I have a question…which involves me in the picture below. I am a skeleton slider and i am attempting a one arm push. From looking at my picture, i can see that my body is is out of line because of my left arm is waaaaay out to the side. One problem with that is i am not sure how to correct it. Should i lower my left shoulder closer to the ice so that my upper body is not leaning to the right…which would cause the sled to veer to the right? This event is an old one and i am not sure of how many people may know of it, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Clemson,
I just picked up this sport in November of 2002, and havent seen many skeleton athletes…except for the ones i train with…
most of the things that we do as skeleton athletes at the start is the same as coming out of the blocks in a sprint…we have a starting block, a drive phase, except it seems harder to acheive top speed when your body is bent over at a 90 degree angle. i will take your questions and do my research and see what it is that i am doing and not doing…
thanks
I was checking out one of the world class skeleton sliders and noticed that when he reached a point of overspeed, it looked as though as he started bounding. My question is…is that a good thing? he had a pretty good start time (4.99 secs for 50m). In this sport, it is said that turnover is key, but when it is too fast for one to do, is bounding a good thing if one can accelerate back into the track? after about 15m the track takes about a 15 degree decline… any thoughts?
Lo Hill from one new slider to another, my suggestion would be don’t bother using the one handed push until you can push fast with two hands. Look at some of the fast guys that are sliding, Kevin Ellis, and Gregor Stähli. They both use the two handed start. I have tried both in the ice house here in Calgary and the difference wasn’t that huge. I think if you can’t push fast with two hands then it probably won’t make that much of a difference. You should be pushing at least 4.7? on that track in Salt Lake City, it is almost a straight drop off.
And what is with all that padding??? :o Are you a man or a mouse? 
the padding…safety measures…i have hit walls on that track at speeds over 70mph…i dont plan on doing it, but until i stop bouncing off of the, i am gonna be padded. I am an avid motorcycle rider, i dont wreck my bike all the time either, but i ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET…lol
i have been consistantly around 4.9secs on the push and it is finally coming around…we are competiting this weekend for national team selections, and i am shooting for a 4.8 or better. What is the deal with the push house in calgary? gimme some info on it. I am planning on making some trips up there to work on my starts…
Lo Hill - I wouldn’t include any bounding. Any bounding movement implies a sacrifice in horizontal velocity in order to create more vertical velocity/force, and thus more air time. Which isn’t good for what you are trying to accomplish.
When have you seen a world class sprinter bound once he or she reaches 60m? In the triple jump, studies have shown that the further you get into the phases of the jump, the more horizontal velocity declines.
If any bounding is done - as you see commonly with the approach runs of eastern european jumpers - it’s at the very beginning of the approach run - not as they reach top speed.
BTW - I thought the padding was your rippling muscles!:o
Also, what’s probably happening when the athlete reaches “overspeed” is that the legs aren’t cycling around fast enough, the feet are landing too far in front of the Center of Mass, and the footstrike is actually vaulting the athlete up - as a high jumper would do before takeoff (appearing as though he is bounding). Thus, this is more of a negative side effect of the overspeed, not a technique for managing or keeping up with the overspeed. What is actually happening is that the athlete is braking their velocity.
Come on your tell me that your scared of a little road rash? I only wear elbow pads(mind you I am not one of the most safety conscious people). Looks like we have alot in common. I also ride a motorbike. If fact I just got back from a ride (beautiful Calgary weather):P. As far as technique, I don’t think you can apply the exact same principles to skeleton and to sprinting. They are the same but still different. You can understand because your doing both. The icehouse is a great training facility. I haven’t used it in the summer yet (as this is my first year in skeleton), but I heard that it really helps you practice and keep your technique. It also give you 10m splits to help you figure out where you need to fix something. I have found some pretty interesting stuff. E-mail me your phone number if you want any more info about the icehouse. Personally I try and keep my feet close to my sled and push until it feel like I am ALMOST at the point that I can’t keep up (while making sure not to cycle through). Then I get on and the fun begins. Oh ya, what will really help is a leg swing at the start to help get you some momentum. Good luck at trails this weekend.
Oh ya, if you are going to push one handed then you sled is in the wrong groove in the picture. You need to have the side that your hand and weight is on in the groove. Otherwise you’ll slip out easy. And you know how that sucks.
i tried the one hand push…as a matter of fact, on that push above in the pic, the sled came out of the grove, i lost the sled, caught back up with it, dove on it, and missed the cut by .06 secs to get into the finals in the Park City Pioneer Cup race…gotta say it was the highlight of the race…i got video, but i dont think i am gonna put it on here…but then again, i might. My email is lorenzo_hill_pha@yahoo.com, let me know whats up with calgary and maybe we can get in the push house and do the dayum thang…
This might interest.
Hello Everyone
As you may know the Ice House will be unavailable from Feb. 8
till July 1st
this year. COP is shutting down the Ice track due to lack of
use. Everyone
takes a break after the sliding season and it is very costly to
keep Ice on
the track.
If you feel you might want to book the facility from now till
July please
let me know. If we can get enough interest and time booked
perhaps COP will
keep it open for a little while longer.
ASA will be holding Two push sessions a week from July to
October, similar
to last year, but we have not planned anything any earlier than
that. Last
season we had only about 10 different people attend the push
sessions on a
regular basis we hope to grow that number this year.
It may be possible to keep the ice in there until the end of
February if you
would like to get some time in there send me an e-mail and I
will discuss
the options with COP.
Thanks
Turc Harmesynn
turc@albertaskeleton.ca
Alberta Skeleton Association
140 - 88 Canada Olympic Road S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T3B 5R5
(403) 815-3434
www.albertaskeleton.ca
Are those sprint spikes?
sprint spikes with teeeth.
there are about 500 teeth (instead of spikes)
only adidas makes a bobsled spike…those spikes i have on are the super fly’s from nike…the old Mo Greene’s…