Good progress for day 1 beginners!
Skating Step Turns
Skiing is a form of skating – it’s just that skis bend and scribe arcs on the ground and are generally used on slopes not flat lakes. Skating actions are fundamental for a skier’s development because they involve independent leg action where only one leg at a time is really used. Although skiers can stand on two feet the body is oriented specifically on one hip joint at a time (when turning) and has to function as if standing on one leg. Skating exercises such as skating step turns are helpful in developing basic skills. Skating turns use diverging skis (opposite from snowplough) and incremental stepping of the centre of mass inward toward the turn centre. This is ideally the first sort of turning that any complete beginner should experience – on flat terrain.
Snowplough Turns
Feet – for skiing in a snowplough
- Straight running downhill – wide stance from hips – relax the adductor muscles in the legs
Supination of subtalar joint – both feet on outside edges and turned inward - For turning pronate the right foot’s subtalar joint (roll the foot onto its inside edge) to get the right ski to deflect you to the left
