Handle Rotation On Offside?

[georgert]

I love to watch Neilly Ross ski. She counters stronger on her offside more than most can do on their onside. Having said that I notice she rotates the handle into a thumb down position on her off side turn, but not onside. I also observed Kennedy Hansen does the same thing on her offside, only with her right hand as she’s a lefty. Idiosyncracy or trained movement pattern?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PwjI8upZO/?igsh=YjVnazhibndyYTBj
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9pAvINOAby/?igsh=MTAzNngwbnhwYmhtMw==

[Mastercrafter]

 Noticed that with Neilly last year and tried it free-skiing. I noticed it forces my shoulders and hips up and open, and makes for nice turns. I can never remember to make it happen when there are buoys, so I don’t worry about it. 
 

The mechanics are definitely interesting. 

[Deanoski]

Palm down. On both sides 

for  me makes a huge difference 

 

tip and rip my friends 

[The_MS]

@Wish ??

 

[Wish]

@The_MS ?? 

 

[Horton]

My opinion is that stuff like this is a distraction. Is your stack perfect? Are your gates awesome? Are you staying connected as far as possible out to the ball? If not then twisting your wrist at apex is as logical as putting a racing wing in a Honda Civic.

[BlueSki]

 

Conversely, Dane is palm up. I agree with Horton's comment on distraction, but we have not had too many good technique threads in a while, so perpetuating this just for a moment is a nice change. @Horton you mentioned in the C95 review has started thread that you are working on your skiing. Anything interesting or related to staying connected as you move out to the ball?

[georgert]

@Horton makes a good point, however, at the upper levels it’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about making small incremental improvements in many areas. Going back to the original post,, does this handle rotation offer any biomechanical or positional advantage regardless of significance in the big picture?

[Horton]

@BlueSki My never ending quest to fix my onside has taken an interesting turn. In the last few years, I have heard really smart stuff from @TFIN @Terry Winter @AdamCord Nick Parsons, Matt Rini as well as others about what I do wrong but very much struggled to convert the theory into action. Seemed like I was beating my head against a wall most of the time. 

Thinking about what all of them have said and then double rehashing with Adam and then Terry I think I have a handle on it. The short version is that I am now trying hard to hide my left shoulder (RFF going to 2/4/6 )  from the boat as far off past the centerline as possible. I am doing everything possible to be less open and at the same time I am attempting to maintain a more static load on the rope from hookup all the way past the second white water.  I have played with this a number of times in the past without being able to wrap my brain around it but just yesterday I think I achieved a fair amount of it for the first time.

[BlueSki]

@Horton that makes a ton of sense, and reminds me of Benny Stadlbaur telling me to keep a strong leading should out to the ball. I have heard some people mention a focus on the hip, and I asked him about that. His comment was that focusing on the shoulder gave you greater leverage, which I thought was very logical.

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@georgert to answer your question. it brings your shoulder up to keep it higher/more level. That’s why people starting do it.  @Horton that’s about a 1/4 of it; It’s more stance on your ski than anything. 

[Horton]

be quiet @ColeGiacopuzzi I'm somewhat unconfused for the first time in years. Don't send me back down the rabbit hole. 

[RobHazelwood]

12 hours ago, BlueSki said:

 

Conversely, Dane is palm up. I agree with Horton's comment on distraction, but we have not had too many good technique threads in a while, so perpetuating this just for a moment is a nice change. @Horton you mentioned in the C95 review has started thread that you are working on your skiing. Anything interesting or related to staying connected as you move out to the ball?

Neilly is also very palm up on onside like Dane is

[The_MS]

@Wish was at my place in Mn skiing with us and something that he had coached Cody on had rung a bell and I tell people the same thing to this day. 
Tea cup, palm up on the off side and handle straight up and down on the on side.  I have seen this help many skiers over the years. 

[Horton]

@The_MS 

2 hours ago, The_MS said:

Tea cup, palm up on the off side

Why? How does this help?

[Wish]

Back then and for some skiers, palm up translated into that skiers arm also tracking up after release vs the tendency to reaching down. It kept shoulders more level coming into the ball as well as kept them taller…always a good thing. Like any coaching…find what clicks with a skier and gets the results all involved are looking for. I still use it depending on the skier.