The powder skiing was before we began work on angulation – the “on piste” clip that follows shows the difference when weight is brought forward due to angulation – making the skiing strong and dynamic instead of defensive and in the “back seat” tiring out the thigh muscles! Well done Leon!
Angulation
Postural Reflex
Our first step into the world of angulation involved triggering the postural reflex.
- Standing across the hill on skis
- Pelvis adjusted into neutral position
- Upper body tilted forward from the hips joints
- Chest/shoulders facing ski tips
- turn the pelvis to face downhill and the bottom uphill
- Stretch the space between the pelvis and lower front rib
Okay – this is a static exercise (when loaded up with weight it triggers the postural reflex). The goal during turning is that it prevents the hip being pulled around under the rib cage and keeps the core postural muscles functioning and protects the spine.
Modern Slalom or “Killy” era Slalom???
Let’s just keep the shoulders more or less following the skis and the movement of the upper body being perceived as a “lateral” move through the turn transition (from one turn to the next).
Think of getting the inside ski under the belly button and between the hands during the turn.
Inside Leg
To help prevent the hip from rotating outward during the pulling back it’s important to bring the inside leg/knee (outward) toward the belly button. To assist this be sure to keep foot of the inside leg on its inside edge – even though the ski is clearly on its outside edge.
Hip Joint
The upper body is tilted and rotates on top of a single hip joint
Pressure on Ski Fronts
Angulation permits strong pressure on the ski fronts with safety when combined with dynamics. The tilt forward of the upper body ensures the centre of mass comes forward. On ice this provides safe grip and in deep snow on appropriate (off piste) skis pressure can be maintained on the ski fronts. Completing the turn by driving the centre of mass back up the hill toward the turn centre gives dramatic stability when hard on the fronts of the skis. Angulation and dynamics work to support each other.
