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)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Jumping Journal: August 20, 2008

It's been a LONG time...
 
Oh yeah it has.  It has been a very long time since I have had such a nice session of jumping.  I can't remember the last time I had such a nice session of jumping, especially on the K25, even more so during the summer months.
 
Yeah, the season is changing and I woke up this morning to temperatures in the low 40s.  Two days ago the highs were in the mid 80s.  A few trees are already starting to show their colors.  Fall must be coming.  Heck tonight while jumping the temperature was hovering right around 60 degrees.  That doesn't seem quite right for mid August.  I'm used to jumping in low to mid 80 degree temperatures this time of the year.
 
I arrived at the hill to find both Nick and Sam Burke there talking with Tim Norris.  It was rather unusual seeing Nick this time of the year.  I'm so use to having him around coaching on the K50 during the winter months and then not seeing him again until the following winter.  I guess it goes with the rest of the crazy summer of seeing different members of the ski jumping crowd that I don't normally see this time of the year.
 
As it would turn out I would end up being the only one jumping tonight on the K25.  Their was one other adult there that did take a few jumps on the tele bump.  He just started jumping this past winter and only had a couple days of jumping on snow so he is still trying to get used to the idea of jumping.
 
I quickly changed clothes and headed on up the hill to find Dan up water down the inrun.  Turns out he had dislocated one of his fingers playing hockey recently so he hasn't been jumping in a while but he was still out to help out with getting everything up and running for practice.
 
I walked on up the jump and put some soap on my skis.  It would be the only jump I would put soap on the skis tonight.  I up on the inrun and put on the skis.  I thought a little about what I working on last week of keeping the eyes up but didn't really 'stress' the idea any.  I figured I would end up not doing it the first time and then I would have to 'beat myself' up for it so I would do each time thereafter.  I was wrong.  I got the signal and started down the inrun.  Right before the takeoff I found myself already looking to the outrun.  I jumped and kept my eyes right on the target.  I spooked myself by accomplishing the concept on the first jump and ended up pulling back out of the jump midway through.
 
The second jump was just like the first jump except I didn't pull out since I was expecting to have my eyes looking down to the bottom of the hill instead of looking right between the skis like they have for the past eight years.
 
The third jump was just like the second.  After the third jump Sam was getting on my case about my takeoff routine.  I had changed my routine last month after hearing the notion of going for a longer takeoff versus a quick power jump at the takeoff like I had always been doing.  I do agree when the jump your on, like the K25, has a longer table than normal it probably isn't the best place to work on the concept of starting the move right after you leave the transition on the inrun.  I have been doing that over the past month or so when I jump.  Sam managed to sway me away from the idea until winter.  Hopefully come winter when I'm back jumping the K50 again I will remember the idea and put it practice...HOPEFULLY!
 
On the fourth jump I return to a normal quick jump at the takeoff.  I ended up jumping a little bit late but everything was pretty much the same.
 
The fifth jump was a little better on the timing but I was trying to grab my butt again like I was doing last winter.  The move was getting more fluid with each and every passing jump.  I was still looking for the bottom of the hill on each jump.  Surprisingly I haven't swayed from the concept since I started working on it.  It has come as quite a shock since I normally revert back to the old way of doing things pretty quickly.  I haven't reverted back to looking between my skis...at least not anytime tonight I didn't.
 
Jumps six, seven and eight were all getting better and I was relaxing more on each jump and getting the hands back out to the sides where the belong.  I was even continuing the move, according to Sam on each of the last three or four jumps of the evening.
 
Jump nine ended up being the smoothest jump I've had, quite possibly ever.  For not having any soap on the bottom of the skis or hardly any leftover residue left on the inrun from my first jump I still managed to go down to around the 18 meter mark.  Most of the time I would only get down that far if the track was nice and soap and/or I had soap on my skis.
 
I knew to call it a night after that jump.  I had nine great jumps in less than one hour.  Not bad for mid August.  Normally in mid August I only take five jumps and that would typically take one hour.  Grabbing nine jumps, without breaking a sweat, and doing it in one hour is unheard of.  I highly doubt I'll ever manage to pull something like tonight off ever again, at least not this time of the year.
 
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