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Lindsey Vonns ACL Injury-
Lindsey Vonn, American skier, third on the all time Worlds Cup win list, and at her peak, had a season ending injury to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament., MCL, and a fracture in the lower leg.
What happened?
The New York Times had a good article in about it. There were figuratively a thousand cameras on her, on her way to becoming the best skier of all time.
This was a Phantom Foot ACL injury.
The hands got back, the hips got back, and the tail of the ski struck the ground first upon landing a jump. Combined with a stiff ski boot this levered the knee inward and popped the ligament. The energy from the tail of the ski had to go somewhere, and that's all that was left for it to do.
Lets break it down frame by frame.
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Lindsey came over a rise, a jump, and as she did so, her weight and balance dropped back of the center of the skis, toward the tail. Note: Hands behind hips, and hips have dropped behind the ankles.
She's in the "back seat".
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 She begins to recover. Ideally, the hands would be in front, the hips are over the ankles, and both skis are tipped in the same plane or direction, for the ski to carry the skier in the intended direction. The center of a functional range of motion.
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The hips are still behind the ankles though, right leg extended and slightly ahead of left. The right ankle is straight, and the calf is against the back of the boot, angleing the tail of the ski toward the snow.
The boot and tail of the ski, from this position will combine to apply forces to the knee when the ski hits the snow.
Because the right hip is inside the right ski, and not squared over it she is about to land off balance back and slightly to the inside or left.
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#5 The right ski tip rises slightly as the tail of the ski hit
s the snow. Compare with Photo #4 above.
The right leg is now straight, as it is hyperextended
by rebound from the tail of the ski into the back
of the boot, and now the knee can't bend forward.
This energy will go somewhere.
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#6 The top of the ski becomes visible as the ski rolls inward. Follow it's trajectory.
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#7 Right ski continues to roll up as the knee collapses, judging by how much of the top of the right ski is visible.
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.#8 Ski continues to roll inward as Lindsey starts to go
down. Remember, what you see happening to the ski top is
happening to to the lower part of the right leg.
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#9 The knee has collapsed.
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#10 Ouch. Women have two to ten times the ACL injuries that men do. There are gender issues for athletes, skiers, and instructors and coaches.
The IOC in a report, identified causes of ACL injuries in women, and coaching strategies to mitigate them.
Gender issues in general sports include:
Increased risk at the time of the month, due to hormonal changes affecting ligament strength, a smaller notch in the knee, and the knee torques
inward more during impact on landing.
We will have more in this in the next issue.
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#11 Lindsey tore the ACL, MCL, and cracked the top of the Tibia, a bone in the lower leg.
It will typically take six months or more to rehabilitate the injury, according to published reports.
And it's a painful rehab, that will put her Olympic
aspirations in Sochi at risk in2014.
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ACL Awareness Compliant™
RIDE THE SNOW IN HARMONY™ lessons, RIDEINHARMONY™, AND SHAPED TEACHING™, its teaching method, are consistent with advise and practices about how to avoid the most common major injuries to the knee, as we know them, and we have evolved some of our own common sence practices, to boot. Oh yeah, that's one of them. Get the right boot, and learn your size in "ski talk" so you know what you are getting.
The height of the season is just now upon us so here are a couple reminders, and where to get help.
What causes an ACL to shear or snap? An inward twist of the outside knee, that's excessive or sudden, sometimes in a turn, a fall, or upon landing from a jump.
What USUALLY starts the excessive internal twist? The turn-side(TM), inside, hand drops back and in, taking the rest of the body with it, while the outside foot is stationary, trapped, or posted in one place. Know where you are going and point in that direction.
Is this a simplifying things? Yes, but it applies in about seventy percent of the ACL ruptures, the most common major ski injury.
Just beginning to ski, or arriving at a ski area for the first time, here are some things you can put on your side for safety.
ACL Checklist for newskiers:
1. Know your size foot and the boot you are given.
They should be the same size or tighter, fitting like a glove, to move when your foot does. Ski Boots are sized in a system called Mondopoint, but you can translate most sizes into standard US sizes easily. A size 8 in a regular shoe, for instance, is a marked as 26. 2+6=8 so size 26 in a ski boot is equal to size 8 in a reglar shoe. Getting a larger boot than your foot size, can be like installing loose steering on a car. 2. Turn-side™ hand forward, RIH style. First three lessons, train you to move the hands forward. A safe practice.
3. Two footed foot movements. Lesson 4. Tail of the Dolphin Learn at your own pace on slopes you are comfortable skiing and riding, then work up.
4. Get aligned early in your career - Huh! If you are knockneed, statistically, your risk of injury is greater. Get a footbed from a qualified technician or bootfitter that supports the inside of the foot against pronation. Your goal is to get support of the edge of both skis at the same time. If you are knockneed you may not be getting that, and it is called being underedged, for purposes of skiing. Ideally a footbed will provide a,"Prophylactic arrest of inward rotation of the femur" or knee. Because Knees bend better forward than sideways, support under the foot, adapted to you, may resist the internal rotation of the femur.
5. There is more but this is a start. Physical conditioning should be taken into account as you continue. If you have not already been an athlete, you are now.
"You can't change biology, but you can change biomechanics". Michael Sokolov. That is, how you move.
Patented use of gravity
Ride In Harmony™ Founder, Cary Thompson , has 19 claims for patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, for telemark bindings used in free-heel skiing. The Kam-Holdz™ technology, operating like a shoulder or hip joint, features a partial release system which pivots back into place with a gravity assist, following a release during a fall.
Cary says he expects new free-heelers to welcome the security of a release system, and stay with it for the enhanced performance that the strategic placment brings to skiing.
Experience the "Unbearable lightness of skiing", and patented "return to center force" of KAM-HOLDZ™ Technology, with apologies to Milan Kundera.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
3 Rivers To One Ocean
One Motion
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Kam
VanChristmas Surferina
KAM-HOLDZ™ Technology -Patented use of Gravity
The Residence Hotel - Aspen, a Luxury Boutique Hotel
Skip A Generation - Outski Your Son At 65 - Testimonial
Glenwood SPRINGS, a RIDE IN HARMONY™ destination
The Historic Hotel Colorado and Ride In Harmony
ACCLIMATION DAY!™ Step up your vacation going to a higher altitude
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OUTSKI YOUR SON AT 65
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Cary,
My son took me up to Telluride for my sixty fifth over the MLK long weekend. He hasn't skied for awhile, but this year he got back into it.
He hasn't seen me ski since I was Harmonized (and Shenderized) at Snowmass.
Being my son, he tells me to lead out on the first run. I do, put the throttle on, and wait for him at the bottom. I must admit I did some smooth skiing on that run.
So, being my son, he ups the ante, and we move on to something tougher. Same thing.
After two or three more times of this, he gets serious and we head over to Revelation Bowl. A lot of people look, but not that many people ski it. I did! Dropped right in!
Then it's time for the Plunge. He's yelling there's too many bumps, but I'm off. There was lots of loose snow and the bumps were spaced so I ran it top to bottom. No breaks.
With that he gave up and told me to show him how to do it.
We headed over to an easy blue. He had watched your video and I gave him the Shender lecture (it's short and to the point) about the importance of the uphill hand. Then I had him follow me down while I did the exaggerated hand/arm turns that Steve used with me at Snowmass,
One run. One run! The it was back to the blacks. He'd get nervous on the steep headwalls and switch hands, but he'd practice on the catwalks. We ran all the blacks at speed. As he said: 'the feet follow the hands.'
The next day it was back to the Plunge and Bushwacker, going back and forth to each run.
You can really see how the old way doesn't work on these steep runs. People get behind on each turn, because they're pulling their shoulder away from the direction of the turn as they start and then can't catch up. Two or three turns and they shoot up hill to save themselves. A lot of people standing catching their breath on the Plunge. With your technique, you bring your hand around, the shoulders square up to the fall line and the skis are right where they're supposed to be. You don't think about them! And.....at the end of the day you're not tired. Everybody else is!
Skiing steep runs, again and again, with power and control, at my age is gift.
I'm working on my son for that trip ... for some serious advanced lessons.
Mike Parr
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Ride in Harmony,llc
Supplier Member
P.O. Box 1509
Glenwood Springs, Co, USA
Download lessons in PDF or sign up for
video coaching at
www.skilesson.org
is an RIH project of:
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SERVICE (TM)
970.274.0365
©2000-2013 Cary Thompson
(all rights reserved)
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It makes sence that the easiest way to learn to ski and ride, is also the safest, and consistent with safe practices.
They are not just what your body can be made to do, but what it does with the least effort, because they are natural.
But are they generally taught in ski schools? Not always. That's where RIDE IN HARMONY (TM) and its SHAPED TEACHING (TM) method come in.
en.wikipedia.org
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee.
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The Residence Hotel, Aspen
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ACCLIMATION DAY!TM
Step up your vacation
Take a smart vacation in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where we serve our Aspen, Vail, and Roaring Fork Valley guests. Combine a day on the slopes learning an "Easier Way To Ski", with a sublime trip to the world famous Glenwood Hot Springs Pool*, and The Historic Hotel Colorado. Use ski in the corporate code.
Acclimatize. Rest for a day or two at around 5000 feet in elevation if you’re going higher, just an hour from Vail or Aspen. Or spend your vacation learning an easier way to ski and snowboard. Send us your ski and snowboard videos for coaching. Experience more of central Colorado.
Rest at pool and hotel elevation at night after skiing.
SKI TOWN ELEVATION: VILLAGE BENEATH THE ASPEN LEAVES TM
Glenwood Springs, Co 5761 feet YES
Aspen, Co 7890 feet No
Vail, Co 8022 feet No
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