New Kid On The Block: Sam MAES

Hi
As I was shooting footage of the women training in Levi prior to the WC in November last fall there was a guy flying by on the training track ICE2 like nobody else. I asked the coaches standing nearby and they said its Sam. Like there was no question who he was. I had to look him up on the FIS app to find out it was Sam Maes from Belgium. He had actually grown up in Austria in Zell Am See, a great ski resort that I had been staying at on numerous ski trips to the Alps. Kaprun, Saalbach and Hinterglemm are all part of the same area which makes it one of the best in Europe. Anyway, Sam grew up there and skied in the local ski club. Now he has been braking into the top 30 for a second run in both SL and GS and 50 resp. 25 in both disciplines. So, keep an eye open for this NEW KID ON THE BLOCK!
Tom

[@MrArunasB]

Extraordinary edge control. This guy is a beast 💪 Thanks, for your videos it's inspiring for us.

[@Triggerboy62]

Thanks for watching!

[@FG0HC]

In my opinion, his skis loosen too often the contact with the snow. Perhaps the reason why he is not regular in slalom.

[@AlejandroGarcia-eb3zc]

Awesome!

[@Triggerboy62]

Thanks, T

[@davidbeazer9799]

Always rooting for the global racing team!! They accept donations on their website by the way! Tough going it on your own!

[@Triggerboy62]

Thanks for that!

[@AdariaSeeker]

Impressive

[@Triggerboy62]

Thanks T

[@tainicon4639]

Wow! Amazing skiing! I love the offset of those courses too! I need to get better at setting those. I set some crankers yesterday… I think I pissed the kids off haha (like 8.5 meter vertical with a horizontal offset of like 3.5-4…) I only snuck into it after the kids had a few runs it (so like after 150 runs haha) and it was polished smooth. It was skiable but brutal compared to anything they normally see (the course was for U12-14s haha). After 2 runs I could ski about half of it properly before messing up…. But this video is inspiring me.

[@Triggerboy62]

So nice to have been able to inspire you. And thanks for sharing how you set courses. Yes, the kids must have been furious hahaaa. The vertical is ok for U12 but a 4m offset is huge LOL. I use that kind of offset only on very steep sections for older kids and adults. My standard vertical this year has been between 9 and 10 meters. Then I vary the offset depending on the pitch, to control their speed. For hair pins and flush gates I use 5,78m vertical. BTW, how do you measure the offset and the vertical? I use my skis to measure. Vertical between 5,5 and 6 ski lengths. Max offset 2,5 ski lengths. Did you watch the Kristoffersen video from the same training sessions? They call me a god I think I named the video! The offsets were huge. Actually, a small secret... Kristoffersen, Sam and Shiffrin were all skiing the same course, Sam was fastest :). No wonder, he was flying :) Cheers, T

[@tainicon4639]

@@Triggerboy62 yeah ski lengths! I was using 5 165 slalom ski lengths for that questionable course haha. I really wanted to force them to ski a high line. It worked… I may have to stick to the weeknight non team training we do for setting the weird stuff (because I run in those courses haha)

[@cevadprekazi123]

Hi Tom, thanks for the great video. JF was talking about how legs should be not too wide apart to be able to tip the inside knee. However when I watch this kid his legs seem further apart than JF himself in the video. (Maybe looks wide during transition) what are your thoughts? I was using your tips last week skiing and having legs closer like in the old days certainly helps with inside leg activation and completing the turn! Thanks for all the videos!

[@Triggerboy62]

Hi, thanks for watching and leaving a comment. I think that there are no absolutes in skiing. Wide stance vs close stance.... retraction transitions vs extension transitions... etc etc. However, we can solve problems by narrowing down or widening our stance width. I was skiing with this one person that said she did not like the way the Australians have a very narrow stance. She much better liked the wider Swiss stance. However, she was herself aware that she had a problem with standing too much on her inside ski which easily could be solved by narrowing down her stance width. So always try to solve problems. Never try to shape some ones skiing according to style or trends. Sam Maes has been learning to ski in Austria. From my own experience with ski instructors and race coaches, they always tried to widen my stance. Like the Swiss, they prefer a hip wide stance. So thats my take on it, Sam was coached to ski like this. And its not bad. Its freaking great. Also, you need to separate between SL and DH for example. Or between giant offset or flush gates. Or between the transition and apex. You have two components, horizontal and vertical separation. So you need to be dynamic. Makes sense? Cheers, T

[@cevadprekazi123]

Hi, makes totally sense. Thanks for the detailed answer!

[@DR_1S]

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