Tej… getting stronger with dynamics and hence parallel skiing – not bad for only the 4th morning. I wanted to focus on your commitment to the impulse/extension of the uphill leg so I didn’t get around to telling you to hold your hands higher, wider apart and more in front of your body – this helps you to stay forward/perpendicular to the slope. (Look at the bottom photo of me in this blog page off piste – the arms play a vital role in leading the centre of mass.)
Laura… still smiling! The arms only work symmetrically towards the end momentarily but the left pole pointing behind is an excellent deterrent against those speeding by too closely. The more the coffee the more the dynamics seem to improve. Different from Tej but managing to get almost parallel at speed when on gentle terrain – good control and composure on slightly steeper slopes – good enough for confidence building and drilling the underlying movement pattern for dynamics.
Short Swings / Jump Turns / Swing Weight
If a jump is made while solidly planting the ski pole then there is zero resistance on the skis so they can literally pivot in mid air – swinging the ski fronts into a turn. Coordination for this is tricky initially and usually work has to be done even on jumping correctly. Most people retract their heels when jumping but they should fully extend their leg in mid air to raise the centre of mass and then flex on landing to absorb the impact smoothly. The soft landing helps to generate a smooth pivot. It’s only necessary to swing the skis a few degrees in the air and then land on the uphill edges to continue a smooth pivot. The pressure cycle and dynamics of coming down into the turn from landing also help to drive the pivot once it has been initiated. When turns like this are linked with a rebounding effect and fluent rhythm they are called short swings. Most people at the start are unable to keep their body from rotating or pushing out the heels/ski tails so they are often unable to use their ski poles properly and unable to keep a good rhythm or accurate coordination.
Pivot
After learning skating turns on the flat this is the way beginners should learn to turn for dealing with gradients. They should be assisted if required – by holding a ski pole at the side of the instructor and being physically led through all the moves – just like someone being led in a dance. Eventually the skill is assimilated due to the body being fed the correct feeling repeatedly. Some athletic beginners can cope with this manoeuvre on their own.
The reason for this pivot is to develop fall-line skiing skills. It’s a “braking” form of turn which gives great control over speed – because of the skis only being used on uphill edges. The other important element of this pivot is that both feet are kept downhill of the skier (vertically below the skier) which is not only a fun and playful way to ski but is critical for safety on dangerous steeps such as in couloirs. Most people are totally brainwashed in the skiing world into believing that a ski only turns because of its inside edge with its sidecut. Well it does, but not all of the time. The ski can also turn while on its outside edge during the first half of a turn. If someone has already worked on sideslipping then they already partly know the mechanism for this.
The skier has to stand on the uphill ski only, lifting the lower ski off the snow. The foot should feel pressure on its outside edge but the adductor muscles of this leg should be pulling in the downhill direction. The ski will remain on its outside edge (due to the lateral support of the ski boot shaft preventing the ski from flattening). The downhill pole should be planted for support and so when the lower ski is lifted the body weight should be partially transferred to the pole. This requires the skier to face downhill and tilt forwards from the hips (angulation). Place the centre of mass downhill as much as possible with the use of support from the ski poles. Try to keep the ski on its uphill edge while the centre of mass moves downhill of it. The use of the pole here is to support and guide the centre of mass – which then pulls the ski tip downhill along with it. (In dynamics, skiing with only forward motion of the ski, the pole is not required because the support for the centre of mass comes from the lifting up power of the ski itself. This is why pole planting is only associated with pivoting – sideways motion – and not with dynamic – forward motion – skiing – where only a pole touch at most is required when entering a turn)
The adductor muscles of the outside leg continue to be engaged to allow the centre of mass to pull the front of the ski downwards in a sideslip into a turn. This trains the correct muscular coordination – pulling inwards towards the turn centre with the adductor muscles (of the “outside” leg).
To check that the adductor muscles are being used the “Pole Stopper” exercise is useful. For this exercise I place a ski pole between the tips of the two skis. The skier lifts a ski a few inches off the snow and then pulls the tip against the pole. If the adductor muscles are being used then as the tip is blocked the tail should swing inwards at the back. If the tail swings outwards then the it’s the muscles on the outside of the leg (abductors) being used to push and twist (torque) rather than the adductors (inside of the leg) being used to pull or tension the leg laterally.
When the pivot starts the skier (centre of mass) has to move downhill slightly from the ski but not too much because the ski must remain on the uphill edge for as long as possible. Moving the body too much downhill would change the ski edges far too quickly – for this effect the ski must be allowed to sideslip right from the beginning. The ski will change edges when it is in the fall-line, onto the new “inside” uphill edges for the last part of the turn. All the time – from start to end of the turn the skier needs to pull inwards and tension the adductors.
Completing the turn correctly requires the skier to avoid body rotation and to have the body in an anticipated and angulated stance, ready for another pole plant at the start of the next turn.
Turning on the inside ski is much harder to do – and for easier coordination it’s best to use the preferred foot – eg. right foot for somebody who is right handed.
Pressure is initially felt on the inside edge of the foot with the adductors held tight (pulling uphill) and the ski is initially on its inside edge (uphill). Strong pole support is necessary to get the centre of mass downhill of the ski and a lot of commitment to using the pole is required. It’s much more difficult to get the centre of mass far enough downhill for a smooth pivot when standing on the lower leg. Whereas the outside ski pivot is a great way to start developing good angulation – the inside ski helps to develop more advanced angulation – by exaggerating the “end of turn” angulation requirements. People generally have the greatest trouble with angulation through the second half of a turn – learning to link pivots is the ideal way to develop Angulation and Anticipation skills.
Linking Pivots
Linking the pivots is a true test of edge control and skillful directing of the centre of mass.
Two Skis (Close Stance)
Competition bumps skiers have their feet close together and many people swear by a “two footed” platform off-piste. This works because both skis pivot always on their uphill edge. The feet are always kept downhill of the body and so are the knees. Using the adductor muscles of both legs pulls the skis together and strengthens the stance. It’s important however to always orient the body on only one hip – preferably the outside one. The hip is the biggest joint in the body and it is very close to the centre of mass. Any confusion around this area leads to confusion everywhere. Motion starts from the centre of mass – so use your outside hip in the turn – pulling it backwards during the turn – to get your reflexes working and your core muscles protecting your back the most efficiently possible.
See…
Off Piste Fall line
Short Swings (Jump Turns)
Moguls
Angulation
Anticipation
Pressuring the Fronts of the Skis
When a car travelling forward makes a sudden turn there is an increase in pressure on the front tyres due to them being responsible for deflecting the vehicle in the new direction. In skiing the front of the ski plays the main role in deflecting (turning) the skier but this doesn’t just happen automatically because people tend to defensively avoid pressure on the ski fronts due to fear of falling forward.
Normally people when walking maintain their bodies more or less vertical with respect to gravity and that would be appropriate in skiing for traversing across a slope – but as the skier has to turn downhill they are faced with having to adjust the stance out of the vertical and to be generally perpendicular to the slope. Doing so requires both skill and confidence – which can be undermined by a defensive emotional response. (The root of the word emotion is motere, the latin verb “to move”, with the prefix “e-” meaning “move away”.) The result is the skier tends to remain vertical when pointing down the slope and that puts pressure on the tails of the skis (often through leaning on the backs of the ski boots). When pressure is applied to the tails of the skis they will tend to run straight and not turn.
Racing type turns with free falling dynamics (Centre of Mass (CoM) falling or pushed into the turn) can require an aggressive overall body (CoM) movement forward/downhill into a new turn. Pivoted (braking) turns where the skier remains predominantly on the uphill edges and uses a downhill pole plant for support allows the body to remain more vertical due to the mechanics of the skis working with a lateral swing into the turn. However pressure on the ski fronts remains necessary even for effective pivoting. When pivoting it’s sometimes necessary (as with mogul/bump skiing) to push the tips of the skis downhill with the balls of the feet. (Aggressive mogul skiing requires knees and hips actively bending often more than 90°)
Pressure on the ski fronts is made safe through the use of hip angulation – which brings the centre of mass well to the inside of the turn and allows absorption of bumps etc. Angulation protects the skier from the risk of a face plant over the fronts of the skis – including when skiing in deep snow. Another way to increase pressure on the ski fronts is to flex the ankle inside the ski boot – not by squashing the ankle but by lifting the forefoot toward the shin (still keeping pressure on the balls of the feet) and creating shin pressure on the cuffs of the ski boots. The boots then act as a lever transmitting force to the ski fronts. Gripping on ice requires pressure on the ski fronts and is strongly aided by the flexed ankle.
One exercise to get people to feel the correct pressure on the shins inside their ski boots is to ski downhill backwards.
Combining Dynamics and Pivot
- Dynamics depends of forward motion of the skis and lateral falling/pushing of the centre of mass
- Pivot depends on lateral motion of the skis – but always with the centre of mass being driven inward (toward the turn centre) modulated by the support of a pole plant
- The two can be combined – when there is both forward and lateral motion – making overall control of trajectory and speed totally under control of the skier
- In all cases there must be active adductor muscle use – and the feet must be “everted” i.e. turned outward inside the ski boots – diverging sightly (skating stance)
- The essential element to take from combining pivot and dynamics is to execute the turn transition from the uphill edge of the uphill ski – noting that the ski enters the new turn more easily than when on its inside edge and this also prevents stemming (and body rotation)
- Additionally with the transition between the two turns being made from the uphill edge it’s easy to switch into a very tight pivot when desired
Look at the skis in the two images below. The top image is with skis carving – the bottom image skis pivoting
