SkiA Sweetspot Trainer

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

I'm on the blue blocks.

 

[marzNC]

I'm on the blue blocks.

Maybe we can have a little friendly competition to see which of us can get to the red blocks first?

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

Maybe we can have a little friendly competition to see which of us can get to the red blocks first?

Righty ho! Maybe there should be video evidence involved.......

 

[skicrazed]

Is this a good device to use during the off-season, if I won't be able to alternate the "workouts" with actual skiing? Or is it better to use during ski season? I'm tempted to buy one, but not sure if it makes more sense to buy next year......

 

[marzNC]

Is this a good device to use during the off-season, if I won't be able to alternate the "workouts" with actual skiing? Or is it better to use during ski season? I'm tempted to buy one, but not sure if it makes more sense to buy next year......

Since the Sweetspot helps the little muscles related to small adjustments for balance, my sense is that on-going practice can make a difference in the long run. Just a guess based on my experience with the BOSU to help with knee rehab last summer and fall. I didn't use the BOSU much during ski season. It's clear that I should start doing 5-10 min at least several times a week again in order to get back to what I could do in Dec. Seems like someone said that she felt it took several months using the BOSU to really have a major impact on her ability to balance. I've also found that there is a big difference between not falling and really being in balance. Being completely in balance means being able to stand more or less absolutely still with the Sweetspot for at least 20-30 seconds at a time.

Might as well take advantage of the Diva discount now.

 

[litterbug]

I bought a Bosu last spring or early summer, played on it a few times, ignored it for several months, and then about a week before my first day on skis I just stood on it, rolling my ankles, briefly raising one leg, and doing mini-squats. I hadn't been very active all summer. I huffed and puffed and my performance was about as good as you'd expect for an overweight and very deconditioned middle-aged desk jockey, but I noticed that my balance was almost as good as if I'd been skiing or engaging in balance-related activities regularly. Now, I typically have good balance (I'm klutzy but recover quickly), but it usually takes a bit to transfer that to skiing.

I do wish I'd kept it up, though. And I wish I had a Skia, which would give me an excuse to put my pretty blue boots on, but right now that $75 (including shipping) seems like a lot of money.

 

[Karen Ellemo]

I used the SKIA all season. It was encouraged as part of the instructor training I took this year in France, with the British ski school BASS that is associated with the SKIA development. I'm sure it helped enormously to correct my posture and balance. One of the things I found most useful was to have a full length mirror beside me when i was balancing on it, and then I could see what I actually looked like, and compare it in my head with what I thought my position was as i adjusted my balance. It was quite revealing!

I got all my friends to have a go on it too, and they were all surprised at the body position that matched the balance sweet spot . It's a great gadget.

 

[marzNC]

I do wish I'd kept it up, though. And I wish I had a Skia, which would give me an excuse to put my pretty blue boots on, but right now that $75 (including shipping) seems like a lot of money.

If you don't win a Sweetspot, consider what you are willing to pay for lessons . . . or new skis.

For the 10% discount:
https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/divas-save-on-the-skia-sweetspot-trainer.16323/

 

[Cygnet]

Anyone heard of this? It's a new dryland training device that's supposed to help you improve your stance over your skis.
.

I bought the SKIA trainer in July last year and used it a few times. However, I then used it for ~30mins a day for a few weeks before going on holiday in January 2013. The book suggests you develop your own training routine and I did a mix of static balances for 3 minutes, strteching (3 mins), 50 edging movements and 50 pivots. I then repeated these 3 times. I started on the green blocks and within 3 weeks was using the red blocks very successfully. I tried the black ones - they're much harder than the red - I'm not ready for those yet.

Did they make a difference to my skiing? The honest answer is I don't know. What I do know is that I am much more aware of fore/aft balance than I was a year ago - but that may also be because I've been doing fore/aft balance drills. I found the edging and pivoting exercise helpful.

On a less positive note I found the trainers very fiddly to use. The plastic is stiff and the straps do not fit easily inbetween the buckles of my Atomic boots (24.5). It is impossible to check that the blocks are in the right place once the trainers are on. Ideally you set them up once and off you go - but I bought them for both me and OH to use and it was too difficult to adjust them every day for both of us. He gave up!!

You are supposed to take the trainers off inbetween sets of exercices. I found this too tricky so used books to make a bridge to stand on so that I could get the 'rest' minutes in.

I'll certainly use them again - maybe I'll make it to the black blocks!

 

[marzNC]

I bought the SKIA trainer in July last year and used it a few times. However, I then used it for ~30mins a day for a few weeks before going on holiday in January 2013. The book suggests you develop your own training routine and I did a mix of static balances for 3 minutes, strteching (3 mins), 50 edging movements and 50 pivots. I then repeated these 3 times. I started on the green blocks and within 3 weeks was using the red blocks very successfully. I tried the black ones - they're much harder than the red - I'm not ready for those yet.

Did they make a difference to my skiing? The honest answer is I don't know. What I do know is that I am much more aware of fore/aft balance than I was a year ago - but that may also be because I've been doing fore/aft balance drills. I found the edging and pivoting exercise helpful.

On a less positive note I found the trainers very fiddly to use. The plastic is stiff and the straps do not fit easily inbetween the buckles of my Atomic boots (24.5). It is impossible to check that the blocks are in the right place once the trainers are on. Ideally you set them up once and off you go - but I bought them for both me and OH to use and it was too difficult to adjust them every day for both of us. He gave up!!

You are supposed to take the trainers off inbetween sets of exercices. I found this too tricky so used books to make a bridge to stand on so that I could get the 'rest' minutes in.

I'll certainly use them again - maybe I'll make it to the black blocks!

Standing on books to rest in between balance drills is a great idea!

I agree that changing the set up between people on a regular basis would not be worth it.

Since I had more lessons than ever early in the season before heading out west, it's hard to tell how much the Sweetspot helped my technique. I know it made me much more confident that skiing without an ACL would be okay because of the edging and rotation practice in ski boots. After spending the summer rehabbing a knee, being able to make those moves in a well-controlled environment was well worth the investment of time and money.

 

[VickiK]

marznc, do you have a sales background? I bought this little device today.

 

[marzNC]

marznc, do you have a sales background? I bought this little device today.

What can I say . . . Ski Divas are enablers, right?

 

[marzNC]

Found a short video by one of the ski instructors who helped develop the Sweetspot trainer that shows the basic exercises (balance, movement with balance, edging, pivot). Note that the set up involves matching the line in the center of a ski boot to the balance point on the Sweetspot. When bindings are set up, usually the idea is to place them so that center line is matched up to the appropriate mark on the ski.

 

[dloveski]

I am so psyched---as the winner of the Sweet Spot.

Thanks all for this thread, and all the info from MarzNC. I am motivated to practice (after I get back from travels in Czech Repub.)

I know I will benefit from practicing moves from my center. A fine way to spend the off season.

 

[marzNC]

I am so psyched---as the winner of the Sweet Spot.

Thanks all for this thread, and all the info from MarzNC. I am motivated to practice (after I get back from travels in Czech Repub.)

I know I will benefit from practicing moves from my center. A fine way to spend the off season.

Have fun on your travels!

Let us know what color block you find comfortable when you get started.

 

[HeidiInTheAlps]

marznc, do you have a sales background? I bought this little device today.

Want to try it out when I'm there in the summer!!! Just got back from a 10 day summer holiday training in Majorca, so I guess I'm ready for California now, lol.

 

[marzNC]

Found a new vid. Not sure who this guy is but what's a bit different is that he demonstrates edging while using ski poles. He seems to be somewhere in Europe.

 

[mahgnillig]

Just adding to this thread a little... I bought one of these after not winning one in the recent contest. The difference, even after ONE training session, was marked. I got them on Thursday evening, set them up and used them for around 15mins, then went skiing Friday morning not expecting a revelation. Well, even with my dodgy knee and the fact that this was only my fifth half-day of the season due to a combination of knee injury and a lack of snow, I was astonished at the difference in my skiing. All I did was replicate on the snow the same feeling as I had on the trainer, and voila! An epiphany! All of a sudden I could engage my edges much better and I was doing the calm upper body thing much more consistently. I plan on using the SkiA every day just for a few minutes... hopefully I'll be skiing like a champ by the end of the season

 

[litterbug]

That's quite the testimonial. Maybe I'll fool around on the Bosu tonight, because when I did that last year I did notice slightly better proprioception. But it sounds like the trainer is a nice targeted tool.

 

[mahgnillig]

That's quite the testimonial. Maybe I'll fool around on the Bosu tonight, because when I did that last year I did notice slightly better proprioception. But it sounds like the trainer is a nice targeted tool.

I was really genuinely surprised! I don't think of myself as a particularly bad skier... I've had instructors tell me my form is pretty good for someone that has only been skiing for 3 seasons, and my preferred terrain is black groomers or blue off-piste. So I was expecting that the trainer would help me out a bit with my balance (which isn't stellar), and was anticipating slow but steady improvements. It was much more of an aha! moment than that though... turns out I was centering my weight just a bit too far forward and compensating too much with my quads. After I started skiing in the correct position, it was almost effortless to rip down the blue groomers without stopping to rest, despite the lull in my general fitness and lack of days on the snow from my knee injury.

I think the thing about the SkiA trainer is that it allows you to replicate how your boots feel on the trainer when on snow, and vice versa. I've been doing some work with a Bosu as part of my physical therapy, but since I'm not wearing ski boots when doing it, I found it hard to translate. I'm sure the PT is helping with my skiing too as I'm kind of having to retrain the way I walk (bad patella tracking, apparently), but the real breakthrough was the SkiA. I'm still using the green blocks, so it can only get better