Use the settings (on the video clip itself) to reduce playing speed to 0.25x to see the actions clearly
When we started out I asked John to ski in front so I could have a look. There was chronic stemming particularly of the left ski and sometimes tail pushing which occurred mainly when trying to make shorter turns with the torso facing downhill. Posture was being compromised by facing the torso in this way and to sum it up – ALL the fundamentals of skiing would have to change. At that point I didn’t know there was a serious boot canting misalignment but thankfully we were able to go straight indoors to check. (and return later to work on subtalar joint pronation)
Dynamics
The feet are the support to generating good dynamics. This movement is simpler that people imagine. You just push the body over by extending the uphill leg to force your centre of mass downhill to initiate a turn – then continue pushing inward to the centre until the turn is completed holding the supporting leg strong and straight (for basic dynamics). Let the upper body follow the skis around.
Pivot
Pivoting was introduced early because it is a key to stopping stemming. …and so we invented the “Inverse Hanger Turn” in the process… the real hanger turn in extreme form looking a bit like this…
.. but the inverted form being a turn transition complete from the inside ski of the previous turn.
The inside leg with subtalar pronation looks like this…
The task ahead is not about correcting faults – its about replacing inappropriate “skills” with useful ones. Practice the pivot for slow motion and pole-controlled dynamics. Remember the “ball and string” analogy – everything moves into the centre…
