Lessons from the Olympics, Part I

This is part one of a three part series on lessons that can be learned by watching the best Nordic racers in the world at the last Olympics. Part II in the January issue, will cover skating, and Part III in February will look at striding.

Since the 1970s, cross-country ski technique has undergone several major upheavals. Surprisingly none were due to advances in biomechanics. Instead, the changes were reactions to outside influences.

The first major influence was the introduction of mechanized grooming equipment. Old video clips of races are almost humorous as skiers are seen trudging through soft snow in barely visible skied-in tracks. Boy, was the going slow. And who would want to lead when breaking in the track often meant creating track for your competitors to follow? In those days, forerunners - skiers who went out before the racers to ski in the track - were a part every race. No wonder a shuffling diagonal stride dominated most of the course.

But with the advent of mechanical groomers, soft tracks gradually became a thing of the past and double poling became much more important. With hard tracks, double poling was much faster than striding on gradual uphills, so upper body strength became much more important. Well-groomed trails kicked off this major technique change.

The second major impetus that made double poling even more important was the advent of P-tex-based skis. These "plastic skis" were much faster than wooden ones since they allowed gliding on skis without making significant contact between the snow and kick wax. Often the wooden skis had kick wax along the entire bottom and were much softer in flex. So now strong skiers were even able to double pole a larger percentage of the course.

The third major influence on ski technique was the dawn of skating, especially with the use of longer poles. This also had a huge effect on classical technique, both striding and double poling.

Before skating, poles that only reached the armpit were the norm. (Pole length measurement is taken standing on the ground in ski boots, not on skis or snow.) Then many of the older poles had higher baskets, meaning they sunk lower into the snow. Functionally, the poles from the '70s were really quite a bit shorter than armpit length.

The result was a poling motion that required a deep bend at the waist with the torso reaching parallel to the snow or lower and the hands passing well below the knees. The older-style double pole also featured a long follow through, extending the arm at the elbow and placing a huge load on the triceps.

So, all things considered, the poles of the '70s were very much functionally shorter than the modern shoulder height striding poles. As a result, it is now very rare to see the upper body of an elite skier approach a position parallel to the snow or the hands pass below the knees.

Since longer poles allow the body to remain more erect while poling, the compression of the upper body has become more of a body crunch, much like the modern sit-up, with very little bending at the hip. The modern poling stroke is then completed by driving the elbows to the hips with very little straightening of the elbows. The simultaneous crunch and lat drive involves the strongest muscle of the upper body, and is very powerful and efficient. Modern Olympians rarely straighten the arms in follow-through, so the triceps have limited involvement except under the fastest conditions.

Ironically, it was this abbreviated motion that also helped revolutionize skating because double poling is part and parcel of all the major skating strokes. With it's even longer poles needed for skating, the double pole motion truly becomes a crunch and lat drive with even less bending at the waist than the pure double pole. In fact, you will notice very little head movement during any of the strokes by today's Olympic skate skiers.

This compact stroke offered two advantages for both striding and skating. First, since the body drops less, less energy is needed to lift the torso up for the following stroke. The second advantage of the new double pole is that the larger more powerful muscles of the core, torso, and upper back, lats, supply almost all of the poling power.

Next month we'll look a little closer at the double pole adaptations made while skating. For the rest of this column we'll concentrate on pure classic double poling.

The modern double pole is reserved for faster sections of track where extra power from the legs is not needed. In fast conditions, it can become a recovery stroke, especially just after a tough climb. And in extremely fast conditions, maximum speed can be attained with very little effort by double poling.

1.) The modern double pole is initiated by moving the hips forward before poling. This accomplishes two things. First, the poles are planted further forward so the stroke becomes longer and more ground is covered with each stroke. Second, gravity initiates the downward "falling" motion of the torso, adding quite a bit to the initial thrust.

Some skiers try to add a broad jump into their double pole to enhance the power and length of their stroke. This is easily seen as the heels leave the ski when the hips drive forward. But jumping almost never happens at the world-class level except in the fastest sprint conditions, such as at the start and the sprint to the finish. Why? Any added jumping up and down is like adding mini-hills to the course. It is very inefficient.

2.) When the poles are planted, with the entire body weight hanging from the poles, the torso crunches and almost simultaneously, the elbows are being driven back toward the hips.

For efficient poling, it is important that the poles are pointed directly back so all the force from the double pole is directed straight ahead. That means the hands must be shoulder width or wider; in other words, outside the groomed track. A narrower grip would force the poles to be pointed out, which is inefficient.

The modern compact double pole also requires at pole plant for the elbows to be bent 90 degrees. If the arms are straight at pole plant, there is a lag time before power can be reapplied. In fact, the right angle bend of the elbows forces a shorter stroke, and therefore helps create the modern compact double pole stroke.

3.) As the poling is completed, the feet are driven forward. This also accomplishes two things. First the skier's weight is transferred to the heels and off the kick wax. The grip-waxed ski is much faster when the heels are weighted, especially with a well fitted striding ski with the wax pocket starting in front of the heel. Second, shooting the feet forward while poling lengthens the stroke and extends the glide so that when the hips are moved forward, more distance is traveled.

Finally, most of the compact changes to the modern double pole occur naturally because of the longer poles. For instance, the abbreviated torso drop of the body will mainly be a natural outcome of long poles with bent arms at pole plant.

If you follow these three steps, you'll be on your way to faster more efficient skiing.

Next issue we will apply these principles to modern skating and also look at what the lower body is doing and how it adapts to the different skating techniques.

See you then.