Not having skied for a couple of years the initial priority was to get some gentle miles into the legs. Heidi was perhaps the wobbliest but before too long each of the children had spent some time on the ground. Thankfully the fresh snow was there to welcome everyone back to the mountains.
Dynamics
Gradually to begin with I roped everyone into focusing on instruction. I totally understood that it’s really the last thing on the planet anyone wanted – but it’s my job. Eventually curiosity started to take hold and things things began to take shape. We began with an introduction to dynamics. There’s no point me regurgitating it all here because there is a fixed page describing the theory and practise right here… “Dynamics“.
Dynamics is just one element employed in a “self organising” process that underpins how we really learn – so we moved on promptly. Some would feel dynamics better than others- but all levels can work together without difficulty.
The basic movement is lateral to the direction of the skis so for initially developing this the analogy of a bicycle or upside down pendulum is sufficient and pushing against a wall.
Feet Forward (Skate)
After a lunch break we dove straight into an exercise, skis off, facing downhill, skating one leg around in a C shaped arc – the leg turning in the hip socket. This is a powerful way to actively and dramatically reduce turn radius on a steeper slope. (Tech note: It effectively increases the separation of trajectory between the direction of the skis and the centre of mass creating greater dynamics (disequilibrium) and so is a critical aspect of racing – but very counter intuitive) At our level today it just dramatically tightens turn radius and is the principle way to control turn radius when actively using dynamics.
Pivot
This exercise inflicts serious brain hurt on everyone – but it’s essential. Once again everything went as expected and the fixed page is here: ” Pivot” Unfortunately Toby’s “heel push” crept back in when he skied for the camera – after previously doing a great job of working “inward” with his skis supporting the direction of his centre of mass. With the pivot the skis “swing” into a turn – and from a standstill as with our exercise there is no forward travel across the hill.
Pole Plant
Pole plant was shown to only ever be used for pivoting as the skis are swinging into the turn – not generating lift while travelling forward. The pole blocks the fall of the centre of mass and in doing so increases the pressure on the pivoting ski.
When skiing with dynamics we never plant the ski pole (though it can be used to touch the ground).
Carving
We used hip angulation to generate enough edge angle to carve on the flats – with only the adults begin taught how to use the pelvis to both generate angulation and simultaneously protect the lower back through aligning the skeleton in a way that triggers the lower abdominal postural reflex. The results were effective and interesting – to be developed next time!
