After playing with "new school" double-poling, I'm wondering if in V2 there's a benefit to raising your hips (extra) up and forward just before the poling motion.
(I.e., a subtler version of the motion that raises your heels off the ski during double-poling.)
I know I feel like I do something like this during V2 alternate (on poling side), but feel like there's not enough time and/or balance to apply the same motion during V2.
Any comments appreciated,
Jon
Hmmm, the general consensus on why your heels come up from the ground double poling is because you have thrown your weight forward so powerfully that they lift up.If you are consciously lifting your heels up double poling you are probably just wasting energy.
I think what you are talking about in skating is what sprinters do while skiing v2 or v2 alternate? Where they actually will lift off the ground because of how much force they are using?
If this is what you are talking about you would only do this when sprinting short distances...it's something to play with but not real practical for the average master skier.,
Hi Jon,
Thanks for posting this great topic. Seems like the question you are asking is more than hip position. Rather you seem to be asking how tall to get in V2. I've watched 2010 Olympic videos lots to examine just this question & I'm eager to hear other replies. I think the correct answer is a really tall V2 is just one more gear in the transmission to be used when conditions call for it.
Starting with the basic slightly curved back body position for skating & during the middle part of DP, the question can be framed as how much should the slight curve be & what do the hips do when you load the poles? I think the correct answer is get as tall as you can (including high hands) & the hips sink straight down (not back)given the terrain, cadence & speed/power. But those last qualifiers are critical. You spend so much time on steeper terrain that you are forced to do lots of skating from a medium or low crouch w/ high cadence & lower power. But ideally, you'd get really tall as you crest the hill.
A few years ago LEE BOROWSKI did a little contrasting of low & high body (hip) position during skating. If you watch his videos, you realize the differences are subtle.
In coaching, I see lots of intermediate skiers (skate & classic) who can do all the strokes ok but have only do a single version of each. Cadence is one of the bigger ruts I see - only 1 speed - but height is another big one. So by all means learn how to do a tall V2 & where you can make best use of it. The altitude you ski at will play a big role in this choice.
Great points--I think "how tall" is a good way to think about it, and the idea of being able to adapt different parts of the V2 to different cadences and conditions is right on the nose.
A friend who coaches an (evil) college's team added another good point--in V2 alternate it's easier to feel the "getting tall" moment before the poling/skate, because you have more time to make a more aggressive forward arms swing, which contributes to the lifting up feeling. (His opinion was that the same thing should happen in V2, just quicker.)
Jon
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