The drills grouped together in this course all relate to the Glide Skate Kick.

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Gilbert Matthews
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Glide Kick Skate Drills First Three Lessons The Glide Kick: What Matters Most 0:00 The drills grouped together in this course all relate to the Glide Skate Kick.

1 Glide Kick Skate Drills First Three Lessons The Glide Kick: What Matters Most 0:00 The drills grouped together in this course all relate to the Glide Skate Kick. This is the type of skate kick used in the gliding techniques, which are V2-One Skate, Two Skate, which is also known as V2-alternate and Free Skate. I ll link to another video below that explains the differences between a Climbing Skate Kick and a Gliding Skate Kick, in case you unclear about what that means. We talk about Gliding versus Climbing Skate Kicks because differentiating between them helps people understand the skate kick better. 0:32 But the truth is these are somewhat artificial labels. They re ends of a spectrum and there is grey area in the middle. So don t get too rule bound in your thinking. And, as I said, this is explained in more detail in the other video. So with that disclaimer out of the way, let s look in greater detail at the mechanics of a glide skate kick. A key feature of the Glide Skate Kick is that it has a distinct phase where the ski runs flat on the snow for a few moments before it rolls onto the inside edge for the kick. If you don t remember, the kick is just how you push the ski against the snow to propel yourself forward. 1:08 There s always a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that the ski is flat during the glide phase. A flat, glide ski allows the skier to cover more distance during the glide and helps the skier create a more forceful kick. Learning to balance comfortably on a flat, gliding ski is an essential skill novices need to acquire as quickly as possible. It s both important and difficult. However, it s not just the fact that the ski is flat during the glide phase that matters. Other details about the Glide Kick are just as important and that s what I ll cover in the remainder of this video. 1:43 Seen from a front on view, the foot recovers directly under the skier. We re looking at where the foot lands on the ground relative to the skier s midline, as the leg swings back after the kick. This is pretty much a prerequisite for a flat ski. I suppose it s possible to land the ski wide of the midline and still keep it flat, but I don t think that s a very likely scenario. I think the ski would more likely be on it s inside edge. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

2 So a flat ski and recovering the foot directly under the body are sort of chicken and egg skills. The two go hand in hand. 2:17 How the knee tracks relative to the foot and hip is also important. You want to see the knee stayed line up between the hip and foot throughout the entire kick. It s pretty common to see the knee collapse inward instead. If you re familiar with exercises like squats and lunges, you already know you want your knee doing that as it can increase your risk of injury. If your knee doesn t track straight and you can t easily correct it, you may want to consult with a professional like a physiotherapist or a strength trainer. They may be able detect what s happening and help you find a solution. It could be a matter of improving hip strength, but it could be something else as well. 3:00 The third thing to notice is how the leg is flexed as the skier steps onto the ski, then it straightens and then it bends again. Sometimes we ll refer to this as working your leg during the kick. The straightening action is like standing up. It lightens your weight on the ski so you cover more distance during the glide. It also pre-stretches or preloads your leg muscles which helps make your leg push more forceful. The straightening at the leg joints is also called leg extension. The bending of the leg, which is called leg flexion, lets you to drop your weight into the kick, which also makes it more powerful. Notice how this cycle of flexion and extension is so fluid and continuous. It s pretty common for skiers to instead pause and hang out at the top of the cycle, in the standing position. That s a habit you want to avoid. Some people might think that working on leg flexion and extension is too advanced for novices. But as someone who learned to skate ski later in life, I d say noticing and trying to mimic this action is one of the secrets to mastering skate skiing more quickly. 4:07 It s common for novice and intermediate skiers to sit back on their hips. It takes time to find your balance, but bringing your weight more towards the front of your feet will make a big difference to your efficiency as well. 4:20 The last thing I want to mention about the glide kick is about how you push. Now we re looking at the time the ski is in contact with the ground. How hard you re pushing and in what direction you apply force will affect your balance. If you make your push more forceful at the end of the kick and push outward, more in a sideways direction, that will have a tendency to throw you off balance to the other side. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

3 If instead, you time it to the beginning of the kick and think of dropping your push down into the ground under you, it won t be as difficult to keep your balance because you won t be thrown off to the side. On a gentle downhill, you can practically just step from ski to ski. 4:56 So these are things to keep in mind when working on your glide skate kick. As you probably suspect, this is all easier said than done. But now at least you know what you re aiming for. There s no real order to how you develop these skills. They re interconnected and have to all come along together. I think one of the benefits of noticing these details is that it allows you to get more out of any single drill. Most of us can only focus on one thing at a time. With a list like this, you can practice the same drill, but keep it interesting by focussing your attention on different objectives. I might do a drill where I m just thinking about whether my ski is flat during the glide phase. Then I could repeat the drill, focussing instead on the leg flexion and extension. Can I work my leg more? Can I make my movements more fluid? Etc, etc. I m sure you get the idea and I m sure you can come up with lots of ways to put this information to use. Types of Drills: Pros and Cons 5:50 There are many drills for improving the Glide Skate Kick and this won t be the only place inside XC Ski Nation where you ll find them. Sometimes the differences between drills are subtle; it s not always easy to understand what they re for and how they work. One of the reasons we made this collection was to make it easier to see the relationships between different drills and explain their advantages, as well as their potential pitfalls. 6:14 All the drills shown in this video have their own separate lessons, so don t worry about trying to keep track of them here. In this video I really just want to speak in generalizations about the different types of drills. So this is how I would organize these kinds of drills. By categorizing them like this I hope to give you a framework for inventing your own drills as well. Let s go through each category and talk about how they work, what they re for, and whether they have any downsides you need to be aware of. 6:45 The Swinging Drills help you get your weight more fully over each ski. They involve some kind of over exaggerated swinging movement of the arms, the upper body, the hips or some combination of those. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

4 Mastering complex movement skills, like skate skiing requires a lot of deliberate, high quality practice. It s well known in sports science that the movements you practice must be closely related to the movements you re trying to learn. Over exaggeration drills, by definition, don t accurately reproduce the movements you need to learn. So that s the downside of these drills like this. 7:19 If you ve watched any of our Technique Explainer courses, you know that one of the hallmarks of good technique is a strong, stable torso. There should be minimal movement through the torso, with little to no side to side rocking or rotation. That s the big trade off with the swinging drills. They encourage a lot of movement through the torso. 7:40 Despite that, I like swinging drills and think they re worthwhile, especially for novices. They re easy and fun to do and they help skiers create nice, relaxed, fluid movements. Plus, they teach a key skill, which is the ability to get your weight more fully over each ski. In my opinion, the trick with these drills is to chose swinging actions that are most helpful, with the least amount of unnecessary movement. You can swing from side to side without rotating too much through your torso. That s my preference, but I would encourage you to try all sorts of variations to see how they feel and what works for you. 8:15 Stability Drills are no poles drills that emphasize a strong and stable torso. It s almost like they re the opposite of the swinging drills. One common drill in this category is to hold your poles behind your back. I know coaches who like and use the poles behind the back drill, but I personally don t like it. It causes the shoulders to jut forward in an unhealthy way. Also, it creates a lot of tension in the upper back and neck. You ll get better movement overall if you can stay relaxed in your neck and shoulders. Aside from that example, I like stability drills for how they encourage a quiet, steady core. The swinging drills are easier and probably more productive for novices. The stability drills are more beneficial after you ve learned to get your weight over each ski better. 9:03 No Poles One Skate and No Poles Two Skate are mimic drills. You move your hands and arms exactly how you would if you where skiing, but you aren t holding any poles. If you do need to carry your poles when doing these drill, hold them mid-shaft at their balance point so they don t destabilize your arm swing. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

5 Mimic drills teach timing and help you develop smooth and fluid arm movements. They re good for working on your leg push in a way that is highly specific to real skiing because there s a relationship between what your arms and legs are doing in skiing, even when you aren t poling. I can t think of any downsides to these drills. I think they are excellent. 9:42 A large number of skate skiing drills fall into the category I call Top of Cycle, or Standing Drills. Standing Drills exaggerate the amount of time you stand on your glide ski. They take this moment, at the top of the cycle, and challenge you to hold this position while maintaining a flat, gliding ski. In our example drill for this category, called the Double Tap Drill, the challenge is to take two poles strokes for every leg push. These might just be the most popular glide skate drills, so I m really going against convention when I say I m not a fan. I don t really like these drills and I don t find them especially helpful. I definitely would not use drills like this with novices. 10:25 Because these drills emphasize a high, unstable position, they tend to make people feel uncomfortable, which I don t like. People ski better when they aren t all tensed up and these drills usually put people more into panic mode than learning mode. Another reason I don t like these drills is because they teach an irrelevant skill. I know people will argue that learning to balance in this challenging position will translate to better balance in easier positions, but I don t think that how balance works. There are so many studies that have confirmed this concept: balance is a highly specific skill. If we want to improve our balance in a glide skate kick, then we have to practice a glide skate kick, not a different movement. And these drills teach a different movement. 11:10 Do you remember how in the previous video I showed that one of the key features of a glide skate kick is a continuous and fluid bending and straightening of the leg during the kick? This is important. Standing on your ski is not important. It s literally irrelevant to the skill we re trying to learn. That brings me to my final complaint with these drills, which is that I think they encourage bad habits. They give people a confused idea about what matters most in the glide techniques. They make people think it s important to get really high and hold onto this top position. 11:43 They absolutely gave me that idea and I know I m not the only one. I see many skiers at the nordic centre spending too much time standing on their glide ski when they d be better off refining a smooth kick. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

6 There is one positive thing I can say about these drills and that is that they add variety and challenge to a lesson, especially for more advanced skiers. That s all I ll say about these Top of Cycle or Standing Drills, except to emphasize that this is just my opinion. Many, if not most coaches like these drills and you might like them too. I certainly hope I didn t offended anyone. If nothing else, perhaps I ve given you a different perspective to consider. 12:19 Awareness Drills are exactly what they sound like. They simply draw attention to different aspects of your technique to help improve your ability to sense how you re skiing. The trick with these drills is to remain a neutral observer. You need to be completely nonjudgemental about your technique to get value from these exercises. Don t think oh, I m great, or oh, I m terrible. Just observe and learn. 12:46 There are an endless variety of drills for improving your glide skate kick. On one hand, you could argue there are no bad drills. Drills, by their very nature, get you moving in new ways which is always good for improving your comfort on skis. But on the other hand, many drills challenge you with movements that bear little to no relationship to the skills you need to learn to skate ski. In those cases, you need to decide whether that s a good use of your time. The framework I outlined here should help you evaluate drills and decide if they re a good fit for you for where you re at right now. And, if you have favourite drills to share or this inspired you to invent new drills, I hope you ll let us know in the forum. 13:23 Tips for Greater Success If you want to ski more efficiently, you have to move better. And to move better, you have to feel relaxed and confident. In general, that means skiing on easier terrain, using smaller ranges of movement, keeping your centre of gravity low and not creating excessive forces. That pretty much summarizes my philosophy for coaching technique. I try to match those factors to a person s ability, then gradually expand them. So here s a list of random tips for getting more out of the drills in this course and speeding up the time it takes to be comfortable balancing on a flat, gliding ski. All these tips really just relate back to this list. 14:02 Your set up is important. Start every drill in the athletic position. Brace your core to help with stability, but stay loose and relaxed in the shoulders, neck, knees and ankles. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

7 Flex deeper at the knees and ankles to keep your centre of gravity closer to the ground. The more you can stay low and relaxed, the easier it will be to balance. 14:21 You need some speed to do these drills successfully. Not too much, but some. Like riding a bike, if you re moving too slowly, it will be difficult to keep your balance. Too fast will be hard as well. So chose your terrain thoughtfully. A slight downhill would be a good choice. Also, your first few strides are usually throwaways because you need some time to build up speed. So it s nice to have a longer run, if possible. You ll probably need to start with a wider V and dig your edges in to get going, so don t worry about a flat ski until you build some speed. 14:52 I ve said this before, but it s important. When you push against your skate ski, you ll have a tendency to push yourself off balance. If you push outward, the force will act to tip you over the other way. If you direct your push more downward, it will be easier to keep your balance. 15:07 Free Skate deserves special mention because it is a legitimate technique but it also makes a wonderful drill for novices. I d really encourage you to use it that way. The Arm Swinging Drills are a lot like Free Skate. The advantage of Free Skate is that, like I said, it s a real technique. 15:24 Skate skis have very little lateral stability. That means they can skitter sideways, especially in icy conditions. In contrast, skate roller skis have excellent sideways stability. The wheels won t slip, except perhaps a little on wet pavement. Practicing these drills on roller skis is a great way to accelerate your progress. Many people experience a big improvement in their skate skiing after a summer of roller skiing. Copyright XC Ski Nation of 7

LEVEL II TEACHING SKILL ANALYSIS. January 2010 Page 1

LEVEL II TEACHING SKILL ANALYSIS. January 2010 Page 1 SKILL ANALYSIS January 2010 Page 1 Page 2 January 2010 SKILLS ANALYSIS As a coach, you have the responsibility of telling your athletes whether or not they are using proper technique in their skills. You