What Transition To Ski Into Counter?
Should I Use Inside Leg extension?
What Transition To Ski Into Counter?
Should I Use Inside Leg extension?
Does Inside Leg Extension require pelvic shift in transition. Should ILE be used while skiing into a counter? If not then what should power up the transition? Outside Leg Relaxation? Does skiing into counter call for OLR?
Valerie
While ILE does not necessarily require a pelvic shift, it certainly is an excellent transition type to couple with a pelvic shift. When you transfer pressure to your old inside (uphill) foot, you free your inside hip to be driven forward and pivoted around your grounded & supported inside hip. ILE provides a very strong leg for the pivoting to take place around.
That said, ILE absolutely can be used when skiing into counter. All ILE is simply a method of using the existing turn forces to set your Center of Mass in motion across your skis and into the new turn. Once that crossing motion has begun, ILE and OLR will display little difference. In both, pressure has transferred to the new outside (uphill) foot, and the body is penduluming over that foot as it topples into the new turn. That toppling can happen with the pelvis facing downhill, as when skiing into counter, or while executing a pelvic shift.
Which you decide to use, ILE or OLR, will depend on what the need is. Like retraction, OLR will provide a slightly faster transition. If you need to get out of one turn and into the next quickly, OLR or retraction will probably be your best choice. If time is less of an issue ILE will provide an element of smoothness and relaxation, a sense of connection with the snow, and a feel of the ski's edge that can't be matched.
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