Tom Gellie's Webinars are Well Worth It IMO

[Mike King]

He is currently going through a bunch of drills discussing what they are, why you should do them, how to perform them, and how they relate to general skiing. I've watched a couple of them that were recorded and on his website, but only just started attending them. The following are (or will shortly be) on his website (https://www.bigpictureskiing.com):

• Pivot Slips
• Javelin Turns
• Hop Turns

This week's topic is retraction/extension turns. Participation costs about $14/US. The webinar is via Zoom Thursday (tomorrow) evening at 5 PM MDT.

The folk participating, from what I've observed, tend to be quite experienced instructors, some going for Level 4 in Canada, Level 3 in the US, and occasionally someone from Austria/France/New Zealand/???

I've found it pretty useful. You can sign up here:

Functional Body

Schedule your appointment online Functional Body

app.acuityscheduling.com

 

[razie]

This week's topic is retraction/extension turns. Participation costs about $14/US. The webinar is via Zoom Friday (tomorrow) evening at 5 PM MDT.

Especially interesting as it will feature some ski school rejects the regulars here know well

I haven't seen all of them, but Tom's stuff is good! Well researched and presented! Great guy, too!

 

[geepers]

There's a couple of ski instruction providers making good vid content. I particularly like Section 8 Snow Sports for an excellent series covering newbies to experts. And The Projected Production guys always worth a watch although their vids are aimed at more experienced skiers.

However for detailed content Tom Gellie's vids are sensational. His knowledge of human bio-mechanics and its application to skiing gives unique insight into how and most importantly why certain things are done for best results in skiing. There is enough stuff there for a few semesters worth of study.

Really looking forward to trying out his stuff on snow shortly. There are a few items I've yet to get my head around - like is actually a good idea to take out the foot beds...? Tom has his reasons and there's foot/arch preparation that goes with the territory so that may be one to build up to.

 

[Mike King]

There's a couple of ski instruction providers making good vid content. I particularly like Section 8 Snow Sports for an excellent series covering newbies to experts. And The Projected Production guys always worth a watch although their vids are aimed at more experienced skiers.

However for detailed content Tom Gellie's vids are sensational. His knowledge of human bio-mechanics and its application to skiing gives unique insight into how and most importantly why certain things are done for best results in skiing. There is enough stuff there for a few semesters worth of study.

Really looking forward to trying out his stuff on snow shortly. There are a few items I've yet to get my head around - like is actually a good idea to take out the foot beds...? Tom has his reasons and there's foot/arch preparation that goes with the territory so that may be one to build up to.

I bought one of the carbon fiber footbeds. It shipped today. I guess I'll try it out...

 

[geepers]

I bought one of the carbon fiber footbeds. It shipped today. I guess I'll try it out...

Be interested to hear how that goes.

Been working on arches but so far.... nothing. Suspect it may be too late in life.

 

[LiquidFeet]

^^No!!! It's never too late in life. Stop that.

 

[Scruffy]

Be interested to hear how that goes.

Been working on arches but so far.... nothing. Suspect it may be too late in life.

Not sure what you're doing with your arches, but look up Short Foot.

Are you doing short foot correctly? | Clearing the confusion

I think it goes without saying that I have a passion for sharing the power of foot activation and how it fascially connects to central core stabilization. My go-to for foot activation is none othe…

barefootstrongblog.com

Short Foot and Posture Exercises | The Foot Clinic | Blog | Perth

Short foot: it is one of many posture exercises you can do to help fix yourself, from the feet up. Read about the technique and how it can help you.

www.thefootclinic.net

 

[geepers]

Not sure what you're doing with your arches, but look up Short Foot.

Are you doing short foot correctly? | Clearing the confusion

I think it goes without saying that I have a passion for sharing the power of foot activation and how it fascially connects to central core stabilization. My go-to for foot activation is none othe…

barefootstrongblog.com

Short Foot and Posture Exercises | The Foot Clinic | Blog | Perth

Short foot: it is one of many posture exercises you can do to help fix yourself, from the feet up. Read about the technique and how it can help you.

www.thefootclinic.net

It's working on those arches - short foot essentially and seems similar without doing a more detailed review. However TG is focused on the foot for skiing and does not go into movements such as this....

Transverse arches in particular seem to need a lot of waking up!

P.S. What is that type of floor covering called? Torn-up Egg Cartoon Beige?

 

[Steve]

@Scruffy Short Foot is fascinating. Do you do them while skiing?

 

[Scruffy]

However TG is focused on the foot for skiing and does not go into movements such as this....

True, but why do football players learn and practice Ballet? A lot of folks ( not at all pointing a finger at you @geepers ) say that bipedal movements have no place in skiing. I say that as a skier, you are using the same biomechanics that evolved in humans to walk, run, leap, jump, plie, and ski while encased in a stiff plastic boot, and to ignore that is futile. My feeling is: anything you can do strengthen and increase flexibility and range of motion in your feet will pay dividends in skiing. Our feet have more range of motion within our ski boots than most people realize, and our feet are our key to our motion and stability from our feet to our core. I also believe that our feet within the stiff plastic ski boot are full of untapped potential for alpine skiing. Meaning that there has been little advancements in that space. The fact that a guy like Tom Gellies is paying attention to it and has started to proselytize this stuff is a testament to the potential. So yeah, those exact movements won't happen in the ski boot, but she is showing you that the first metatarsal moves rearward biomechanically, it still happens within the ski boot, but to a much lesser degree.

Why do Football Players Practice Ballet?

You may have heard that many professional football players participate in ballet. This is in fact true and there are several reason for this. Ballet provides a number of benefits to athletes. Some males are uncomfortable taking ballet classes due to the stigma and stereotypes associated with men...

www.balletbarresonline.com

.

 

[Scruffy]

@Scruffy Short Foot is fascinating. Do you do them while skiing?

The short answer is yes, we all do. Short foot is an exercise that trains and strengthens the foots connection to the our deep front line. It's already part of our biomechanics as humans; short foot just helps reconnect to our natural biomechanical movement. Planter Fascia tensioning happens while skiing ( it can be hampered by unnecessary foot beds << warning controversy !!, but it still happens ) Without tensioning the deep front line and the superficial front line we would not be able to walk, run or ski.

 

[geepers]

True, but why do football players learn and practice Ballet?

For the same reason Michael Jackson and Joe Bugner wore gloves.

Not like I'm disagreeing with your points on the foot and skiing. Just not feeling much luv from the tranverse arches at this point - who knows what the next 27 days, 23 hours and 35 minutes will bring. The usual foot beds will go in with the rest of the packing this season at least.

Also... the "must see about this" list from watching TG vids is too long already. Too few days on snow, especially this season. Have to whittle that list down substantially.

 

[razie]

Tom's main business is "The Foot Collective" if I'm not mistaken - and he is good at what he does.

The feet are the most important connector to the ground and since gravity keeps pushing us in that direction, critical to anything we do.

While most skiers do not use their feet much, in good skiing as well as most of what we do, everything starts with the feet, from movement to balance to kinetic chain activation to posture. And yeah, ballet is all feet and posture and movement. And pain.

But why in skiing many can get away without using the feet much is because ski boots can be tipped on edge and driven from the top, not just from the bottom - it's more imprecise but can be done.

Disabling the feet via wrong footbeds, cramped boots, cold, lack of exercise etc is common. The first I've seen to focus on this, relative to skiing and explicitly state what I just did, was Warren Witherrell back in the 70s - it's unfortunate that this focus on the feet is lost some these days, with many focusing on driving from the femur or the hips and big body parts and big muscle focus.

Interestingly but not unexpected, most ski related and in general sports related basic athletic preparation includes specific use of the feet, like in lounges, squats etc.

Good strength, mobility and proprioception will support us through a healthy and enjoyable season.

 

[geepers]

Always thought TG was more whole body. As in this business...

The Functional Body

A quick overview...

Feet are part of the body and some of his vids focus on feet. There's some on other parts of the body as well.

Maybe the best skiers take advantage of the way all the body parts work?

 

[razie]

Maybe the best skiers take advantage of the way all the body parts work?

...I was lookint at this, thinking that it sounds so much like I didn't just say the same thing... the reality is that it's hard to put the feeling into words, really, when you nail the line and are floating down the hill, re-arranging your feet and body, to support you here and there, extracting just the right amount of impulse from the mountain to keep the speed down and the line winding down the hill around all those random 3D piles and people... I really wish more skiers experience these moments...

I don't think it's just the high level of full body awareness, or just the high speed, the quick reactions - although they must play a big role - I think the complex technical aspect plays a major role, as well. I keep looking for similarities and I haven't found that many!

Compare with my summer sport - you have 6 input levers that you operate simultaneously, engine and big breaks that quickly alter your momentum, plus body position and many leverage points that you can control on the bike, plus the anticipation of floating from and to the same type of lateral impulse, it's hard to convey the feeling of doing this at race speed (and I'm a lot slower than these guys, even at "race speed") but this is so addictive!!!


Here's one of the ski school dropouts featured above, chasing me in a pretty slow section - it still doesn't seem to convey the same feeling though, just watching the video, so I tend to get frustrated trying to put it in words...


How many dancers here? Ballet, gymnasts etc? They have probably experienced something close to this. So do MTB riders, if you push it in a downhill race etc.

What other sports can relay a feeling that's close to this?

 

[geepers]

Some nice TG bump skiing in Australia. The resort is Perisher and the run is called International Bumps.

Skied these same bumps a couple of days before this vid was made. Sweet conditions.

 

[Steve]

The last run looked like so much fun!

 

[Mike King]

That's flow.

 

[Disinterested]

He's a smart bloke, and the videos are good. I think he's becoming one of the most influential people in the instruction industry and a lot of people from associations worldwide are going to be picking up some of his ideas, so it's probably worth following Tom for that reason alone.

 

[Steve]

30% off discount code on monthly or 1/4ly subscriptions. It carries over to renewals too, so for $90.99 you get 3 months, renewable for $90.99. That's $181.96 through March 15th. Code expires soon, I think in 2 days, but not sure.

Code is SLUSH.