing
- planting the pole in the correct portion of the turn helps with invitation of the turn
-pole plants in the correct portion of the turn, in the correct placement, help to position the body correctly. Pole plants help with the rise and fall movements of skiing, (flex/extend through the joints) and in keeping with moving the body "down" the hill; down the fall line.
-hands positioned correctly. You can't pole plant correctly if you are dragging your hands behind you or have them dropped at the hips. (ask me how I know that one!)
Thanks gear girl.
I was confused because we were fixing my ending up in the backseat problem and the instructor hand me move my hands then we did this drill.
I couldnt for the life of me figured out how/why he was fiddling with my hands when my backside seamed to be the problem.
I was confused because we were fixing my ending up in the backseat problem and the instructor hand me move my hands then we did this drill.
I couldnt for the life of me figured out how/why he was fiddling with my hands when my backside seamed to be the problem.
mustski
Angel Diva
Pole planting is definitely a great way to stay out of the back seat. An instructor taught me to concentrate on pushing my arms out in front of me to help get me out of the back seat. To this day, if I slip into the back, I push my arms straight out and it immediately rectifies my stance.
perma-grin
Instructor PSIA L 3, APD Alpine Ski training MHSP
geargirl nice! 
short sweet and to the point!
short sweet and to the point!
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Quick word of wisdom relating to pole plants. As we could probably spend a day, week, month, on perfecting pole touches/plants there is a chance that your instructor did not have time to go into one key point when using the pole plant to help prevent the back seat issue. When you reach towards your new turn with your hand make sure that the entire body is moving over the skis and towards the new turn as well. I have seen many a skier reach forward with their pole plant hand while actively moving their hips away from the hand.
Imagine a string connected between your hand and your hip, the hip moves simultaneously with the hand.
Equally important is that you keep the hand you just pole planted with elevated, and not let it drop. This dropping of the "inside" hand in the turn will again make it harder to stay out of the back seat. Hope that made some sense!
Imagine a string connected between your hand and your hip, the hip moves simultaneously with the hand.
Equally important is that you keep the hand you just pole planted with elevated, and not let it drop. This dropping of the "inside" hand in the turn will again make it harder to stay out of the back seat. Hope that made some sense!
Thanks SnoWYmonkey. I think this must of been what he meant when he kept saying "your pole starts the turn". Its funny how a different explanation can turn something from a cliche to something that is actionable.
Ask me how I learned that dropping the inside hand will put you in the back seat :-) ?
Ask me how I learned that dropping the inside hand will put you in the back seat :-) ?
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
How did you learn? Curious?
SkiRunYoga
Certified Ski Diva
oohhhh... learning correct hands and poles will really help the back seat issue. You can't be in the back seat if your upper body is correct.
Again, ask me how I know.It tooke me years of hard work to get out of the back seat, get my hands up, and improve my skiing.
Ok my turn for dumb questions...
What do you mean by back seat?
And I had the pole planting discussion with my friend who I was skiing with last weekend...I still don't understand it. You can technically put your pole down at any moment (really), so how it helps, I still don't quite understand.... I use them for balance and getting around flats
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Back seat: assume you are on flat ground and standing in your boots with skis on. If more of your body weight is behind the feet than over them or in front of them you are what we often refer to as "in the back". In other words your fore and aft balance is off and it becomes hard to properly steer and pressure the skis when you are not centered on them. This is easy to accomplish on flat ground, once we are skiing down a mountain the tendency is to keep our body standing upright (even if knees, ankles, hips are bent), in effect we are standing with most of our weight over the back end of the skis which limits our ability to ski in control
Pole plants and timing: Yes in theory you could plant the pole at any time. However, one of it's primary purposes is to help you with the extension movement into the direction of the new turn as you complete the old one. So, if you time your pole plant correctly and have this movement become linked to the actions of the rest of your body through muscle memory, it becomes a very useful tool for maintaining rhythm, as well as, facilitating that forward and diagonal extension.
These are things that would be better explained to you with visual instruction. Having a friend who "gets it" or an instructor help you would probably be beneficial.
Pole plants and timing: Yes in theory you could plant the pole at any time. However, one of it's primary purposes is to help you with the extension movement into the direction of the new turn as you complete the old one. So, if you time your pole plant correctly and have this movement become linked to the actions of the rest of your body through muscle memory, it becomes a very useful tool for maintaining rhythm, as well as, facilitating that forward and diagonal extension.
These are things that would be better explained to you with visual instruction. Having a friend who "gets it" or an instructor help you would probably be beneficial.
snow addict
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It's important also where you plant the pole, the pole plant in the wrong position can be blocking your turn instead of 'inviting' it. I also learned the importance of pole plant once I moved from the groomed slopes. On the groomed you don't really have to plant the pole, a touch is enough, but on difficult terrain I plant the pole really aggressively to help with weight tranfer, then skis turn really easily. I found myself once in a long mogul field in boots that basically cut off all circulation in my feet, so that I couldn't feel anything below my calves, and I went down quite successfully pretty much on pole plants alone.
