“There are different ways to release your grip at the start of a turn. You can lift your uphill ski off of the snow with a step or a stem”…..Did I just read that correctly, a STEM, I am gobsmacked!!!

The article goes to proffer more sage wisdom: “You can jump to bring both skis off the snow; or you can move your center of mass down the hill over your downhill edge”……What the?!?! What about ski-snow contact, utterly crucial in steep terrain. Forgive me here but I’ll manage my speed with my uphill ski or inside edge.

Case in point, the steepest terrain I ever skied was with John’s coach Chino Martinez in Portillo, Chile. As Chino was introducing us to this very special run, he reminded us that we simply need to continue to apply the method, the only caveat being that we reach a bit farther down that mountain than normal with our pole touch. Steeper terrain would mean that we need the extra distance as we would be executing the arc of our turns faster then normal.

Needless to say we made it down the mountain with style and technical grace, not once sacrificing ski-snow contact or, god forbid, stemming. By simply applying the method, we had everything we needed to manage our speed and link some of the most amazing turns I’ve ever had in my 20 years of skiing.

John, the skiers flu is everywhere and it’s being spread like an epidemic, even by those who we would consider custodians of the technique of the sport.

Love Doug’s comment above about engaging the body, it really does commit one’s core and allows you to ski with intention! And as Doug so eloquently puts it, the whole “system flows”…….(you have to be committed in deep pow!)

Quick story about twitching and tipping. I was getting a massage in Portillo one year and the masseuse asked me if I had any problem areas, I said the outside of my calves and the outside of my feet……..She laughed and said “you must be one of John’s students, you’ve been tipping your downhill ski all day haven’t you?”. That’s when I said “y’know what, let’s just focus on my glutes for an hour……hahaha!!!”.

Love ya coach, keep em coming!

HERE’S A transferable thought to your golf program:

Most golfers are arm swingers flailing away with little body unification ,
the rest throw their ass at the ball to be “powerful”.

Your “Twitch” is right on for golf.

A slight “twitch” just before the completion of the take away engages the body and the whole system flows just as skis do with the “ski twitch”.

The golf twitch being that slight movement of the hips forward which allows everything else to just automatically power though almost effortlessly with no part of the body in the way.

I’m just pissed off at not being there to put your ski twitch in play . It is without question what was missing for years as I never know how to commit to the turn, and just timidly attempted to load the uphill, throw my weight over to that ski and then try to muscle around.

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU?