Often in coaching situations we are looking for new ways to help students experience the sensations that are crucial to understanding effective skiing. Here are some exercises that were new to me last year and are great especially for those learners who are ‘feelers’ (aka kinesthetic learners). Giving a target sensation to ‘search for’ while skiing helps give students a feedback mechanism that they can use even without an instructor present, extending the learning period beyond just a lesson time period.
Static Exercises for demonstration or to provoke feelings in skiing situations
1. Functional tension in the core muscles (basically the large muscles in your torso) will help create a relationship between the upper and lower body that will facilitate steering with the legs. To help students understand the muscle contractions that they will feel, you can utilize this static exercise: Place your hands on the students hips while standing in front of the student. Push back with one hand and pull forward with the other. You are basically trying to twist the hips with your hands; the student should resist this twisting utilizing their core muscles. However a common mistake is to allow the entire upper body to rotate, so don’t let the shoulders twist with the hips. Here we are trying to show the students what their body will feel like when they are effectively using counter rotation.
2. We often speak of bending the ski in a turn, or flexing the ski to further utilize the shape of the ski and facilitate turning. But we don’t often communicate how to feel whether we are actually bending the ski or just ‘tipping and turning,’ riding the side cut of the ski. To feel how the leg muscles must act to bend the ski, you can utilize this static demonstration: Stand in skis and pick up one foot. Place the ski tip on the ground, and then press down with your foot until there is a bend in the ski right in front of the toe piece. You should be able to feel your hamstrings and calves working in concert with the muscles most people associate with skiing, the quadriceps. Don’t let the upper body become involved and ensure all of the joints flex evenly—don’t let knees bend too much to get low and bend the ski.
3. Many skiers have an issue with ankle flex, in that there is not enough ankle flex in comparison to the amount of knee and hip flexion: all of the joints are not flexing evenly to effectively work the ski equipment. But in a ski boot the ankle feels flexed, and especially in students with boots that might be a touch stiffer than their ability merits, it is difficult to feel ankle flex and what the ankle/foot should be doing inside the boot. Try this exercise to help them understand what you are talking about: Stand in front of partner without skis on, put your hands in front of you against their hands (palm to palm). Push against each other. Feel ankles and feet flexing as you each try to resist the other’s pressure. Highlight especially the feelings in the feet and how they contribute to the closing of the ankle joint, i.e. the top side of the foot is pressed against the boot as the foot dorsi-flexes to counteract the forces occurring. Now stand back to back and push against each other. The ankle joints open, and again, the feet play a large role in stabilizing the body. There is more pressure felt on the soles of the feet as the ankles open.
Skiing exercises for demonstration or to provoke feelings in skiing situations
4. During skiing our weight is constantly moving in order to keep our bodies in balance. There are various ways that this happens, though the most effective involves a weight transfer between the two skis while maintaining an overall movement into the future (down the hill), instead of laterally moving between the two feet. One way to demonstrate weight transfer (as opposed to a lateral shift): While gliding in a straight run on a gentle slope, pick up one ski, and then the other. During the first part of the exercise, have your weight centered over the ski on the ground (lateral shift your weight each time you pick up a new ski). During the second part of the exercise, have your weight centered over both feet and keep moving forward with the ski, trying to avoid any right/left movement of your body (center of mass). There will be a visible and a tactile difference in the movements so this is useful to both watch and complete—hey a perfect exercise for reciprocal teaching in a lesson.
5. It is interesting to watch people demonstrate what they think is an effective stance. Often during a straight run facing forward on a gentle slope, people flex their knees much more than in a straight run facing backwards. This is also an interesting exercise to have your students evaluating each other, looking at the variations in knee flex, ankle flex, and the relationship between the two. Also discussing the upper body as well, of course… but the overall picture of the difference in the stance of skiers facing forward and backwards is often remarkable. Don’t forget to have safety spotters during this exercise since you don’t want your skiers turning around to look where they’re going, it will mess up the picture.
6. We have all completed side slipping and pivot slips in various forms during our ski careers. This exercise explores the ways a side slip and pivot slip can help skiers experience different sensations by isolating the different body parts involved in the moves. Complete a few pivot slips to remind yourself what the move feels like as well as to create a ‘baseline’ for the sensations and pictures that will appear during the exercises. Try slipping only on the downhill leg. Think about the different balance adjustments that occur when only one foot is on the ground. How much has the picture changed from the sideslips during the pivot slips at the beginning? What moves are different? What adjustments does the student make to compensate, and why are those working/not working? Next try to slip only on uphill leg and ask the same questions, seeing the difference between slipping on the uphill/downhill leg, as well as the difference between the uphill leg only and two legs. Is the skier picking up the downhill leg at turn point (i.e. flex downhill leg—flatten ski to release edge) as they would in ‘normal skiing?’ Lastly, put both skis on ground and link pivot slips together:
a. Utilize a simultaneous edge change
b. Parallel skis at all times
c. Stay in fall line
7. ‘Railroad’ track turns are fun, (usually) high speed maneuvers, that utilize the curved edge of the ski to create a carved track in the snow (no slipping during the turn), leaving two distinct tracks in the snow, one from each ski. This is a pure carved turn—often not a move we strive for in ‘regular skiing’ but an exercise to demonstrate understanding of the concept. As we progress to a higher level of skiing and our terrain selection skews toward more difficult terrain, it becomes crucial to be able to hold an edge through more of the turn, often while decreasing the radius of the turn. To add a little something to a railroad track drill, ask skiers to avoid just rolling their ankles. Have them incorporate a forward directional movement, flex ankles by trying to put the arch of their foot over the pinky toe (this will help bend the skis, harkening back to the static exercise listed above), and experience pelvic tilt with each turn.
Sources:
PSIA-E Alpine Resort Trainer Course, Course Conductor: Bob Shostek, Jan 2009
Alpine Technical Manual, Professional Ski Instructors of America Education Foundation, © 2002
Static Exercises for demonstration or to provoke feelings in skiing situations
1. Functional tension in the core muscles (basically the large muscles in your torso) will help create a relationship between the upper and lower body that will facilitate steering with the legs. To help students understand the muscle contractions that they will feel, you can utilize this static exercise: Place your hands on the students hips while standing in front of the student. Push back with one hand and pull forward with the other. You are basically trying to twist the hips with your hands; the student should resist this twisting utilizing their core muscles. However a common mistake is to allow the entire upper body to rotate, so don’t let the shoulders twist with the hips. Here we are trying to show the students what their body will feel like when they are effectively using counter rotation.
2. We often speak of bending the ski in a turn, or flexing the ski to further utilize the shape of the ski and facilitate turning. But we don’t often communicate how to feel whether we are actually bending the ski or just ‘tipping and turning,’ riding the side cut of the ski. To feel how the leg muscles must act to bend the ski, you can utilize this static demonstration: Stand in skis and pick up one foot. Place the ski tip on the ground, and then press down with your foot until there is a bend in the ski right in front of the toe piece. You should be able to feel your hamstrings and calves working in concert with the muscles most people associate with skiing, the quadriceps. Don’t let the upper body become involved and ensure all of the joints flex evenly—don’t let knees bend too much to get low and bend the ski.
3. Many skiers have an issue with ankle flex, in that there is not enough ankle flex in comparison to the amount of knee and hip flexion: all of the joints are not flexing evenly to effectively work the ski equipment. But in a ski boot the ankle feels flexed, and especially in students with boots that might be a touch stiffer than their ability merits, it is difficult to feel ankle flex and what the ankle/foot should be doing inside the boot. Try this exercise to help them understand what you are talking about: Stand in front of partner without skis on, put your hands in front of you against their hands (palm to palm). Push against each other. Feel ankles and feet flexing as you each try to resist the other’s pressure. Highlight especially the feelings in the feet and how they contribute to the closing of the ankle joint, i.e. the top side of the foot is pressed against the boot as the foot dorsi-flexes to counteract the forces occurring. Now stand back to back and push against each other. The ankle joints open, and again, the feet play a large role in stabilizing the body. There is more pressure felt on the soles of the feet as the ankles open.
Skiing exercises for demonstration or to provoke feelings in skiing situations
4. During skiing our weight is constantly moving in order to keep our bodies in balance. There are various ways that this happens, though the most effective involves a weight transfer between the two skis while maintaining an overall movement into the future (down the hill), instead of laterally moving between the two feet. One way to demonstrate weight transfer (as opposed to a lateral shift): While gliding in a straight run on a gentle slope, pick up one ski, and then the other. During the first part of the exercise, have your weight centered over the ski on the ground (lateral shift your weight each time you pick up a new ski). During the second part of the exercise, have your weight centered over both feet and keep moving forward with the ski, trying to avoid any right/left movement of your body (center of mass). There will be a visible and a tactile difference in the movements so this is useful to both watch and complete—hey a perfect exercise for reciprocal teaching in a lesson.
5. It is interesting to watch people demonstrate what they think is an effective stance. Often during a straight run facing forward on a gentle slope, people flex their knees much more than in a straight run facing backwards. This is also an interesting exercise to have your students evaluating each other, looking at the variations in knee flex, ankle flex, and the relationship between the two. Also discussing the upper body as well, of course… but the overall picture of the difference in the stance of skiers facing forward and backwards is often remarkable. Don’t forget to have safety spotters during this exercise since you don’t want your skiers turning around to look where they’re going, it will mess up the picture.
6. We have all completed side slipping and pivot slips in various forms during our ski careers. This exercise explores the ways a side slip and pivot slip can help skiers experience different sensations by isolating the different body parts involved in the moves. Complete a few pivot slips to remind yourself what the move feels like as well as to create a ‘baseline’ for the sensations and pictures that will appear during the exercises. Try slipping only on the downhill leg. Think about the different balance adjustments that occur when only one foot is on the ground. How much has the picture changed from the sideslips during the pivot slips at the beginning? What moves are different? What adjustments does the student make to compensate, and why are those working/not working? Next try to slip only on uphill leg and ask the same questions, seeing the difference between slipping on the uphill/downhill leg, as well as the difference between the uphill leg only and two legs. Is the skier picking up the downhill leg at turn point (i.e. flex downhill leg—flatten ski to release edge) as they would in ‘normal skiing?’ Lastly, put both skis on ground and link pivot slips together:
a. Utilize a simultaneous edge change
b. Parallel skis at all times
c. Stay in fall line
7. ‘Railroad’ track turns are fun, (usually) high speed maneuvers, that utilize the curved edge of the ski to create a carved track in the snow (no slipping during the turn), leaving two distinct tracks in the snow, one from each ski. This is a pure carved turn—often not a move we strive for in ‘regular skiing’ but an exercise to demonstrate understanding of the concept. As we progress to a higher level of skiing and our terrain selection skews toward more difficult terrain, it becomes crucial to be able to hold an edge through more of the turn, often while decreasing the radius of the turn. To add a little something to a railroad track drill, ask skiers to avoid just rolling their ankles. Have them incorporate a forward directional movement, flex ankles by trying to put the arch of their foot over the pinky toe (this will help bend the skis, harkening back to the static exercise listed above), and experience pelvic tilt with each turn.
Sources:
PSIA-E Alpine Resort Trainer Course, Course Conductor: Bob Shostek, Jan 2009
Alpine Technical Manual, Professional Ski Instructors of America Education Foundation, © 2002
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