Myth #1(Mother Nature killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked

Myth #2(NCAA killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Myth #3(The US doesn't have the talent) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Mind Of A Ski Jumper Part 1, 2, 3, 4

The Ultimate Coach - Ski Jump Training Device

Jumping Season Digest: (see bottom of this page)

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Jumping Journal: February 23, 2008

The second sweet session in as man tries.  First time off that puppy in years!!!  Gorgeous weather, relaxing setting...what more could you ask for.  Okay, maybe a little bigger jump but I'm not complaining any.
 
After having snow most of the day yesterday, granted not much, only 1.25 inches, today started cloudy at sunrise and quickly cleared off.  By 11AM you couldn't find a cloud in the sky.  The temperature was already in the upper 20s the music was playing outside the lift shack and a few kids were out jumping as I pulled into the Blackwater Ski Area in Andover, New Hampshire.
 
The jump meet in Newport had been postponed/cancelled due to lack of snow.  I was right at the entrance to the Newport jump this morning so I decided to take a walk back and see how bad it was.  The first ten feet down from the top of the inrun was bare to the boards.  The rest of the inrun had snow, in some spots it had quite a bit of snow but it would have been quite a big challenge to get it in shape in have a jump meet there today.  Their is a possibility of a snow storm coming up on Tuesday, lasting into Wednesday, so the meet may ended up being postponed for one week.  Hopefully, that will be the case.
 
I had already decided not go up to Lake Placid for Empire State Games.  I knew the chances of getting to jump the K90 was pretty much zero so I wasn't going to go up there to jump the K48 when I jupm the K50 in Lebanon all the time.  Why waste the time or the money to go to Lake Placid to jump the K48???  Admittedly whenever you go up there you generally don't get very many jumps, so again why bother going up???
 
After Ron called off the meet in Newport, Tim decided to have a candy bar meet in Andover.  The numbers weren't looking favorable so instead he decided to have a practice session instead.  With nothing else looking favorable I decided why not go spend some more time over in Andover and see if I could break that crazy bad jumping stretch I've had for a couple of years now over there.
 
I pulled into the ski area with the sun beating down on the facility.  As I suited up I saw a couple of kids grabbing some jumps.  It looked like most of them were jumping the K34.  I had hoped to jump it a couple of weeks ago when the high school meet, originally scheduled for Newport, was moved to the K34 in Andover.  I hadn't jumped the K34 since the first Saturday in January, 2002.  I've always spent all my time on the K38 right beside it.  They share the same tressel and landing hill with a lower start and extended takeoff on the K34 side.  The high school meet ended up being postponed by one day due to, I believe if I remember correctly, a snow storm.  I figured I wouldn't get another chance to jump it and would have to wait until next year or later yet to jump it again.
 
I headed out to the rope tow and I could tell this was going to be a nice day of jumping.  Everything was better than I could hope for.  I was feeling the best about jumping I've felt in ages.  I decided I was headed straight for the K34...heck with the K38.  Let's go have some fun!
 
After I get up top and Tim sees me up there he tries to give me the dickens for not riding the landing hill first.  I offered to, even though I already have my skis on and I was ready to go down the track.  He's different in that respect.  He is use to coaching small hill kids and not kids that jump K50s daily.
 
The track on the K34 was a skied in track while the track on teh K38 looked like it was a cut track.  Both tracks looked in decent shape.  I headed on down for the first jump mostly just focusing on the inrun.  It wasn't bad and the jump wasn't all that bad either.  I was caught a little off guard by how good the conditions were on both the inrun and landing hill/outrun.  I knew we had the snow yesterday but I wasn't expecting to conditions to be so nice.
 
On the way back up Tim asked me what I had been working on this season.  I told him most recently it was trying to get the inrun position back where it should be.
 
The second jump was better all the way around.  The inrun still wasn't quite as good as what it should be and Tim noticed it.  On the way back up he stopped me and helped me rethink my approach to my inrun position.  He also pretty much threw me off the K34 and tossed me over to the K38.
 
The first jump on the K38 was the best jump I've had off the jump thus far.  It felt more like jumps I'd taken on the K50 earlier this season when I was going 40 meters.  The jump seemed like it was first solid jump I've had on the K38 in two to three years.  Everything seemed to be going better than I could hope for.
 
On the way back up Tim reinforced the idea of watching the inrun, he said it was much better but to still focus on it.  The second jump was even better yet.  It was the best feeling jump that I've taken.  I would have to say it was the farthest I've ever jumped on that hill, probably by a good 3-4 meters at least.  I would very roughly guess that I was jumping 30 meters.  It looked like I was finally breaking th ebad luck streak at Andover.  Then again, why shouldn't I.  It was during a jump meet, either Eastern Division or high school jump meet.  Just a nice relaxing practice session.  Also, like Thursday evening, no one was around that "meant anything".
 
The third jump was a little shorter but still just as solid.  On the way back up TIm mentioned that I was trying to pushing down with my head instead of leaving the upper body still.  The rest of the day I maintained the inrun position and tried to leave the upper body alone.
 
Jump four and five was the same.  I pulled out of jump six and I figured I must have left the head/shoulders alone.  Tim said I was doing better but I was still trying to push down with the head/shoulders.  I was planning on stopping after the sixth jump on the K38.
 
Jared, a second year master jumper from the Andover area who is my age, and his son, AJ, who got Jared into jumping last year, had both been wanting to get their first jump on the K38.  AJ had been sick earlier in the week so he decided not to jump it today. Jared on the other hand decided to take the great conditions and go for his first jump off the K38.  I decided I would go up with him.
 
Seeing his first jump just helped to make the day even better.  I headed down for my last jump of the day and ended up finally avoiding pushing down with the head and shoulders.  It was the right jump to finish off the session with.  It wasn't as far as before, I would say only 27-28 meters but I would also guess the timing on most of my jumps were late, especially the later ones in the day.
 
As a whole it was one of the best days of jumping I've seen.  I benefited far more by going to Andover than I could have ever hoped to have benefited by going to Lake Placid.  Yeah, that doesn't sound right but it is the truth.
 
Now I have to do some playing around here at home with the concept Tim showed me.  When trying it on the knoll today it seemed like I was having trouble putting it altogether at once.  I need to see if I can get myself to do all of it together.  As a whole I have been quite close to the correct inrun position but I didn't realize that I was still dropping the shoulders on the inrun whenever I straightened the arms.  On the knoll I really noticed the shoulders drop again when I straightened my arms.  Granted Tim helped to point it out to me.
 
It will be interesting Monday evening to see if I can make it three great jump sessions in a row.  I know external things are going to revert back to normal, at least they should.  The question remains as to whether I will be able to avoid the head games and keep things consistent or not.  Time shall tell.
 
Keep the ski tips up,
Crash
Winter 2010
DateLeb 25Plymouth 25Leb 50And 38
Dec 121
Jan 056
Jan 063
Feb 024
Feb 032
Feb 046
Feb 073
Mar 063
Totals133102