A man in making a standing jump, or a dive, raises his heels and throws his weight on his toes as he crouches for the spring, i.e. before he begins the upward movement of the spring itself. In this way his centre of gravity is brought exactly above the point from which he will push off.
A ski-jumper as he crouches for the spring keeps his foot flat on the ski and his centre of gravity over the middle of his foot, instead of over the toes. If, then, from this position he suddenly springs directly upwards, the final pressure of the toes, which are farther forward than his centre of gravity, will tend to tilt him backwards. To avoid this tendency, try, in the crouching position, to keep your weight as far forward as possible (not, however, raising the heels, which would make you too unsteady) and make your spring slightly forwards as well as upwards. When practising, without skis, either method of making the “Sats,” always start the movement from the crouching position of [Plate LII.], and be sure that it is correct in every detail before you make the spring.
Remember that it is impossible to increase the length of a jump on skis by springing forward as you would for a standing long jump, for you can, of course, get no purchase for the backward push. Even in the first method of making the “Sats,” although the body should shoot forwards, the push of the feet is almost entirely downwards. The “Sats,” in fact, when it is a jump at all, is a high jump only. Any pronounced attempt to make it a long jump will result in a fall.
Position in the Air ([Plate L.], &c.).—Having completed the movement of the “Sats,” do not alter the position of your body and legs, but hold yourself perfectly erect during your flight through the air, your feet and skis being perfectly level (i.e. neither ahead of the other), close together, and exactly parallel. The skis must as soon as possible be brought parallel to the slope below you, and therefore your feet must be pointed downwards, if they are not so already, and the toes must be pressed down to prevent the heels of the skis from dropping, as they are very apt to do.
A jumper when in the air generally swings his arms round and round. Now the dog cannot wag its tail much without the tail wagging its dog a little, and as the jumper is moving freely through space his shoulder-muscles cannot swing his arms round in one direction without at the same time swinging him—i.e. his body and legs as a whole—round in the other, though the movement of his body and legs will be much slower, as their mass is much greater, than that of the arms.
If, then, he is not tilted far enough forward, the jumper can, by swinging his arms in a forward-upward-backward-downward direction, make the rest of himself revolve slowly in the opposite direction on the axis of his shoulder-joints, and so tilt himself gradually forward; or, if his forward tilt is too great—which is not very likely—he can reduce it by swinging his arms round the other way.
Landing.—You should land in the above position, with the feet level, close together, and pointed well down, so that the skis strike the ground with their whole surface simultaneously, not with their heels first. Although the legs should be kept straight during most of the flight through the air, they should be bent slightly just before you touch the snow.
In bending them be sure to press the knees together, for to do so will ensure that, on landing, the skis are level, close together, and parallel; and also, which is equally important, that they strike the snow flat, and not edged slightly outwards, as they are apt to do if the feet only are held together.
This bringing together of the knees is therefore the greatest help to landing steadily, and if you remember to do it you need not think about bending the legs, for when his knees are touching and his feet parallel it is impossible for a man of normal build to keep his legs straight. I strongly advise you to include this movement in your practice of the “Sats” (2nd method) without skis.