Tom - As usual you clips are awesome. Great for us coaches to use when the athletes are tired of our words/talk. You have the great accent, the super cool music, and your not afraid to just say it! Thanks, Crawford Pierce
We're so fortunate to have Petra and Michaela setting the pace. Personally, I like Petra's skiing a lot. She's tall and gets/makes great angles. A few years ago, she skied with a little break in the waist and her head was down more. She straightened and stands up more now. I love the way she skis. Thanks for posting this. Made my day...
Thanks and thanks for watching. Yes, she is indeed skiing more straight up now than before. Thanks for pointing that out. She is also getting much more rebound out of the turns than others. I wonder what happened in Killington at that one gate where she lost the race? I need to check that out.
Thanks Rick, I actually watched it on RUclips and that's what happened. I can totally feel her situation. Sharp edges getting stuck in the aggressive snow or something. But she was quick to correct her mistake. Look at how her upper body compensated. If not she would have fallen to the inside of the turn. Classic. But not for Petra. BTW, your reply was considered spam so it was held for review. Just saw it now. Sorry. Now we are back on track. Great weekend ahead with the mens first SL of the year and last but not least, my latest Episode 3 video of Petra and a mystery skier :)
Tom, fantastic footage! The slo mo reveals for others to see what I've been seeing and talking about for several years, but most have been blind to. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Thanks Rick. We were lucky this year with great training slopes with killer water injected bases and a few days with sunshine. Yes, you certainly have been talking about the pivot as long as I can remember, for decades. Pure arc to arc turns are important and the mark of a true expert skier but ski racers takes that further with pivots, anticipation, all sorts of transitions, smooth edge engagement etc. Basically brushing the top part of the turn and carving the rest. WC racers never skid after the fall line. But you knew that ;) Thanks for watching and enjoy winter :)
I like the inspection video the best. You can see where she plans to make the turn by where she does the quick pivot/rotation of the skis. Her run 2 is much more above the gate and the skis are much cleaner through completion. We live in a great time for ski racing so many videos to analyze and learn from!
Cool, thanks for watching! Yes, since I can go through any turn frame by frame and compare to any other skier it opens up a whole new world for us ski racing enthusiasts. Good point, didn't see that. Higher line on the second run. I need to check that out. I'll get back to you on that later.
Kudos to the slow motion at 2:02 ... Seems that Petra put just a tiny little bit too much pressure on the inside ski (or she hasn't finished the transition yet and had to turn) ... and her out side ski skid off to the side ... but she managed to regain control on ROCK HARD ice and finished the turn. Hats off to Petra! (Also, I hurt my knee in the exact same way 2 weeks ago, because I am bad) Thanks Tom for the video... Really like it!
Thanks James. Yes, nothing wrong with trying to figure out what is happening. I looked at that section now for a few times frame by frame on my software and to my eye what is happening at the third gate, the second turning left, second red gate, is that as she pivots through the air her landing is a bit rough as she regains traction and starts carving. If you look at the full speed version you see that it all goes very fast and that there is nothing really that is upsetting her flow. However, one thing I noticed is that particularly on that turn and the next at the blue gate just as the super slow motion segment kicks in, at the start of the hook up of the edges before the gate, her ski tips touch for a fraction of a second in a wedge. Looks like her outside ski bends a huge amount in that very instance it hooks up and causes it to bend into the turn but then straightens out as full load is applied. After the gate the outside ski carves fully loaded back towards the inside ski and touches again. That is actually only happening at those two gates. That must have been the hardest section. Look at the rebound this late pressure creates. Incredible how fast she runs into and reacts to the icy hard section. At the second gate she is already up to full speed and action. Thanks for watching and taking interest in the details of her skiing.
@@Triggerboy62 Instead of looking at her skis, if you look at her torso coming into this gate, I think it better explains what's going on. In my opinion, she has decided that the next gate is far more important for overall time, and she, therefore, moves her upper torso a huge amount towards the next more important gate, to better set that up, and then just deals with her feet, once her body is set, to make it happen - it's why she's #1 - she plans ahead.
@@wallstreetoneil That make sense ... As soon as she turned her eyes at the next pole, she must had found out she needed to turn even harder. Thus she let her ski skied even more than she had planned ... that made us, the spectators felt like she made a mistake or something, but she 100% intended to let that happen.
In years past Petra used to stand very tall and wasn't as compact. At times she would get "jammed up" where she couldn't angulate. When you are in this tall and narrow position, especially in slalom versus GS, the gates go by faster than you can react. Vlhova is making the transition phase now similar to Shiffrin and Marcel. Petra was skiing in the past more like Macro Odormatt with classic flexion and extension movements. Odermatt skis well in the longer radius races where there is time to develop the turn but his technique does not work as well for slalom. Vlhova's stance has widened but is still not as wide as Mikaela's stance. I'm a male and a little taller than Petra with a thin frame, so I have the same narrow hips and resultant narrow stance as she does. I have had to work on widening the stance over the years and change my boot canting a little well. What I also changed was my boot flex and went to a slightly softer boot that improved my ankle flex. I see many top skiers now finding subtle movements using ankle movement. I can see Petra using more ankle movement this year and I wonder she changed something in her boots? There is a difference between rock hard boots that are hard on the knees and result in many knee injuries (i.e. Lange bang), and a flex that fit the human body snuggly and allowing some movement. I think Pirmin Zubriggen wore the Raichle Flexon three piece ski boots that were more flexible than today's designs, and yet he is one of the all-time best ski racers.
Thanks for your in depth analysis. I think that all skiers stands width has narrowed over the past year. Especially Shiffrin. At practice she skis with her feet practically glued together on the flatter and straighter sections. Same goes for Petra even if her stance is clearly wider. But her boots often touch each other at transition even on the steep section. Look at how she goes from outside ski to inside ski through out the turn on the flatter sections. The old research findings that the flatter and easier the section, the more you only pressure the outside ski apparently holds true at least for Petra. You are right about the transition. She is not extending as much through the transition as before. Her skiing is more fluid now than before. However not as fluid as for example Moltzan or Obrien. Those are on my radar as future podium racers. At training they stood out big time. Benefiting greatly from the Shiffrin inspiration and coaching insights. Boot flex is important. Not only how soft or stiff the boots are but how linear the flex is? If it is rock hard from the very start it transmits energy more straight into the ski. A softer flex not so much but if it stiffens up shortly after starting to flex in a linear manner then the skier can fine tune the power better. Booster straps play a major role here. Also how you buckle up and what socks hahaha. My own thoughts and findings thou. What do you think? For regular skiers and racers boots are really difficult to test. It is basically a matter of how skillful the boot fitter and or coach is in pointing you to the right boot for you. Best are shops with many different brands.
@@Triggerboy62 I think that's something that a lot of people don't understand about skiing, there's so much testing, adjusting and planning involved with the equipment. I didn't have a chance to learn too much about it, but at least knowing that it's there makes you love and respect the sport so much more. I'd compare it to when people think F1 is just people racing with same cars, whereas there is so much going on in R&D, technology, tire changes, tactics etc.
@@Triggerboy62 hey who do you like more Petra or Shiffrin If that's spell right I like more Petra but weird IS i know some people who Likes more Shiffrin 😵⛷️⛷️🇸🇰🇸🇰😆
She has improved technically. Was always fast. I first saw her winning slalom at Whistler Cup at the age of 13-14. But at the time it was just a big aggressive girl with no finesse to her skiing. Even a couple of years ago it was not that pretty to look at. Now she is a great technical example especially in SL. Great!
Yes, I have to agree. I really think her skiing has become more elegant and fluent. Instead of fighting the hill she is now moving with it. Thanks for watching :)
The ice is there my good friend but for you New England skiers ice is not a big issue as you have New England Ice and that is a totally different beast :)
Any other long time skiers with absolutely no racing experience? 😅 I wish I raced when I had time as kid, applied for one competition and had to leave before it even started because od my toothache.
Wow, sad toothache story :( But it is never too late. In Masters Racing we have men and women age 35-90 racing. It is actually a very big thing. If it was not for Masters Racing I bet many would not ski at all. See if you can find a ski club with a Masters program. Or then just get yourself super nice carving gear and start carving like you were racing. That is super much fun too. Thanks for watching and have a great season :)
Thanks for watching. Yes, that is pretty much what I see too. I have also been suspecting a different boot setup as she is not A-framing as much as before. Of course that is also because of the more narrow stance. What do you think?
@@Triggerboy62 I think you are right. She is much faster in transition now and more “light footed” like Mikaella who unfortunately has not skied her best season. I really enjoy watching Petra nowadays.
Tom - As usual you clips are awesome. Great for us coaches to use when the athletes are tired of our words/talk. You have the great accent, the super cool music, and your not afraid to just say it! Thanks, Crawford Pierce
Hi, thank you for your kind words. Great to hear feedback like this. Cheers, Tom
We're so fortunate to have Petra and Michaela setting the pace. Personally, I like Petra's skiing a lot. She's tall and gets/makes great angles. A few years ago, she skied with a little break in the waist and her head was down more. She straightened and stands up more now. I love the way she skis. Thanks for posting this. Made my day...
Thanks and thanks for watching. Yes, she is indeed skiing more straight up now than before. Thanks for pointing that out. She is also getting much more rebound out of the turns than others. I wonder what happened in Killington at that one gate where she lost the race? I need to check that out.
I’d forgotten how Petra used to ski but your description popped it right back in my mind. Big difference. She is looking amazing!
@@Triggerboy62 , she got momentarily stuck on the inside ski, not able to transition soon enough, ended up late for the next gate.
Thanks Rick, I actually watched it on RUclips and that's what happened. I can totally feel her situation. Sharp edges getting stuck in the aggressive snow or something. But she was quick to correct her mistake. Look at how her upper body compensated. If not she would have fallen to the inside of the turn. Classic. But not for Petra. BTW, your reply was considered spam so it was held for review. Just saw it now. Sorry. Now we are back on track. Great weekend ahead with the mens first SL of the year and last but not least, my latest Episode 3 video of Petra and a mystery skier :)
Tom, fantastic footage! The slo mo reveals for others to see what I've been seeing and talking about for several years, but most have been blind to. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Thanks Rick. We were lucky this year with great training slopes with killer water injected bases and a few days with sunshine. Yes, you certainly have been talking about the pivot as long as I can remember, for decades. Pure arc to arc turns are important and the mark of a true expert skier but ski racers takes that further with pivots, anticipation, all sorts of transitions, smooth edge engagement etc. Basically brushing the top part of the turn and carving the rest. WC racers never skid after the fall line. But you knew that ;)
Thanks for watching and enjoy winter :)
Just Wow! So smooth and stable!
Yes, no sings of being out of balance, late or side slipping. Thanks for watching :)
I like the inspection video the best. You can see where she plans to make the turn by where she does the quick pivot/rotation of the skis. Her run 2 is much more above the gate and the skis are much cleaner through completion. We live in a great time for ski racing so many videos to analyze and learn from!
Cool, thanks for watching! Yes, since I can go through any turn frame by frame and compare to any other skier it opens up a whole new world for us ski racing enthusiasts. Good point, didn't see that. Higher line on the second run. I need to check that out. I'll get back to you on that later.
Thanks again for the great video capture! At the top of her game.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching :)
Wow, this is great. It is shot so well and the slo mo is amazing.
Thanks, and thanks for watching :)
Peťka,Super 👍👌💖
Thanks and thanks for watching :)
Peťa je najlepšia je super mám ju veľmi rád mne pripadá dosť simpatická😁🇸🇰🇸🇰⛷️👏👏
Kudos to the slow motion at 2:02 ... Seems that Petra put just a tiny little bit too much pressure on the inside ski (or she hasn't finished the transition yet and had to turn) ... and her out side ski skid off to the side ... but she managed to regain control on ROCK HARD ice and finished the turn. Hats off to Petra! (Also, I hurt my knee in the exact same way 2 weeks ago, because I am bad)
Thanks Tom for the video... Really like it!
I love it! You’re telling Petra how she should ski?
@@STEVE-lk2ft I was just barely describing what happened ...
Thanks James. Yes, nothing wrong with trying to figure out what is happening. I looked at that section now for a few times frame by frame on my software and to my eye what is happening at the third gate, the second turning left, second red gate, is that as she pivots through the air her landing is a bit rough as she regains traction and starts carving. If you look at the full speed version you see that it all goes very fast and that there is nothing really that is upsetting her flow. However, one thing I noticed is that particularly on that turn and the next at the blue gate just as the super slow motion segment kicks in, at the start of the hook up of the edges before the gate, her ski tips touch for a fraction of a second in a wedge. Looks like her outside ski bends a huge amount in that very instance it hooks up and causes it to bend into the turn but then straightens out as full load is applied. After the gate the outside ski carves fully loaded back towards the inside ski and touches again. That is actually only happening at those two gates. That must have been the hardest section. Look at the rebound this late pressure creates. Incredible how fast she runs into and reacts to the icy hard section. At the second gate she is already up to full speed and action. Thanks for watching and taking interest in the details of her skiing.
@@Triggerboy62 Instead of looking at her skis, if you look at her torso coming into this gate, I think it better explains what's going on. In my opinion, she has decided that the next gate is far more important for overall time, and she, therefore, moves her upper torso a huge amount towards the next more important gate, to better set that up, and then just deals with her feet, once her body is set, to make it happen - it's why she's #1 - she plans ahead.
@@wallstreetoneil That make sense ... As soon as she turned her eyes at the next pole, she must had found out she needed to turn even harder. Thus she let her ski skied even more than she had planned ... that made us, the spectators felt like she made a mistake or something, but she 100% intended to let that happen.
what a nice video. thanks a lot
You are most welcome, thanks for watching :)
Grooving from video, then grooving from comments again. Excellent work!
Thanks :)
Beautiful strong precise skiing. Don't we all wish we could ski like that! Great music selection too Triggerboy!
Thanks. Yes, Petra has developed into a much more less is more ski racer than before. Strong, precise and effective. Cheers, Tom
Hieno video! Kiitos Tom!
Eipä kestä :)
In years past Petra used to stand very tall and wasn't as compact. At times she would get "jammed up" where she couldn't angulate. When you are in this tall and narrow position, especially in slalom versus GS, the gates go by faster than you can react. Vlhova is making the transition phase now similar to Shiffrin and Marcel. Petra was skiing in the past more like Macro Odormatt with classic flexion and extension movements. Odermatt skis well in the longer radius races where there is time to develop the turn but his technique does not work as well for slalom.
Vlhova's stance has widened but is still not as wide as Mikaela's stance. I'm a male and a little taller than Petra with a thin frame, so I have the same narrow hips and resultant narrow stance as she does. I have had to work on widening the stance over the years and change my boot canting a little well. What I also changed was my boot flex and went to a slightly softer boot that improved my ankle flex. I see many top skiers now finding subtle movements using ankle movement. I can see Petra using more ankle movement this year and I wonder she changed something in her boots? There is a difference between rock hard boots that are hard on the knees and result in many knee injuries (i.e. Lange bang), and a flex that fit the human body snuggly and allowing some movement. I think Pirmin Zubriggen wore the Raichle Flexon three piece ski boots that were more flexible than today's designs, and yet he is one of the all-time best ski racers.
Thanks for your in depth analysis. I think that all skiers stands width has narrowed over the past year. Especially Shiffrin. At practice she skis with her feet practically glued together on the flatter and straighter sections. Same goes for Petra even if her stance is clearly wider. But her boots often touch each other at transition even on the steep section. Look at how she goes from outside ski to inside ski through out the turn on the flatter sections. The old research findings that the flatter and easier the section, the more you only pressure the outside ski apparently holds true at least for Petra. You are right about the transition. She is not extending as much through the transition as before. Her skiing is more fluid now than before. However not as fluid as for example Moltzan or Obrien. Those are on my radar as future podium racers. At training they stood out big time. Benefiting greatly from the Shiffrin inspiration and coaching insights. Boot flex is important. Not only how soft or stiff the boots are but how linear the flex is? If it is rock hard from the very start it transmits energy more straight into the ski. A softer flex not so much but if it stiffens up shortly after starting to flex in a linear manner then the skier can fine tune the power better. Booster straps play a major role here. Also how you buckle up and what socks hahaha. My own thoughts and findings thou. What do you think? For regular skiers and racers boots are really difficult to test. It is basically a matter of how skillful the boot fitter and or coach is in pointing you to the right boot for you. Best are shops with many different brands.
@@Triggerboy62 I think that's something that a lot of people don't understand about skiing, there's so much testing, adjusting and planning involved with the equipment. I didn't have a chance to learn too much about it, but at least knowing that it's there makes you love and respect the sport so much more. I'd compare it to when people think F1 is just people racing with same cars, whereas there is so much going on in R&D, technology, tire changes, tactics etc.
Petra IS our Slovakian racer she is so good 🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰⛷️⛷️
Be proud. She is awesome :)
Thanks for watching!
@@Triggerboy62 hey who do you like more Petra or Shiffrin If that's spell right I like more Petra but weird IS i know some people who Likes more Shiffrin 😵⛷️⛷️🇸🇰🇸🇰😆
Super!
Thank you! Cheers!
…Petra Vlhová…
She has improved technically. Was always fast. I first saw her winning slalom at Whistler Cup at the age of 13-14. But at the time it was just a big aggressive girl with no finesse to her skiing. Even a couple of years ago it was not that pretty to look at. Now she is a great technical example especially in SL. Great!
Yes, I have to agree. I really think her skiing has become more elegant and fluent. Instead of fighting the hill she is now moving with it. Thanks for watching :)
Agreed 100%
SUPER , PETRA
😊
Upper body and shin angle are locked in. Her edges are perfect. Best in the world,,
Yes, she is crazy good.
Super...!!!
Thank you! Cheers!
Where is the ice? Anybody that skis in New England can ski that surface
The ice is there my good friend but for you New England skiers ice is not a big issue as you have New England Ice and that is a totally different beast :)
Any other long time skiers with absolutely no racing experience? 😅 I wish I raced when I had time as kid, applied for one competition and had to leave before it even started because od my toothache.
Wow, sad toothache story :(
But it is never too late. In Masters Racing we have men and women age 35-90 racing. It is actually a very big thing. If it was not for Masters Racing I bet many would not ski at all. See if you can find a ski club with a Masters program. Or then just get yourself super nice carving gear and start carving like you were racing. That is super much fun too.
Thanks for watching and have a great season :)
Interesting to see how she changed her skiing for the better. Narrowed her stance and disciplined her insight leg and foot.
Thanks for watching. Yes, that is pretty much what I see too. I have also been suspecting a different boot setup as she is not A-framing as much as before. Of course that is also because of the more narrow stance. What do you think?
@@Triggerboy62 I think you are right. She is much faster in transition now and more “light footed” like Mikaella who unfortunately has not skied her best season. I really enjoy watching Petra nowadays.
My name is VlHova, Petra VlHova 😁
I want my turns carved, not skidded :)
Break you wrist if you do that to a tree!
Cross blocking trees.... hmmm.... not recommended!
Petra Vlhová🇸🇰! Nie Petra Vlhova!!!👎🏻
Why?
Because that is her name. English does not have the a with that accent (dlzen). It makes the a longer. Like Vlhovaaa.
Upper body and shin angle are locked in. Her edges are perfect. Best in the world,,
Yes, best in the world :)