Before starting the session I asked the girls what they wanted to do – just ski, or work on technique. They chose technique – though we only spent the first part of the session looking at that and then the rest of the time skiing and applying it.From the video you can see that everyone skis well. Derin skis best when following someone but the others are fine choosing their own line. Zaynep has relaxed and fluid movements overall and skis nicely on piste. Berin is more in her comfort zone when she is carving and feeling strong feedback from her skis. Okan looks more comfortable on his skis and more dynamic than I recall. Derin was struggling to ski as well as she did yesterday when she had been focusing properly on exercises and technique – but later on managed to keep up well when following.
Dynamics
I chose to revise “dynamics” because when I initially watched everyone ski on flattish terrain only Derin exhibited correct timing – specifically a down / up action – which is generated by dynamcis (Magic Wall). It turns out Berin thought that an up / down movement was how to make a turn – so my observation was correct. Zaynep only reverted to obvious up / down motion when on steep and bumpy off piste at the very end of the session – which confirmed the underlying issue there for her too. The Magic Wall was explained for moving the body into a turn – then we also worked on coming out of a turn – over the downhill ski as it lifts you up during turn completion. We didn’t do the pivot exercise (which I only demonstrated) as I sensed that everyone really just wanted to ski. Instead we did “hanger turns” which means simply completing the transition from one turn to the next turn completely on the downhill ski. Berin understood this better by following me.Although Berin is a strong skier, particularly when carving – she tends to incline the body depending on the pressure from the carving ski – rather than being proactive and consciously moving and driving the system through her centre of mass. This is usually described as “leaning” into the turn. Leaning is passive and a reaction – you need to take the lead and this opens up a much greater field of possibilities. (make the body fall into the turn with total commitment – even before there is any pressure to lean against – it works!)
Fronts of Skis
Good dynamics is linked with the ability to use the fronts of the skis. What everyone had in common – other than limited dynamics – was that nobody could use the fronts of the skis or ski boots. Skiing backwards was used to get everyone to feel the fronts of the skis correctly. When skiing forwards you need to feel even more pressure than this on the fronts – but it can only work and be secure when the dynamics takes your centre of mass deep down into the centre of the turn. This works even more significantly in steep bumps and deep snow. The main turning power of the skis comes from the fronts. Most people fail in bumps due to being back on the tails.
Pulling In
My main concern was that everyone had relatively stiff legs – and there is a specific reason for this. Zaynep had the most relaxed legs of the group. The stiffness is linked to dynamics issues specifically because everyone was pushing the outside ski outwards in the turn to some degree (which is the opposite to moving the body inwards!). Zaynep does this mistake the least which is why her legs are the most relaxed and skiing the most fluid – but she still does it towards the end of each turn.When the centre of mass moves into a turn the foot of the outside ski must roll inwards and the adductor muscles of the leg (inside upper leg) must also pull inwards to the turn centre – but everyone is managing to push the skis outwards – Okan in the video even stems his new outside ski outwards at the start of his first turn. Berin goes stiff at the hips due to pushing outwards and bracing against the outside leg. This is why dynamics has to be learned carefully and properly – to prevent those “reactive” responses and their negative effects on skiing. Derin is at the stage where when she is drilled and focused it’s starting to come together – but she needs her attention pushed in that direction.
Who is on the backs of the boots and skis and with stiff legs?
When the fronts of the skis are active and the legs supple and free from unnecessary tension the turn transitions can be turned into jumps…
Great to see everyone on the fronts of their skis !
