Starts at Center of Excellence

I took a trip to Park City to visit the "Center of Excellence" (COE) and to check out the new start they have set up there. It's very cool. The Sports Science department has wired a start gate to test our power and quickness coming out of the gate. This was my first trial run and I was not sure what to expect.

The snowboarders have camped out in Park City for the last month and have been training hard in the gate. They had some interesting insights on how to improve anticipation and quickness.

Figuring out the best start is a fascinating new problem to sort out. Clearly it takes a lot of upper body power and core strength. Then there is the quickness and the ability to anticipate when the gate will drop. The next problem is to figure out how much to pull out horizontally versus how much to pull down vertically. And lastly, how do you stand? Do you stand closer to the gate with a more vertical spine or do you stand away from the gate with a horizontal spine? The former seems to be quicker and the latter more powerful.

These are the questions we're working on at the moment. I am going to Telluride next for a week to try it out on snow. Daron will be there along with the rest of the Ski Cross team. We'll be training along side the Boarder Cross team with the Olympic Start Gate and a full length Cross course so it should be fun.