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Jack Vs Alex toeside


alexgforce

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I found this photo of Jack and it looked interesting to put this 2 together. Same angle of photo, both goofy and similar technique although I think Jack's right arm is better positioned.

Definitely a better arm position as it is closer to his crotch and he is so relaxed he just finished scratching his cajones:lol:

Thats why he has that happy look on his face:)

I'm finally on vacation for 2 weeks so take that!

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Haha, yeah Bruce. Nice turn Alex! I think you're splitting hairs with the arm analysis, my arm can look like that too. Although my arms have gotten quieter on metal, and I feel more relaxed in general on the new boards.

That pic of me is 3 years old now. Here is my favorite toeside pic from this year, taken by Shred Gruumer.

Nice comparison. Goofy footers rule!

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This is my take. In what I look for Jack's position is slightly better. Mostly because where his upper body is. Alex is slightly broken at the waist, where Jack's shoulders are more upright.

When you break at the waist, even a little bit it "locks" your hips. What I mean by this is that in order to make adjustments for/aft with your hips you must also move your upper body too, because they are locked together. When your upper body is more upright you are free to move your hips under you with your shoulders going with them. This gives you more range of motion and allows your movement to be independant between the upper and lower body allowing you to make recoveries better. Plus it is stronger when the snow gets bumpy.

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Awesome pic! Must have taken that when yuo guys had west coast conditions and we had ice, back in January.

We did have a great season, but that pic was taken on March 2 after a 6" storm. I only had to bring out the 158 once this year!

Thanks Phil.

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Haha, yeah Bruce. Nice turn Alex! I think you're splitting hairs with the arm analysis, my arm can look like that too. Although my arms have gotten quieter on metal, and I feel more relaxed in general on the new boards.

That pic of me is 3 years old now. Here is my favorite toeside pic from this year, taken by Shred Gruumer.

Nice comparison. Goofy footers rule!

Funny that you mention how old it is, I was just thinking about this the other day.

Do you find that you've more or less hit a plateau at the very top of freecarving? Seeing that old(?) Sunapee video of you was mind boggling, is there really anywhere to go from there other than small details like the cyclic rate when scratching one's balls, or, more seriously, meddling around in things like switch carving?

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That's interesting point about plateau. on softboots i can surive most any trail(very ugly but make it down). On hardboot i am lucky if i get down a diamond run in one piece.

isn't that's why we ride steeper and steeper stuff? constant push myself out the comfort zone in snowboarding is what's fun for me.

reading some of the threads about how ppl can pass level 3 certification in HB is just jaw dropping. There are so many stuff to work on bumps/tress/switch i guess plateau is created by individual?

It's probably due to my lack of talent; seems to me it does take longer and more dedication to get to the next level.

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This is my take. In what I look for Jack's position is slightly better. Mostly because where his upper body is. Alex is slightly broken at the waist, where Jack's shoulders are more upright.

When you break at the waist, even a little bit it "locks" your hips. What I mean by this is that in order to make adjustments for/aft with your hips you must also move your upper body too, because they are locked together. When your upper body is more upright you are free to move your hips under you with your shoulders going with them. This gives you more range of motion and allows your movement to be independant between the upper and lower body allowing you to make recoveries better. Plus it is stronger when the snow gets bumpy.

Thanks, Phil. Yet another piece of the puzzle to add next season. What caught my 'ear' was your comment on the increased 'range of motion' a rider gains by not breaking at the waist. Jacks' pic clearly shows a 'stacked' (not your cup size, Jack) and open stance, and Alexs' pic demonstrates a closed or un-stacked stance. I hope this is making sense. The Yellowtail Chardonnay I had at dinner is fully operational now.

I noticed this past season that when I broke at the waist it was harder to recover and go into a cross-under or cross-through motion to make the next turn. When I kept my upper-body static and 'stacked', I was able to recover, relax, and rely on my skills more.

Again, thank you.

Mark

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And if i may ask at what speed are those pictures taken?

Because i think that Jack's going slower then Alex!

Not sure, all I can tell you is that I was riding a Madd 180, which is a ~16m board, so you have to be moving to lean it over that far.

Do you find that you've more or less hit a plateau at the very top of freecarving? Seeing that old(?) Sunapee video of you was mind boggling, is there really anywhere to go from there other than small details like the cyclic rate when scratching one's balls, or, more seriously, meddling around in things like switch carving?

Switch carving does nothing for me.

The beauty of alpine is that it's always a fun challenge to ride at your best, and do so with consistency and grace on the steepest stuff you can handle. Also that carving is an absolute blast from the moment you feel that first unsteered railed turn happen and the lightbulb comes on. There have been several plateaus in my riding, and they all seem to be surpassed by either coaching or equipment. When I was instructing ('93-'97) I was getting some great coaching. And with every new board, boot, binding would come another wave of learning. Some waves were bigger than others. They haven't stopped either. I anticipate another one next year after I take delivery of my new school race boards. Of course as you get better the waves become more subtle and not so much like quantum leaps, maybe not even noticeable to an observer, but I'll tell you what I'm never bored. Every day I wake up to fresh cord is like a powder day to anyone else.

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Jacks' pic clearly shows a 'stacked' (not your cup size, Jack) and open stance, and Alexs' pic demonstrates a closed or un-stacked stance. I hope this is making sense.

Man, I have no idea what you guys are looking at. To me, they both look like perfectly fine, stacked toesides. It looks like neither of them is breaking at the waist, petting the dog, or out of balance. What are you guys seeing that I don't?

Bruce, I just had 3 9m days over just the last 4 days :) I love it! Landed my first super clean backroll on Thursday!

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kjl: sorry, I'm not very good at explaining this but, Jack's shoulders are upright (to quote Phil) and putting mass squarely over his hips. Even though his arm is dragging in the snow, his body is still forming an arc away from the snow. In Alex's pic, he's no longer making his body arc away from the snow. He's bending at the waist ever so slightly and positioning his shoulders forward of his hips in the turn. This positioning increases his chances of losing edge hold. It's not that he will or did lose control but, that when any rider 'breaks' at the waist at this phase of the turn the body mass is not fully over the edge.

Another thing to consider is that Alex's position might make it harder to feed the board through the turn. That is, initially the nose of the board is pressured and through the apex of the turn the weight of the rider is shifted from the nose to the waist and finally the tail of the board.

I'm sure I've messed up here so if someone else has a better way of saying this please do.

Mark

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That explanation makes perfect sense, and I understand the effect breaking at the waist has on angulation, thus decreasing edge angle with respect to the angle that the center of gravity/mass is leaned over, and how that decreases edge hold, etc. - I just don't see how it relates at all to these two pictures.

I'm looking at shoulders, I'm looking at hips, I'm looking at the board and the legs, and they both look basically stacked, straight up from the board - actually, both slightly arced away from the snow correctly. Alex's shoulders are maybe leaned over a little more than Jack's, but he's also leaning his whole body and the board over a little more than Jack. He looks a little more extended than Jack, but he's also like 8 feet tall.

iirc Phil is a coach and knows what he is talking about; I just wish I could see it.

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