X-Country Skiing Lesson - Flats

It's two weeks before the Stars WAR, and CB and I thought we could use a tune-up of skills. We took an intermediate lesson at Hardwood Hills in between training sessions.

Our lovely instructor Martina took us to the flat track training area and had us do a series of laps focusing on various aspects of technique. Here is the good and the bad:

- Had to work more on subtle weight transfer from foot to foot, keeping head over the relevant ski
- Kick forward more to slide into the snow with the boot in line or just ahead of the other boot
- Avoid flopping the ski down and making noise
- I have good lift from the back foot and am not afraid to get a little airborne
- My gliding forward is pretty good
- I was planting my pole "late", when it should be in time with the lead foot
- My front arm was not extended enough, and my pole was going in straight, putting on the breaks
- My rear arm was following through pretty well, but we were to add a final push against the strap of the pole, hands loose
- Generally my poles were all over the place, flailing about dangerously - I have to keep them in line with my body for max efficiency (and safety to others??)
- The big breakthrough came when Martina had us roll our shoulders slightly (like in swimming!), which not only extended our pole reach, but also greatly improved the weight transfer!
- We should always have a slight lean forward to carry the momentum
Double-poling: for when regular skiing would slow you down:
- lean forward and fall onto your poles
- use an ab crunch to complete the movement

This was a great lesson because it's so helpful to have a good eye watching all your mistakes you would not otherwise even know about. And we both finally got the straight dope on classic technique.

When we went back out to practise, it was the shoulder roll that really got me moving. I found that I had a hard time concentrating on all the leg techniques, but the poling basically took care of the legs, which fell in line. I did find that I could either extend my arm and get a good "catch", or start short and have that nice strap finish, but not usually both. I think I'm still starting the pole late, so I don't have much time to complete a nice full motion. So much like swimming.

Will be back for more next week. Need hill work.

--Duration: 45mins