From Mike Hafer: "You are correct, many of us work really hard on moving forward and staying centered on our skis. The better we understand fore and aft balance through experiences like Dolphin Turns, the better we can adjust fore and aft balance to various situations."
It's a awesome tip. Just beautiful to watch how you link the turns from bump-to-bump or from bump-to-air-to-bump. Which ski resort you ski from, I want to teach few lessons from you so just make those turns in the bump.
great video and thanks for the tip,I must add there is a reason you are a PSIA you are one hell of a skier and you have great form, much respect, I love to bump too and next time out I will give this a try. Not really clear though on how to load up the tails as I am afraid I will end up in the back seat and I have always focused on driving my skis and tips down the hill, is there some tip you could give me, thanks and thanks for putting such a nice video together.
Thanks for all your comments! Mike is skiing on Nordica Spitfire EDT's at 178cm. He teaches at Northstar in California, and is the training manager for the school. Mike says, "It can be difficult to book lessons with me during the holidays, so please call ahead! Thanks so much for the compliments!"
@Mikehafer I have tried dolphin turns on the piste so many times I just cannot get it. I also get exhausted after about 5 minutes of trying. You seem to get so much height with so little effort, what is the secret and/or technique please?
Height is not the goal, Mike is doing so to illustrate the dolphin more clearly. There is a video on UA-cam by Section 8 SNowsport Institute that has a good dolphin turn progression. Check it out as it breaks the movements down very clearly.
When terrain stops being horizontal, and more vertical, like in bumps, our weight shift to maintain balance needs to move fore and aft, allowing for a "dolphin" like effect. Doing this also allows us to maintain tip-snow contact and "flow with the terrain" Hope that makes sence
First time I saw this I didn't understand. Now I think I get the concept. I think I try to stay too far forward the entire time in the bumps which make it a little harder to control speed without stemming or side-slipping.
From Mike Hafer: "If I apply too much pressure to the tip of the skis, I will go over the handlebars. If too much on the heel, then the skis will accelerate away from me and I am in trouble! The difference is the variable surface versus a two dimensional slope. BTW, the bumps were round but rock solid! Thanks!"
From Mike Hafer: "Bump skiing is all about adjusting fore and aft balance throughout a turn. This is what makes this such a great drill. You load the tail of the ski by moving to the back seat. As you come off of the snow, pull your feet back as you move your hips forward to fine tune the move."
Thanks for your comment. A skier can use many different tactics and may adjust these based on many variables including the size and shape of the bumps and even pitch of the terrain. Dolphin Turns is being presented as and exercise to develop an important movement- to re-center in the bumps. Short swing turns, as you mention, is another exercise that can be used to develop movements very useful to skiing moguls.
From Mike Hafer: "the idea here is that the skis follow the variable terrain so I can maintain ski to snow contact for control in the bumps. When skiing bumps, I am on my heels as much as on the ball of the foot due to the rapid terrain changes. It is how I continuously move my core from one turn to the next to keep me centered."
too bad our bumps never look that nice; wondering don't most pros say never weight the back of the skis, always keep your tips heavy to better initiate turns?? where does this fit in with that?
Skiing moguls is much like playing the piano from sheet music. When you're doing one thing, you already have to be looking at the next thing, or you won't be able to keep tempo. The only difference is that in music not keeping tempo is just an embarrassment. On moguls it can mean hospital ...
I'm not sure using dolphin turns really a good idea for mogul training. You're never actively jumping in a fast mogul run, rather you should be thinking the opposite, pressing your skis into the snow more, keeping contact at all times, avoiding air under your skis. Getting any kind of air in a bumps run usually leads to too much acceleration. He's getting away with it in softer snow and mellower angle, but note once he hits the zipper line towards the end of the video his skis are in full contact with snow throughout each turn. IMO Dolphin turns kind of a contrived trick skill that aren't super relevant to skiing in practical situations. Yes, they demonstrate strong athleticism and control of the skis--but I wouldn't spend time learning a dolphin turn with the aim of improvement in moguls.
The landing in dolphin turns, where one presses the tips into the snow is similar to the action required to maintain ski /snow contact in the moguls. For me this is the useful and I practice dolphin turns on occasion.
That's true Skeet, but getting air in moguls looks really cool. If you can do it without losing control, it's and awesome way to take your skiing to the next level!
Skeet The only thing these dolphin turns are good for is if you want to practice jumping bumps when you don't have any! Skiing bumps correctly and smoothly requires the following. 1. Maintaining a very quite upper body that is always pointed straight down the fall line with your hands in front of you. 2. A mental attitude to Go, Go, Go, Faster, Faster, Faster! This keeps your eyes and mind farther down the hill at the second and third bump, ahead of where you are standing. If you don't, your body won't be prepared to deal with them. 3. Which leads to an Active Suspension. As your skis go into the bump there Should be no change or impact into your upper body. You suck your knees up rather than having the bump push your knees up. As your skis turn against a bump, they are going across the hill while you are going straight down it. You suck up your knees and steer your feet to point the skis down the hill. Because your skis are off to the side, they will role over onto the inside edges and the skis will turn in the other direction. As they turn against the bump, you suck your knees up again, twist your feet down the hill and everything repeats. You Think of your upper body sliding down a cable that is stretched from the top to the bottom and is going through your chest. Your upper body goes straight, your skis turn against a bump as you suck up your knees and twist your feet to point down the hill against the next bump..
? Dolphin turns are an excellent exercise for advanced skiers to develop mobility, and work on stance/balance. Sounds like you're just imagining how dolphin turns work though; your tips won't "catch the snow and flip you" unless you're skiing in a foot of powder (and if you are, it's no time to practice dolphin turns).
As an exercise for balancing the body's forward-backward position, this is interesting. But as a ride on the bumps, it’s simply unacceptable because you go over the bumps yourself with an avalman, and this is not the same thing...
If you are taking a lesson and the instructor has PSIA metal(s) pinned all over them....ask for your money back or for an instructor that is "not" PSIA !!!!
Why? Just because you think that skiing with a helmet it overall safer, it doesn't mean everyone believes the same. Do you wear a helmet when you drive your car?
@@bkeithmontgomery I understand your point completely but you are assuming, as do many others, that wearing a helmet is safer than not wearing a helmet. I fundamentally think that in may situations, wearing a helmet with goggles is less safe. Since the wearing of helmets has become popular the number of ski injuries has not reduced, in fact the opposite has occurred. Helmets have become so popular due to the ski industry's desire to make more money and so they have become fashionable. Most ESF instructors in France do not wear helmets when they are teaching. The wearing of helmets is currently down to personal choice and I think it should stay that way, whether you are an instructor or not. However, I understand your opinion but sorry to say that I don't agree.
@@bkeithmontgomery No they didn't. Seat belts have been shown to reduce the amount of injuries, the same has not happened since the advent of helmets for snowsports. If you are so concerned about the safety of your head then you should wear one when crossing the road or driving your car because statistically you are far more likely to receive a serious head injury doing one of those than when skiing on a groomed run in perfect visibility.
From Mike Hafer: "You are correct, many of us work really hard on moving forward and staying centered on our skis. The better we understand fore and aft balance through experiences like Dolphin Turns, the better we can adjust fore and aft balance to various situations."
Rhythm is a dancer. You can feel it everywhere.
What a great drill. I will try it next time I hit the slopes
It's a awesome tip. Just beautiful to watch how you link the turns from bump-to-bump or from bump-to-air-to-bump. Which ski resort you ski from, I want to teach few lessons from you so just make those turns in the bump.
Great turns Mike !! Sodi would be proud
This is Rich Babbitt
great video and thanks for the tip,I must add there is a reason you are a PSIA you are one hell of a skier and you have great form, much respect, I love to bump too and next time out I will give this a try. Not really clear though on how to load up the tails as I am afraid I will end up in the back seat and I have always focused on driving my skis and tips down the hill, is there some tip you could give me, thanks and thanks for putting such a nice video together.
Give it a try this winter and let us know how it goes!
Thanks for all your comments! Mike is skiing on Nordica Spitfire EDT's at 178cm. He teaches at Northstar in California, and is the training manager for the school. Mike says, "It can be difficult to book lessons with me during the holidays, so please call ahead! Thanks so much for the compliments!"
@Mikehafer I have tried dolphin turns on the piste so many times I just cannot get it. I also get exhausted after about 5 minutes of trying. You seem to get so much height with so little effort, what is the secret and/or technique please?
Height is not the goal, Mike is doing so to illustrate the dolphin more clearly. There is a video on UA-cam by Section 8 SNowsport Institute that has a good dolphin turn progression. Check it out as it breaks the movements down very clearly.
This is awesome and thanks for sharing this.
When terrain stops being horizontal, and more vertical, like in bumps, our weight shift to maintain balance needs to move fore and aft, allowing for a "dolphin" like effect. Doing this also allows us to maintain tip-snow contact and "flow with the terrain"
Hope that makes sence
First time I saw this I didn't understand. Now I think I get the concept. I think I try to stay too far forward the entire time in the bumps which make it a little harder to control speed without stemming or side-slipping.
From Mike Hafer: "If I apply too much pressure to the tip of the skis, I will go over the handlebars. If too much on the heel, then the skis will accelerate away from me and I am in trouble! The difference is the variable surface versus a two dimensional slope. BTW, the bumps were round but rock solid! Thanks!"
Mike teaches at Northstar, CA.
From Mike Hafer: "Bump skiing is all about adjusting fore and aft balance throughout a turn. This is what makes this such a great drill. You load the tail of the ski by moving to the back seat. As you come off of the snow, pull your feet back as you move your hips forward to fine tune the move."
Mike is skiing on Nordica Spitfire EDT's at 178cm.
Love it! Thank you!
thanks for connecting the dots :-)
great vid. thanks!
Thanks for your comment. A skier can use many different tactics and may adjust these based on many variables including the size and shape of the bumps and even pitch of the terrain. Dolphin Turns is being presented as and exercise to develop an important movement- to re-center in the bumps. Short swing turns, as you mention, is another exercise that can be used to develop movements very useful to skiing moguls.
From Mike Hafer: "the idea here is that the skis follow the variable terrain so I can maintain ski to snow contact for control in the bumps. When skiing bumps, I am on my heels as much as on the ball of the foot due to the rapid terrain changes. It is how I continuously move my core from one turn to the next to keep me centered."
Nice!!
Helmets save lives. Set a good example.
good drill
too bad our bumps never look that nice; wondering don't most pros say never weight the back of the skis, always keep your tips heavy to better initiate turns?? where does this fit in with that?
Thanks for your comment! Keep watching Go With a Pro for more tips, tricks, and insights!
Skiing moguls is much like playing the piano from sheet music. When you're doing one thing, you already have to be looking at the next thing, or you won't be able to keep tempo. The only difference is that in music not keeping tempo is just an embarrassment. On moguls it can mean hospital ...
Or just a crash.
Keep watching Go With a Pro for more tips, tricks, and insights!
I'm not sure using dolphin turns really a good idea for mogul training. You're never actively jumping in a fast mogul run, rather you should be thinking the opposite, pressing your skis into the snow more, keeping contact at all times, avoiding air under your skis. Getting any kind of air in a bumps run usually leads to too much acceleration. He's getting away with it in softer snow and mellower angle, but note once he hits the zipper line towards the end of the video his skis are in full contact with snow throughout each turn. IMO Dolphin turns kind of a contrived trick skill that aren't super relevant to skiing in practical situations. Yes, they demonstrate strong athleticism and control of the skis--but I wouldn't spend time learning a dolphin turn with the aim of improvement in moguls.
The landing in dolphin turns, where one presses the tips into the snow is similar to the action required to maintain ski /snow contact in the moguls. For me this is the useful and I practice dolphin turns on occasion.
That's true Skeet, but getting air in moguls looks really cool. If you can do it without losing control, it's and awesome way to take your skiing to the next level!
Skeet The only thing these dolphin turns are good for is if you want to practice jumping bumps when you don't have any! Skiing bumps correctly and smoothly requires the following.
1. Maintaining a very quite upper body that is always pointed straight down the fall line with your hands in front of you.
2. A mental attitude to Go, Go, Go, Faster, Faster, Faster! This keeps your eyes and mind farther down the hill at the second and third bump, ahead of where you are standing. If you don't, your body won't be prepared to deal with them.
3. Which leads to an Active Suspension. As your skis go into the bump there Should be no change or impact into your upper body. You suck your knees up rather than having the bump push your knees up.
As your skis turn against a bump, they are going across the hill while you are going straight down it. You suck up your knees and steer your feet to point the skis down the hill. Because your skis are off to the side, they will role over onto the inside edges and the skis will turn in the other direction. As they turn against the bump, you suck your knees up again, twist your feet down the hill and everything repeats.
You Think of your upper body sliding down a cable that is stretched from the top to the bottom and is going through your chest. Your upper body goes straight, your skis turn against a bump as you suck up your knees and twist your feet to point down the hill against the next bump..
@@JB91710 JB, the only thing you’re good for is trolling. Can’t do a dolphin turn can you ?!
Sorry for the miss spelling, I meant to take few lessons from you...
I tried this once, and I got asked if i had a disability
sense...
That looks like an excellent way to look ridiculous and also fall on your face if your tips catch the snow and flip you
? Dolphin turns are an excellent exercise for advanced skiers to develop mobility, and work on stance/balance. Sounds like you're just imagining how dolphin turns work though; your tips won't "catch the snow and flip you" unless you're skiing in a foot of powder (and if you are, it's no time to practice dolphin turns).
They will not catch if you perform them as shown.
As an exercise for balancing the body's forward-backward position, this is interesting. But as a ride on the bumps, it’s simply unacceptable because you go over the bumps yourself with an avalman, and this is not the same thing...
If you are taking a lesson and the instructor has PSIA metal(s) pinned all over them....ask for your money back or for an instructor that is "not" PSIA !!!!
PSIA should replace any demos like this with one where the skier is wearing a helmet. :-(
Why? Just because you think that skiing with a helmet it overall safer, it doesn't mean everyone believes the same. Do you wear a helmet when you drive your car?
Furthy Thirtyfour I think it sets a good example. If you represent PSIA or as an instructor at a mountain I believe you should.
@@bkeithmontgomery I understand your point completely but you are assuming, as do many others, that wearing a helmet is safer than not wearing a helmet. I fundamentally think that in may situations, wearing a helmet with goggles is less safe. Since the wearing of helmets has become popular the number of ski injuries has not reduced, in fact the opposite has occurred. Helmets have become so popular due to the ski industry's desire to make more money and so they have become fashionable. Most ESF instructors in France do not wear helmets when they are teaching. The wearing of helmets is currently down to personal choice and I think it should stay that way, whether you are an instructor or not. However, I understand your opinion but sorry to say that I don't agree.
Furthy Thirtyfour There was a point and time that folks said the same thing about seat belts too. Happy to agree to disagree on this one. :-)
@@bkeithmontgomery No they didn't. Seat belts have been shown to reduce the amount of injuries, the same has not happened since the advent of helmets for snowsports. If you are so concerned about the safety of your head then you should wear one when crossing the road or driving your car because statistically you are far more likely to receive a serious head injury doing one of those than when skiing on a groomed run in perfect visibility.