How Pros Deal With Combinations in Slalom (Hairpin, Flush and Undergate)

Lets look at how great Slalom Skiers get through combinations.
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[@thelion6614]

Great video. In the U.S., (at least in my circle of knowledge) the under-gate is called a delay, and blocking with the inside hand is called an inside clear. Various terms for the same thing, however.

[@beattheclock7509]

Thanks a lot James, i'm hoping in a few months i'll get my english ski vocabulary together ;)

[@thelion6614]

@@beattheclock7509 Don't worry about it. You do an excellent job. I have been telling all my race friends to watch your videos, so hopefully you will get more views and likes.

[@hampejohnson4382]

Could be nice if you also explained why you think it's better to enter/exit the flush and hairpin like that. Body positioning, direction of travel etc,. Adding some pros and cons to the different blocks :)

[@beattheclock7509]

good idea, i´ll do it here: Hairpin: It´s better to enter the hairpin with the outside hand, because in that case your body can go more directly down the hill, and does not have to go around the gate. This is similar to the idea of blocking with open gates, but not as pronounced. One to using the outside hand is that it´s a little more difficult not to rotate your upperbody with the change in hands. Flush: first gate is similar to the hairpin, but again less pronounced. Shimmying the second gate has the advantage that you don´t lose speed blocking gates, but it´s more difficult to do and takes more time, so if you´re in a really fast flush it might be better to just do an inside clear. Same goes for the royal flush. The thing with these descriptions is that it does not have to apply to you for whatever reason, so try these different things out and go with whatever works for you.. slalom is where a high number of runs will really help you improve.

[@weevilsnitz]

I've usually called the 3-gate flush a royal flush and your banana a delay gate as well as under-gate

[@beattheclock7509]

I love royal flush haha

[@samkossak9086]

Love the video! I am a coach in Colorado and just happened to stumble upon your channel. The long flush is a Royal flush and the underrate would be a delay, or banana I guess haha, I think I'm going to use that when coaching because it's funny and an appropriate way of describing your line through the combination.

[@oliverlumbard8325]

The way it was always described to me (UK) was: the (not hitting the middle combination gates) as a 'shimmy' or 'shimmi-ing' the gates. With regards to the delay/banana/under gate, hitting both would be described as 'on-on', hitting the first as 'on-off' and the last as 'off-on'... Depending on the best line.

[@beattheclock7509]

Thanks a lot mate, that is also really useful!

[@beansss.]

Yeah I call them banana gates

[@danielsmith8171]

For us that are just beginning, you really need to define your terms... and how do you know where to ski? diagrams would be nice...

[@gabrielwelsh9306]

Personally, I like to call flushes verticalies, and longer flushes royal flushes. I found this quite interesting as I personally like to take bananas on the full-line on-on, and the middle two of a royal flush with whatever hand is closest, but I’ll try the dodging method. Thanks.

[@BernhardHaider-d7t]

Royal Flash

[@OscarChesterman]

The long flush is called a royal flush

[@MrArunasB]

Greit videos. Recently I started to ski long sl gate poles and they very scary for me, distracts me badly. Before I was training on short poles and they had no issue for me. Any tips how to get use to them because they ditract me so badly I get disorentated in the corse.

[@beattheclock7509]

Hello, I was pretty much the same when I started. What helped me was 2 things. One, lots of practice with small gates and then just trying to "do the same thing" with the long gates. Mental training, or imagining yourself doing it well also helps. What i do with kids is, I take a gate and hit them really hard on the shinguards and the poles, so they aren´t as scared when they hit the gates in the course. Hope it helps!

[@MrArunasB]

@@beattheclock7509 I guess imagining gates for some time when Im off the skiing should help, at least what Im trying to do.

[@Ryan_Christopher]

I sought out videos like this to try to understand Mikaela's three DNFs in her slalom events in #Beijing2020. I thought slalom was a simple "go to the right of this gate color and then left of that gate color, whomever gets down fastest wins" sort of endeavor. The news clips are so short that I can't make out how she crashed out in each instance.

[@ZenoKaufmann]

new background music in the first part. I love it & I‘ll chevk out your insta!

[@beattheclock7509]

Thank you!

[@JB91710]

Watch her runs at .25 speed. Notice Only where her face, chest and hands go in relation to where her skis are turning. Skis turn when you balance on one and position your upper body to create the leg angle that will roll your skis over to Allow them to make the turns. Slight adjustments and sometimes, exaggerated upper body moments will change the radius of the turns to allow the ski to go where you want them to go. Believe me when I tell you, she is Not thinking about her feet and ankles because they won't do anything to help the skis turn without the positioning of the upper body. The positioning of the upper body and pelvis change the leg angle. As her skis go right, her pelvis goes left to change the leg angle for the next turn.

[@beattheclock7509]

It's kind of a henn and egg problem. Personally I like to focus on the feet and legs first, but what works for me might not work for you.

[@JB91710]

@@beattheclock7509 Stand up. Bend your knees and roll your ankles to the left for a left turn. You will be standing on your left foot. You are supposed to be on your right foot. If you don't position your upper body so you are balanced on your right foot, your weight will not be on that foot when your pelvis leans into the turn to create the new leg angle. Stand sideways at the bottom of a staircase with your left foot on the floor and your right foot on the first step. Your weight and balance are on the left foot. Try to step up on your right foot but bend your knees away from that step and roll your ankles over. You will instantly fall back onto your left foot. This time, step up onto your right foot and let your upper body and pelvis fall away from the steps. Your weight and balance will stay on that right foot and that ski will be able to turn. 1:12 This isn't the greatest demonstration but, play this at .25 speed. 1. She is balanced on the inside of her left foot. 2. When she wants the skis to make a new left turn, she allows the skis to continue across the slope while she places her upper body and pelvis, down the slope or back into the fall line. She doesn't let her body continue across the slope. 3. Her leg angle starts to change. She is Not Tipping her knees over or rolling her ankles. 4. When her feet pass under her, she changes her weight and balance to her right foot. 5. The skis continue across the slope but notice how her upper body stopped between those two poles. 6. With the leg angle change complete and her skis are on the new edges, her skis can make the new turn. Her skis rolling over was the Last thing to happen, not the first. With her upper body in position so she could balance on that right ski, that ski can control the turn. If she Just rolled her ankles over, she would have stayed on that left foot and the skis would have continued going across the slope with no turn. 1:13 Try to stop the video where her skis are on the left of the pole and her pelvis is to the right of the pole. Her right knee is Not bent to the side to get the ski on edge. Her entire leg is straight from her femur joint through her knee to the arch of her right foot. The upper body position creating a new leg angle is what put the ski on edge, not bending the knee sideways. 1:14 She stops the momentum of her upper body crossing the hill, focuses her attention down the hill, gets off her right foot to balance on her left foot and the skis moving to the side create the new leg angle and the left ski is put on edge and the left ski turns. Look how she instantly stops her body from moving to the right in anticipation of a very quick turn to the left which makes her skis fly off to the right and a quick leg able change is created for that fast direction change. The feet and ankle angles are the byproduct of what you do with your upper body.

[@alexsternerup5636]

I always heard royal flush and delay

[@humanbeing2420]

Why not just let your shins block the poles? I've always thought that the shin pads worn by slalom racers were for that very purpose.

[@beattheclock7509]

Yes, these also block the gates. Bc of the speed of the skier and the flexibility of the gates, you need to use both, the hand and the shin. The shin happens automatically and the hands don't really, that is why i focussed on it.

[@humanbeing2420]

@@beattheclock7509 Got it - thanks. I've never done any slalom racing in my life. I wish I could try it..

[@lizhang471]

World flush

[@dwhodder]

Royal flush or Super flush

[@beattheclock7509]

Hahah that is such a cool name!

[@JH-if5rv]

royal flush