couch skiing

March 12, 2013 2:18 PM

When I first learned to ski, in the late 1980s, my ski coach and several friends all suggested a technique for improving skiing that involved watching videos of skiers with excellent form skiing the same run over and over and over. The idea was that this would somehow encode in the viewer's brain what a good ski turn looks like, and that information would come out when the viewer got up off the couch and started skiing. Anyone recall what this specific technique was called?

I remember that the name was sort of brand-namish, like DynaSkiing, not just a description, like video training.

Also, if you've ever tried this, did it help? At all? Was there any research on it?
Are there any current videos using this technique with the new skis?

And alternatively, what else can one do in the off-season to keep from back-sliding new techniques that are learned in a sport? I've made huge progress in my downhill skiing this year, and don't want to lose too much between now and next winter, which is typically what happens for me in any sport. So although this video technique seems like it might be just so much laetrile, I'm feeling desperate and wondering if it's worth a try.

posted by Capri to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 answers total)

The Music Man technique? I've heard it called "active observation" in martial arts.
posted by PussKillian at 2:48 PM on March 12

SyberVision.
posted by cosmac at 3:03 PM on March 12

I've heard it described as "gawking". But I'm sure there's a more prestigious sounding term.
posted by sammyo at 3:07 PM on March 12

A place like EpicSki is made for questions like this. In particular you might try the coaching and fitness forums.
posted by mmascolino at 4:44 PM on March 12

I've found that, in surfing at least, this sort of thing doesn't work at all. The vantage point of the camera is so far removed from the view of the athlete that it does no good. It's obvious when you find yourself performing a maneuver that you thought *felt* excellent, and wondering if it looked any good.

Now, if the video is of yourself, the you can start to reconcile what your maneuvers looked like with what they felt like when you watch the video at the end of the day, but this only works to give you a third person perspective to add to the first person perspective you already had, and doesn't really help without the accompanying first person experience.

It seems like skiing would be similar to surfing here.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 7:47 PM on March 12

I don't know what it was called, but I'd like to propose the neologism "vicari-cise" meaning to get exercise and learn new skills through vicarious observation of other people engaging in sports and other healthy activities.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 8:01 AM on March 13