“Did you make any good turns?” (Jeff Shiffrin)
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Balance
Skiing anchors on dynamic balance. Balance is the most important fundamental skill for skiing. Balance is both a source and an outcome of effective movement.
For ski racing, balance is not the goal; skiing fast is the goal. Good balance allows racers to ski fast.
Athletic Stance
According to the PSIA technical manual, athletic stance refers to the ability of the athlete to move in any direction at any time. The basic stance for a skier includes flexion of the ankles, knees, hips, and spine.
This stance was summarized by USSA as (1) feet are hip width apart; (2) ankles are of even flex; (3) center-of-mass is above the feet; (4) back is rounded; (5) hands are held out and in front of the body; (6) vision is forward; and (7) muscles are in tension but not stiff.
Below are two illustrations of skiing stance. Note athletic stance doesn’t mean to lean forward the upper body. It is a natural stance which allows skiers to easily move and adapt to various snow conditions.
In challenging terrains, the same principle works. Note Josh Foster’s emphasis on “feel the shin of my boots.”
Arm & Body Position
Note the difference between body position during long/medium and short turns.
Ankle Tension
Ankle flexion is an important part of fore/aft balance, but it is not enough for a skier to be out of the backseat and move forward. Skiers need to add tension to ankle flexion. The video below has some nice indoor/on-snow exercises.
Lateral balance: 1000 poles
Fore/Aft Balance: 1000 steps
Fore/Aft Balance: Falling Leaf
Fore/Aft Balance: Backward Skiing
Up and Over
Outside Edge to Outside Edge
One Ski Skiing
More details. Note the instructor’s emphasis on angulation in facilitating this exercise:
High-level demo. Racers should do this drill every day.
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Edging
PSIA has a similar definition, but more explicitly emphasizes tipping, which enables skiers to increase/decrease the ski-to-snow angle.
Walking Uphill
Standing Up after Falling
Skating
Wedge Turn
Wedge Christie
From Wedge to Parallel
Steering means to actively direct the skis along an intended arc by turning (using muscular action) an edged ski (PSIA technical manual).
Power Wedge
While wedge is often used as a beginner exercise, it could actually help achieve carving. Note the emphasis on “more pressure on the outside ski” in the following drill demo.
More guidelines by Warren Witherell in How the Racers Ski (pp. 29-33):
(1) Feel ski-snow interaction on a flat terrain with moderate speed;
(2) Spread skis about 2 feet apart;
(3) Put most of your weight on outside ski; inside ski is lightly weighted and just provides balance;
(4) Roll outside ski 30 to 45 degrees on edge by moving your knee to the inside;
(5) Don’t push the tail out or thrust the ski laterally in any way;
(6) Make long, gradual turns left and right close to the fall line by shifting your weight alternately from one ski to the other;
(7) Vary the radius of your turns and forward/backward pressure distribution; experiment with different edge angles and pressure applications.
To make a pure carved turn, you must edge your ski first, then apply pressure and let it turn.
Railroad Track
According to Witherell and Evrard (The Athletic Skier, p. 96), we learn three things from the railroad track drill: (1) begin turns without skidding, which is the hardest skill in carving; (2) ride a pure carving edge through the belly of a turn, which is the most joyful part of carving; and (3) explore how a carving ski responds to various amount of edge and pressure.
To start this exercise, please start straight down the fall line with your weight distributed equally on both skis, Shift your weight first to the right ski for a few seconds, and then to your left ski. Repeat. Feel the edge on snow; adjust it using ankles and knees. Keep the skis parallel.
Don’t push or twist your skis. When you weight on one ski, leave the other in light contact with the snow. Also don’t try to turn more than a few degrees out of the fall line.
Inspect your track. It should be clean and thin, and shouldn’t smear.
Traverse
Stacking
This drill looks easy but it is actually hard to do it precisely. Many people either put their hands in a wrong position (e.g., on waist instead of hips) or use their hand to push the hip. The focus should be on edging, making sure that lateral rolling of ankles and knees is used to control edge angles. Arms are held in assigned position, with shoulders being parallel throughout the turn.
The video below also has other useful edging and weight transfer drills. Compare the demo skier and the younger racer. You can tell the importance of keeping a quiet upper body and rolling ankles/knees into a larger edge angle.
Garlands
Dynamic Leapers
Tuck Turns
Norwegian Drill
White Pass Turns
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Rotary
PSIA’s definition of rotary control refers to turning the skis about the vertical axis of the body. Skiers use this action to affect the direction their skis point.
One of the key aspects of rotation concerns upper-lower body separation. The extent of this separation depends on terrain conditions, turn radius, etc. For example, short turns typically require upper body facing the fall line almost all the time. In other words, they require more separation than long turns.
Rotary exercises are typically useful for building rotational balance as well.
Leg Rotation
The demo below shows that effective leg rotation could easily help development of other critical skills (e.g., J-turn which is useful for training short turns).
Guided Uphill Arc
At a more advanced level:
Framing Drill
Hockey Stop
Hockey stop helps both upper-lower body separation, lane control, and edging. There are two ways of doing this drill. The first video is easier and the second one has more detailed guidelines.
The next two videos are for further reference. All four videos require similar technical skills.
Hands on Hips
Hop Turns
Spiess
Pivot Slips
A more disciplined approach is the following:
Short Turns
More details:
Short turn demo:
Different variations of short turns:
Lateral Separation
Bumps
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Pressure
redistribution of weight from foot to foot,
increasing and decreasing edge angle,
muscle tension, changing turn shape and
size, etc. PSIA has a similar definition.
Pole Jumpers
For racers, it is better to have the poles arranged as demonstrated in the video below.
For non-racers, you may just jump roughly every 8 meters. Or a few friends could just place their poles on the snow and then do the drills. It doesn’t matter much if you don’t have poles in your hands; you just need a powerful start (e.g., skating) to gain speed.
It is important to maintain athletic stance throughout the exercise and land both skis simultaneously.
Wavetrack
Retraction
There are surely many different ways of doing this. One effective exercise is illustrated by Guy Hetherington in the following two videos, i.e., the “roller drill”:
Swiss Drill
Whirlybirds (360)
This is again a drill that could benefit all the fundamentals. With respect to pressure, it helps practice the application and release of pressuring skills. Use flexion and extension of ankles to manage pressure application and release. Skis need to rotate simultaneously and stay parallel. Do it on an easy slope.
Skiing with Expert Flow
Dolphin Turns
This drill is also useful for short turns.