Frequently Asked Questions about
Ski Skating in cross country skiing
what's here
see also
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See our special page on How can I
not look Stupid?
What are the main skating techniques and names?
My story: I found learning these names confusing. Some of them
seemed
obscure or misleading, and Canada and the U.S. use completely different
terms which seem to contradict each other. And the European
cultures have different naming schemes of their own.
Here's my best attempt to make sense of it all:
[go/motion/z_motions_summary.htm]
The surprise "secret" is balance -- see discussion. My
story: I was happily doing open field skate, but I was getting
strong with double-poling -- so I thought it would make me faster if I
could learn V2. First I tried to think out how it should work, but
my attempts felt pretty awkward. Next I watched the NEI video on
skate technique. Actually seeing somebody doing it made the
difference for enabling me to do something that felt recognizably like
V2. But I was operating under the model that the key to
success was to learn to double-pole at a fast enough cadence so that it
could "fit in" each pole-push in between my leg-pushes.
Then I saw Nathan Schultz's post about balance. And I practiced
just like he said. I already had basically strong balance from
other kinds of skiing and no-poles practice, so that approach was able
to quickly focus and sharpen it for V2. Then I added the poling
back in, and right away I could feel the difference. It felt
great, and now V2 is my favorite skating technique. In the most
effective V2 cycle, the skater's balance is so solid that there is
sufficient time on each side for a distinct "raise the upper body
up high for strong pole-push". For more on this, see Hints
on the V2 Skate page.
see
discussion of Learning V2
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