Hold the ski close together, with one of them somewhat in advance—say, with the heel of the one foot about in line with the toe of the other.
About 15 yards or so before reaching the edge of the take-off bend down, leaning a little forward ([see Fig. 33]). N.B.—About this point many good jumpers bring their feet quite level.
The Sats.
Some few yards before reaching the edge swing the body evenly forwards, at the same time straightening up.
This movement is termed the “sats.”
Note particularly that no attempt must be made to lift the feet as in ordinary jumping. The body should be swung evenly forwards, and at the same time straighten up from the crouched to the erect position. The movement, if made vigorously, does, in fact, cause a slight rising from the ground, but it is best not to be too vigorous at first. Unroll yourself, so to speak, with an easy sweep, avoiding all stiffness and jerking.
It may perhaps help you to understand what is meant if you make an attempt to rise on the toes. You should not, indeed, actually rise, but just at first, if you make an effort in that direction, it will probably assist you to arrive at the knack of the thing.
Another very important point is the timing of the movement. The body should be nearly straight just as the take-off is left. Therefore, as the movement itself takes time, the greater the speed at which you are travelling the earlier you must begin. Whilst, on the other hand, the more vigorous the straightening you intend to make the later you can defer it. You are, however, advised to take things easily, especially at first, and to aim rather at accuracy and elegance of style than at mere length. Accordingly it will be necessary for you to begin the straightening movement rather early. Remember when you first learnt to shoot how often the tails of the rabbits and pheasants suffered. For very similar reasons most beginners make the sats too late.
It follows from the above that the object of the sats is two-fold—firstly, to increase the length of the jump, and, secondly, to bring the body into the proper position for alighting. The former is achieved by the straightening movement, and the latter by the swing forward.
“But,” you ask, “why swing forward at all, why not keep quite still?” The reason is that in descending all hills on slippery things like ski the body must be kept quite straight over them—or, in other words, at about right angles to the slope on which they are travelling. This is sufficiently obvious. But observe that in jumping the slope below the take-off is considerably steeper than that above ([p. 93]). The body must accordingly be brought forward when passing from one to the other, or a fall backwards will result. And such is, indeed, the common fate of the beginner, whose tendency is invariably to hang back!