Haluk

For the past two years I’ve been working on finding ways to protect a damaged knee. Haluk has for a long time been dealing with knee pain and has also been stuck with his “Haluk Look” – his idiosyncratic skiing movements that he has never quite managed to eliminate despite continued pregressive improvement. The solution I had found for my own knee issue was so radically different from anything else that I suspected it could be the thing that would deal with Haluk’s intractible issues – though I didn’t go as far as hoping that it would help with his knees in any way.

 

 

Perhaps the most surprising thing I had discovered over the past two seasons was that in clearly figuring out how to protect my own specific knee injury I was appearing to learn some very unexpected but remarkably positive and hitherto hidden aspects of skiing that seriously enhanced both my performance and enjoyment. The latter part of this season consolidated this from being a collection of vague but logical alterations to a mega leap with no uncertainty whatsoever left lingering on.

Today’s challenge would be to communicate this successfully to Haluk (in a way relevant to him) in about 10 minutes flat – knowing that this is his normal tolerance threshold for instruction before heading off piste even on a good day.

In the video the bottom window is “before” and the top window is “after” working on technique. Although the difference is clearly visible to me the still frames presented further down the page should be very clear to anyone.

 

 

Double Adductors – Pulling In

About three years ago I bumped into Billy Kelly – professional golfer - in Chamonix and this led to one of our usual lengthy converstaions. At some point during the converstaion I found myself explaining about how the adductor muscles of one leg at a time are used in skiing – to which Billy responded by describing how in golf he teaches people to use both sets of adductors – both legs simultaneously to generate a stable platform through core strength. The penny dropped for me and quite a few scattered dots in skiing technique suddenly joined up – realising that this might work in skiing too.

To cut a long story short here, by going to the fixed page (menu tabs top of page) on “pivoting” you can see a detailed explanation of how whether you pivot on the outside or inside ski you always stand on the inside edge of the foot using the adductors of that specific leg. When pivoting on two skis with a close stance we are on the inside edgs of both feet and the adductors of both legs hold the skis together.

Ultimately the adductors are not for “pulling” the ski with any force – they are used to stabilise the body up to the centre of mass – so that the centre of mass can pull the skis and interact directly with them.

I had been seeing Haluk starting his turns frequently with the adductors disengaged but hadn’t mentioned this because it was also a consequence of the timing of his dynamics. Step one today was to clarify the active use of both sets of adductors simultaneously. Whether using the pole for support in a pivot – or the ski “lifting up” power for support in dynamics – the adductors are the connection between the feet and centre of mass.

Critically in our case the pulling inwards would play a fundamental role in protecting the knee joints. Although we both experience pain on the inside/front of the knee – this ironically  is the part we need to contract and “pull inwards”. We worked first of all on pivoting then applied this to carving.

 

Balls of the Feet – Strong Ankles - Fronts of the Boots

Stage two was going to be counter intuitive for Haluk who has always had the problem of being too much on the fronts of his ski boots. In reality this issue has been a combination of the ankle over-flexing and the outside ski being left too far behind due to rotation of the body. It’s very hard to be aware of weight creeping onto the forefoot and the ankle collapsing allowing the boot to become the main support instead of the bone structure. This was all happening to Haluk despite his persistent efforts to work from the heels and stay centred in the shafts of the boots – not leaning on the fronts.

Today the goal was to stand up on the balls of the feet – slightly extending the ankles and activating the feet muscles along with the anterior tibialis running up the outside of the shin to strengthen the ankle. In conjunction with this there would be intentional and strong pressure against the fronts of the boots – working from strong ankles – not soggy collapsed ankles. The connection here with previously working from the heel is that the ankle is tightned and strengthened. The strong ankle limits the inwards motion of the knee and protects it – there being no torque applied etither to or through the knee joint.

 

Fronts of the Skis

Stage three was to use the “pulling in” with the adductors and the “ball of the foot” stance with pressure on the front of the boot to put a lot of pressure onto the front of the ski – and not just at the start of the turn but throughout the turn.

What this does is it stacks up the bones of the leg and brings the hip more over the knee and foot (supporting outside leg). This forward action combined with inward pull appears to minimise shearing forces in the knee joint.

 

Advanced Dynamics and Perpendicularity

Although we didn’t specifically work on it I mentioned to Haluk how getting forward and inwards on the leg very early during the turn is what specifically stopped the agggravation of my own knee problem. This is achieved by completing the previous turn coming all the way into “neutral” over the downhill ski – bringing the body perpendicular to the slope even before the skis come around to point downhill – thus placing you automatically on the front of the ski and boot as the turn commences and allowing access to the adductors of the supporting outside leg immediately when pressure is engaged.

 

Ice Control

This very precise detail of turn initiation is critical for grip on ice. You can simulate this by standing on a slippy wet floor indoors in ski boots with a sturdy table to your side. Fall over against the table and on the edges of your boots. If everything is placed correctly and supported with muscle (adductor) tension then nothing will slip outwards even as you get pressure against the table – your are “pulling inwards” with a strong structure – led by your centre of mass. If the boot slips outwards on the slippy floor then the same will happen when skiing.

 

Outcome

Half of the entire ski length is in front of the boot and it needs to be used actively. The braking and steering of a car or bike comes from the front and likewise the most effective directing from the ski should come from the front. Getting haluk to stand in such a way so as to use the front of the ski strongly automatically stopped his rotation. It appears that the rotation was mainly caused by being stuck too far back on the skis and so being unable to get the timing of the dynamics during the turn transition quite right (it was late) – the next turn then being assured through a compensatory rotation. Being centred better over the skis removed the timing glitch and so the rotation vanished – along with the arm reaching associated with it. The stemming also disappeared and completely new sensations were experienced in the off piste.

Please note that this should not be attempted unless good hip angulation capacity is already developed. I write “capacity” here because Haluk’s rotation had been masking the work he was already doing with countering his outside hip to the turn. Good angulation and inclination – along with clear dynamics – are required to be able to powerfully use the fronts of the skis with no risk of being pitched over the fronts. When all of this is in place the fronts of the skis actually feel like the safest of all places to be.

I also explained to Haluk how to visualise the resultant force coming up through the middle of the front of the ski towards the centre of mass – as if it was joining the two – the ski being a wedge between the snow and your body. When travelling fast off piste or over bumps racing timing is used – the turns not being “closed off” and each ski being visualised as just mentioned – hard on the fronts no matter what obstacles are presented. (In racing timing the apex of the turn is towards the side of the piste not downhill where there is the greatest resistance to gravity to deal with.)

Apparently Haluk aslo found this protecting his knee to a significant degree – and personally I had no knee pain while skiing by the end of the day.

 

Prior to working on technique (numbered according to image sequence):

1. Failing to come over the downhill ski (can still see the base as the next turn is initiated)
2. Stem due to rotation
3. Body rotation causing reaching of the arms – not the arms causing the problem
4. Stem due to rotation
5. Stem due to rotation
6. Sitting back and rotation (actual cause of the rotation and all the rest)
7. Different view of rotation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After working on technique – visible changes being a consequence – not a cause…

• Rotation gone
• Stemming gone
• Centred – front/whole ski being loaded up (this is the “cause” – minus specific details - the rest are effects)
• Dynamics timing improved – smoother/earlier pressure  – turn completed more on the downhill ski
• Better angulation
• Natural arm control

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne, Ella, Daisy

 

A special compilation video of the week’s skiing. What people will not see here is any sign of the typical “beginner” – no “snowplough” or “stemming”. The only issue to really overcome was the spontaneous rotation of the body for all three – due to them all being horse riders. Ella was the worst with this issue initially but when she carefully sorted it out she ended up being the strongest skier.

 

 

I highly recommend that the girls continue their interest in skating at home – an interest which played a great part in their success this week. They are not afraid of accelerations or of falling and know how to use their bodies naturally. Remember – this is just a beginning.

Skiing is “holistic” in that it is very tolerant of errors. You can remove important elements and it still works (sort of) and is called skiiing. Being holistic is both a blessing and a curse – a blessing because it permits progressive learning and a curse because it permits insidious errors to install over time. Always work towards staying on track: If it doesn’t fit in with dynamics and skating then it’s nonsense – and there is an awful lot of that out there. Please don’t think that you “get it” and now you can just ski forgetfully or “absent mindedly”. Working with clients I personally “get” something new every day and that’s after 30 years of professsional teaching.  There are whole universes of off-piste, bumps and racing as well as mindful skiing in it’s own right.

Suzanne, Ella, Daisy Day 6

Suzanne bravely decided to proceed with her last day despite hardly being able to use her left arm – a problem worsened by being left handed. We started out on the familiar Vert to see how things would go. Clearly there were a few considerations in mind including not holding the girls back – but nothing was certain and this just meant being flexible with plans as the day progressed. In the end it all worked out very well and was just about optimum for everyone. Suzanne did extremely well regardless of her injury and it was probably good holding back the girls a little – working on technique - until allowing them to have a real uninhibited blast at the very end when their skiing had strengthened even more.

 

 

Skating Development

Suzanne felt that she had gone backwards regarding her control over the hips/pelvis so we initially took a step back with technique to correct this. First stage was to re-establish good grip in the turns and we knew already that for Suzanne the best way was to initiate the turn by getting onto the uphill edge of the uphill ski and falling into the turn from there. This simply prevents any unconscious stemming and promotes simple dynamics.

Once Suzanne had found her grip the stance improved somewhat naturally and her confidence began to return. We would simply concentrate on dynamics through the day because when using dynamics the Centre of Mass is supported by the skis in all of its activity – poles and arms only being used for support in pivoting. Removing the need for any stress on the arms would give the greatest opportunity for Suzanne to develop her skiing, avoid compounding the injury and enjoy the last day.

Hip use is fundamentally related to skating. The body has to perch itself on one hip joint at a time and for this to happen the hip has to retract inwards beneath the centre of mass – requiring a certain flexibility at the joint. Skating, for most people, naturally brings them to a good strong use of the hip in this way because it is necessary for the functional use of the legs in the skating action. Additionally, holding the ski on edge with the foot and adductor muscles and “falling inwards” (inclination and angulation) are all necessary parts of edge control and gripping – so any use of skating exercises helps to develop better hip function.

We skated across the hill from the bottom ski – stepping up onto the upper ski with each stride – onto the upper edge (through remaining always on the inside of both feet). Each stride had the skis diverging and each step was like preparing to initiate a turn by standing on the uphill edge of the top ski. On the final skate the idea is to stand up on the top ski and this time actually fall into the turn. The skating is not only developing hip angulation but cultivates timing, stability, independent leg action, cooordination and  dynamics.

Suzanne was momentarily confused with the idea of initiating the turn from the outside edge of the top ski – noticing that this is how a pivot is executed. In this case only the dynamics are being controlled by allowing the ski to roll over and change edge before the new turn begins. The skis are travelling forwards as opposed to sideways in the pivot and the support comes exclusively from the lifting force of the ski – not from pole use.

Later on in slush we would revert to “End of Turn Dynamics” where the body would come over the downhill ski in the same way, completing the the turn on the uphill edge of the downhill ski and allowing the body to lift up and “out” of the turn using that edge until moving into “neutral” – thus assuring easy entry into the next turn through the deep slush. We left this until later in the day and until it was appropriate and necessary.

 

Foot Forward Technique (also related to skating)

The first video clips are of “Foot Forward” technique and the exercise that we use to develop it. Pushing the foot forward is also related to skating and by keeping the upper body still this develops a good function of the hip joint – and awareness of how to make the outside ski far more active. The foot/leg is not twisted it simply swings around in an arc – the foot inside the ski boot always remaining turned slightly outwards to hold the foot on its inside edge.

Diasy in particular noticed when skiing with this that the outside ski never actually went ahead of the inside ski and that her turns were sharper. Suzanne noticed that she felt more grip and stability.

Actively pushing the ski forwards – when combined with dynamics – reduces the turn radius and is the principal way to alter and control turn radius in dynamic skiing.

With foot forward technique in place we now went onto a steep “black” rated slope and everyone managed to ski it fully in control – working the turns to completion and linking them rythmically by exploiting the build up of forces on the outside ski. (The second series of clips in today’s video)

 

Mindful Skiing

How do I answer the question “What level of skier am I?” ? Perfection does not exist so the idea of level – especially based upon obsolete, commercial and senseless standards – is essentially pointless. Children need to have incentives and are greatly motivated by getting badges and awards – but much of this can be scarily superficial and misleading. I have met French instructors who have been told off by their schools for improving students too quickly and stepping them through their official awards system too rapidly – skipping stages  - believing that without this incentive for the “next badge” the student won’t return.

What counts is not the illusion of “levels” it’s the process of development – something inherent in life itself. People get value and self esteem from improving competence and also from becoming better at learning istelf. In skiing competence translates into freedom and fun opposed to frustration and injury. Learning translates into awareness and self mastery. There are no “levels” just an ongoing process and the efficiency of this process. I asked the girls to rate how well they were focusing on their body, internally – bringing their attention to the parts of the feet, legs, muscles and centre of mass motion. This is the practical key to development – not whether you can “snowplough in control” or not. (Hopefully after this week the grils cannot snowplough at all because I strictly avoided teaching them this as it violates all principles of development both in terms of physical coordination and psychology.)

We eventually settled on a “mindfulness” scale of between 0 and 10 at 7 for everybody. Suzanne did amazingly well to overcome her injury concerns and make significant progress in learning during the day while the girls were flying by the end of the day – but intelligently controlling every aspect. This figure reflects a process and ability to move onwards – not some arbitrary level.

 

Daisy and Ella using dynamics like pros! – making difficult slush and bumps look easy. No one will believe this is only their 6th day on skis – and 4 of those were only half days. Well done girls! Notice their hands and arms are placed really well and the subject has never been mentioned to them once.

 

 

 

Mont Blanc close up

 

 

Two shots of the cable car at Tignes glacier viewed from Val

 

 

Daisy’s favourite vertical run – which we didn’t quite manage on this occasion

 

 

 

La Scara - huge international children’s race (12 to 15yrs)

Suzanne, Ella, Daisy Day 5

 

Happy “2nd 5th” birthday to Daisy today!

 

 

(Some parts of today’s lessons were repeated both morning and afternoon so I’ve copied the same text in the appropriate locations)

Dynamics Part 2

Exiting the turn is even more important than entering the turn. When linking two turns the first is not completed until the body is in “neutral” going across the slope. Neutral is when the skis are flat and the body perpendicular to the slope – but side on to the fall line. This position is only sustainable for a fraction of a second as the body is already beyond the vertical and is now being pulled laterally downhill by gravity. Turns are connected and rhythm established by this active movement – using the lifting force of the ski when pressure is at the maximum at the end of the turn. The lifting force keeps the body stable through this turning transition phase.

We carried out an exercise where I stood downhill and pulled each skier over their downhill leg and ski then asked them to change support leg when they were able to push against me. “Hanger” turns were then demonstrated to show an exaggerated version of this movement.

Transitioning a turn this way allows early edge pressure and grip – rounding and smoothing out the start of each turn.

 

Pivoting

Always use the inside of the foot and adductors on the supporting leg – or both legs for a two footed pivot with the skis close together. The muscle tension is not to “pull” the skis by force it is to make the body one coherent unit so that the Centre of Mass can pull the skis into the turn –but the Centre of Mass is now controlled and supported in its lateral motion by the ski pole and not by lifting power from the skis.  The skis sideslip into each turn with minimal forward motion.

Ella did better truning on the inside ski than on the outside one. This is very unusual because most people find that turning on the oustide ski is next to impossible to begin with. Everyone managed this in fact and it is interesting to see this. The reason for this is probably because all of the instruction from the beginning has been involving motion of the centre of mass.

On bumps the tips of the skis are in the air free of contact with the snow – so pivoting is even easier.

Pivoting on bumps Suzanne was the best at moving the Centre of mass downhill and Ella was struggling with this – not getting her weight on her pole and massively lifting the front of her inside ski up in the air to compensate…

 

 

 

 

Skating - Posture and Angulation

We started working on skating but quickly ran into a problem when Suzanne wasn’t able to grip with the skis to then move/project the centre of mass. In fact most of the edge grip actually comes from the body falling down and inwards – this being termed “inclination”. Some of the edge grip however comes from “angulation” at the hip and for skaters this comes naturally. The girls are skaters and so they had no issues but Suzanne was locked up at the hip joints and struggling.

The way to correct this is to first of all establish “neutral pelvis” then tilt the entire upper body forwards from the hip joints. Suzanne had a tendency to only bend the lower back instead. When the hips are flexed you then pull the supporting leg underneath the body and perch the entire body on top of that single hip joint. This produces “hip angulation” and allows the edge of the skis to bite more than just inclination alone.

When skiing angulation becomes a key issue in tightening and controlling turn radius.

James, Liz, David

James had recovered from his gastro and was raring to go again but today David would have priority. It helps if everyone is on the same page with ideas and goals. The session would evolve in four distinct sections with dynamics taking centre stage. With David being an experienced skier we could go straight on to the second part of dynamics – which although not ideal for him so early on would be important for both Liz and James. Liz tends to rush the start of the turn to get the skis downhill beneath her – instead of getting the body downhill of the skis and trusting them. James does something similar but taking too long with the turn initiation and then rushing the end of the turn. Working on both the start and end of the turn with their components of dynamics should sort out both issues.

1. Video Scene: David skiing his original “Vertical” style (but throwing in a couple of dynamic turns anyway!)
2. Video Scene: David using dynamics – both into and out of the turn
3. Video Scene: Liz using dynamics – both into and out of the turn
4. Video Scene: James using dynamics – both into and out of the turn

 

 

Dynamics Part 1

http://skiinstruction.blogspot.fr/p/dynamics.html – this is the link to the fixed dynamics page. All the explanations and exercises were the same as described on the previous posts for James.

Perpendicularity was a key issue for David so time was taken to explain it thoroughly. The Centre of Mass falling into the turn places the body automatically perpendicular to the skis as they point down the slope – without the need to “lean forwards”. We aim to exploit the “free float” nature of sliding by relating to the skis and slope exactly as we do when the skis are horizontal across the hill and we are standing vertical – the common quality being “perpendicularity”.

Davd has not been “leaning back” he has been locked into the vertical plane (relative to gravity) due to moving the centre of mass outwards (not down the hill) and also by coming “up” to start the turn and losing all stability and pressure from the skis. Coming “up and outwards” will always force a skier into the vertical as the skis plunge downhill. When David worked directly on moving the Centre of Mass downhill he produced an even better perpendicularity than in the video clip where he was working on both aspects of Dynamics (slightly prematurely).

James also tends to be a bit vertical and on the backs of the boots but for him I would have other ways to deal with this. He needs to learn to feel the fronts of the skis and this is a separate issue. He is however using dynamcis and working hard at it – being a bit thwarted by his rotational habits for the moment. Practise with dynamics will help to eliminate the rotation. He is determined and has a great attitude to the challenges that skiing brings to us all – both physically and emotionally.

 

Dynamics Part 2

Exiting the turn is even more important than entering the turn. When linking two turns the first is not completed until the body is in “neutral” going across the slope. Neutral is when the skis are flat and the body perpendicular to the slope – but side on to the fall line. This position is only sustainable for a fraction of a second as the body is already beyond the vertical and is now being pulled laterally downhill by gravity. Turns are connected and rhythm established by this active movement – using the lifting force of the ski when pressure is at the maximum at the end of the turn. The lifting force keeps the body stable through this turning transition phase.

We carried out an exercise where I stood downhill and pulled each skier over their downhill leg and ski then asked them to change support leg when they were able to push against me. “Hanger” turns were then demonstrated to show an exaggerated version of this movement.

Transitioning a turn this way allows early edge pressure and grip – rounding and smoothing out the start of each turn – especially important for Liz at this stage.

 

Pivoting – Outside Ski

http://skiinstruction.blogspot.fr/p/dynamics.html

Standard practise for pivoting. Always use the inside of the foot and adductors on the supporting leg – or both legs for a two footed pivot with the skis close together. The muscle tension is not to “pull” the skis by force it is to make the body one coherent unit so that the Centre of Mass can pull the skis into the turn –but the Centre of Mass is now controlled and supported in its lateral motion by the ski pole and not by lifting power from the skis.  The skis sideslip into each turn with minimal forward motion.

 

Skating

I was keen to introduce skating at this point because the down/up timing of skating reinforces the down/up timing of dynamics (inverted pendulum) – and this resonates with the lifting power of the skis. Resonance is an amplification of an effect and often this leads to a skier becoming airborne as a result between turns. The aim here though is just to reinforce the correct fundamental movement pattern, get the legs working independently and functionally and cultivate rhythm based on active movement and feedback.

Suzanne, Ella, Daisy Day 4

 

 

Feedback

Suzanne neede to revise how to eliminate her stemming and to be sure to get pressure on the uphill ski BEFORE initiating any turn. Keeping the uphill ski on its uphill edge and yet using the inside edge of the foot totally blocks any stemming and helps to develop appropriate coordination.

Suzanne also had a tendency to allow the knees to come out and the skis to flatten and then drift sideways and once this was brouhgt to her attention she made a strong change – using the adductor muscles to hold the skis and feet on edge.

Ellas was still initiating her turns with horse commands but she did a good job of eliminating that too when made aware of it. Occasionally Daisy forgets that she isn’t on a horse too.

 

Off Piste – Improving Dynamics

When using dynamics you can naturally ski off piste with no changes required. The ski loads up strongly (entire base not just the edge) so the lifting power of the ski is amplified and the deep snow makes it very clear whether or not you are moving that Centre of Mass far enough inwards during the turn! When everyone understood the falling stopped.

 

 

Pivot

We reinforced the work on pivoting and this was supported by previously using the uphill ski for sideslipping – uphill edge of ski and lower edge of foot – weight mainly on this ski. This use of the ski and foot is how we prepare for a pivot. Tomorrow they can all begin to use this on the steeper slope to turn tightly and control speed.

 

 

Increasing Speed

On our last run the improved dynamics and edge control allowed me to safely increase the speed for everyone.

 

 

 

Jackie, Abbey, Katie–Next Level

How do you take thee good strong recreational skiers and take them up to the next level in just 4 hours – in a blizzard?

Before…

 

After…

 

 

Dynamics

Step one was to introduce everyone to “Dyamics”. Abbey in particular was using a fair amount of dynamics naturally and Katie was using the least but Jackie’s earlier (warm up run) mention of burning quads revealed that she was defintiely not using the centre of mass effectively. Conscious use of dynamics (accelerating the Centre of Mass) really threw off Abbey who early on managed a complete face plant and Katie was getting stuck on her inside leg frequently and also falling over. Jackie also managed at least one fall early on. With the bad weather thrown in I fully expected all three to decide that I was some kind of nutter and throw the towel in completely – but they persisted.

All the steps used to introduce dynamics were standard and so are found on the fixed page here…  http://skiinstruction.blogspot.co.uk/p/dynamics.html

When the storm eventually cleared…

 

Feet

I’d fully expected such tidy skiers to pick up dynamics easily but it wasn’t happening quite like that. We were forced to retire to a café to warm up and here I took the opportunity to explain how to use the feet. The first step to ensuring good dynamics is to ensure the feet are supporting the action correctly and not being used to push the skis outwards. I suitably embarassed everyone by standing up on a table in the restaurant to show the mechanics of the feet.

(The following is a straight copy from Liz and Jamie’s post yesterday – the lesson being practically identical)

• Stand on the heel (front of the heel below the ankle)
• Do not allow weght to come onto the ball of the foot when bending
• Bend at the knee and hip only – ankle stiffens by reflex
• Roll the foot onto its inside edge by using the subtaler joint
• Engage the adductor muscles on the upper leg
• Use the following formula when skiing (outside leg in the turn) – heel/edge of foot – adductors – centre of mass
• Always pulling inwards towards the turn centre (centrifugal force being an illusion – drive everything inwards)

Comparisons were made with the weak, collapsing ankle when weight is forward on the foot – resulting in leaning on the boot and the knee twisting inwards. When support is correct the anterior tibialis (shin) muscles are contracted and the ankle becomes strong – the shin making contact with the front of the boot.

Rolling the foot onto its edge causes the forefoot to turn away from the direction of the turn – not into the turn. In contrast twisting the foot into the turn forces the foot onto its outside edge – preventing the ski from functioning.

 

Skating

Jackie already had a natural Down/Up timing despite believing that she was doing the opposite – so she took to dynamics more easily than the others – the “inverted pendulum” effect generating timing automatically. For the others I decided to exploit skating exercises to communicate the nature of timing. Skating would serve to prevent Katie from jamming her feet together and getting caught on the outside edge of her inside ski and skating would also help Abbey to pull in her hip beneath her body and so move naturally instead of tipping her shoulders into the turns.

We began by skating across the hill and everyone demonstrated that they could skate effectively. We then had to skate off downhill into a turn and continue skating aroudn the turn. Katie improved quickly with this after a weak first attempt. Eventually we made linked turns with 3 or 4 skates in each direction – reducing to 2 and eventually 1 skate per turn. I’d already demonstrated by skating straight down the hill and then introducing dynamics that skating morphs into skiing – but the skating with the legs remains constantly active although not visile to anyone who doesn’t understand it.

The “After” video shows good active dynamics supported by skating/independent leg action - by everyone.

 

Pivot

We ended up with a little work on pivoting to show the second fundamental way a ski operates – with no dynamics. Dynamics requires the ski to travel forwards (like a bicycle) and this lifts up the centre of mass when it falls over. With pivoting the ski does not travel forwards – it sideslips ito a turn and the Centre of Mass is controlled by use of the pole for support. The Centre of Mass still determines the operation of the skis as they follow it into the turn.

There is a full explanation of the various pivots here… http://skiinstruction.blogspot.co.uk/p/pivot.html

Suzanne, Ella, Daisy Day 3

Today the girls went up to the top of the mountain for their first experience of a real ski slope – and they were appropriately ready for it. The previous time they went up to the top of the Solaise it was in a blizzard and they never saw anything but today was different and they could enjoy the mountains in their full splendour.

The main purposes of today were familiarisation and mileage. This was the first opprotunity to really experiment over a long distance – making mistakes and correcting them. Normally it’s at this stage that progress really accelerates and today was no exception. The steep entry to the training slope was negociated each time with sideslip practise – an essential skill – and one not yet fully mastered as can be seen in the video…

 

 

 

 

Reverse Horse Turning

Ella started off well but as she became a bit tired she started to fall quite a lot. We stopped for a break and discussed the matter. It turns out that both Ella and Suzanne were using the skis as if they were a horse turning the whole body in the direction of the turn. Skiing works virtually the opposite way to this with the pelvis countering against the turn allowing the body to fall laterally into the turn. Relating this to a horse you would have to sit on the horse the oppposite way round facing the rear and then Ella’s movement would work. She promises to ride her horse this way in future!

Suzanne had already started to work on this issue by pulling back the outside hip during the turn (Chi Hips) http://skiinstruction.blogspot.co.uk/p/chiskiing.html 

The hip being pulled back also aligns the femur and foot better – but without addresing the Horse connection this probably would not be so effective.

 

 

Preventing Stemming

Residual hangover problems from Suzanne’s previous skiing were still influencing the situation because she was pushing out the uphill ski and stemming the start of most turns. You cannot stem and also create dynamics so this explained her apparent lack of dynamics and stability.  Standing on the uphill edge of the uphill ski for a moment (lower edge of the foot) just before moving the Centre of Mass downhill, prevents stemming and ensures better dynamics, more security and stability.

 

James, Liz Day 2

Today Liz decided to join James. Describing her experience of being sporty all her life but never really getting on well with skiing I knew exactly what was going on already and didn’t have to ask any questions. There was no great surprise either when she turned out to ski with very similar movements to those used by james prior to his progress yesterday. Liz had been taught a comprehensive pattern of movement that is completely unnatural and cannot be related to her other sports – or anything else for that matter. Being a good student and learning skiing later in life the accurate application of inappropriate movements was not only making sking a struggle but it was very unkind to the body – joints and muscles.

The overall situation was fine though because James needed to go over all the material again to help it sink in properly. The subjects and exercises we covered were effectively the same as yesterday so for basic explanations and links regarding Dynamics and Pivot please refer to yesterday’s post.

 

 

• Video Scene 1 – James using dynamics but trying to brake instead of using the “line” of the turn to control speed. Also stuck in the backs of the ski boots (Which we checked are the correct size)
• Video Scene 2 – Liz skiing with the Centre of Mass moving in the wrong direction – stemming and unstable. This is very tiring and stressful on the legs – a constant battle against the “system”
• Video Scenes 3 and 4 – short turns pulling the skis inwards towards the turn centre
• Video Scenes 5 and 6 – James braking far too much but Liz improved with dynamics – pulling inwards - even on steep terrain

 

Holistic

Complex things is nature are always “holistic” and skiing is no different. What this means is that you don’t have to be prefect but it will still work. Just getting a degree of change in the right direction will improve your skiing so it’s always important to be working towards the right goals with the right information. Occasionally a single change can make a quantum shift but most development is progressive.

 

 

Perpendicularity

Liz has no significant issue with posture or perpendicularity but James gets jammed in the backs of his ski boots and this is a huge limiting factor for him. James will need some attention on this matter tomorrow. Dynamics naturally improves perpendicularity but when it is steep James is over-defensive – though more use of dynamics will eventually change all of this. If anything Liz is too much on the fronts of her ski boots and the fronts of her feet. 

 

 

Feet

(Ths is a straight copy from one of yesterday’s posts – the lesson being practically identical)

• Stand on the heel (front of the heel below the ankle)
• Do not allow weght to come onto the ball of the foot when bending
• Bend at the knee and hip only – ankle stiffens by reflex
• Roll the foot onto its inside edge by using the subtaler joint
• Engage the adductor muscles on the upper leg
• Use the following formula when skiing (outside leg in the turn) – heel/edge of foot – adductors – centre of mass
• Always pulling inwards towards the turn centre (centrifugal force being an illusion – drive everything inwards)

Comparisons were made with the weak, collapsing ankle when weight is forward on the foot – resulting in leaning on the boot and the knee twisting inwards. When support is correct the anterior tibialis (shin) muscles are contracted and the ankle becomes strong – the shin making contact with the front of the boot.

Rolling the foot onto its edge causes the forefoot to turn away from the direction of the turn – not into the turn. In contrast twisting the foot into the turn forces the foot onto its outside edge – preventing the ski from functioning.

 

Centre of Mass

Liz really connected with dynamics after it was explained in terms of how the Centre of Mass is directed and how this is what the skis respond to. Liz’s dynamics are still compromised on steeper terrain by a strong tendency to stem the left ski when turning to the right (also on the other side). This is something to work on tomorrow.

 

 

Pivot – Short Turns

We went through the basic pivot as we did yesterday but then applied it to short turns. In the video clip of this the important thing is that both James and Liz are actively working on pulling the skis inwards and not pushing the tails out. The turns may not look terribly elegant but james did quite well and although Liz still had her stemming there was a strong degree of success.

 

 

Skating Timing

Skating straight down the hill – when speed builds up the skis provide a countervailing “lifting” force which prolongs each stride and begins to make an arc – so that falling in between the skis eventually doesn’t require any stepping as the skating morphs into skiing. This exercise was our brief introduction to the skating elements of skiing and when Liz tried it she felt that she had not succeeded but in contrast I noticed that her timing was actually correct and “Down/Up”. This natural timing corresponds with the “inverse pendulum” effect of dynamics – as the body topples down into each turn and back up out of it. Fortunately efforts of others to get Liz to use Up/Down timing has not worked and her instinct had overcome this fundamental error which is actually taught by ski schools.

I demonstrated standard ski school Up/Down timing and natural skating Down/Up timing so that the difference could be seen and Liz recognised the issue clearly and that she actually used the right timing naturally.

 

 

Mindfulness

James is doing fine but it’s useful to remind him as well as everyone else that skiing progresses best when each action of the body is focused on “mindfully”. Attention is best kept towards the inside of the body because this builds awareness and a strong connection with the body – generating calmness and a better capacity to deal with everything outside of the body. This approach requires good information and practise at visualisation (which with the right information is spontaneous). Mindfullness is not hard – it just requires practise. When the mind wanders just come back to some element of movement or the Centre of Mass.