A strong inside half is the concept that leaves many instructors scratching their heads or arguing with each other.
I’m doing homework on how to coach a strong inside half. I’m ready to start trying to coach it but not quite ready to post my thoughts. So here are some thoughts of others that are worth considering.
For a topic you hear discussed often it doesn't warrant much space in our technical manual.
A countered stance is a form of anticipation and a way to create a relationship between the upper and lower body that helps block rotary momentum. A countered stance is typically used when the inside (uphill) half of the body leads the outside (downhill) half through the turn; this allows for effective stacking of the bones and muscles to deal with forces. We call this a “strong inside half” because the strength and functional tension of the inside half of the body facilitates steering the legs. If you were to relax the inside half of your body, the upper and lower parts would be heading in the same direction at the end of the turn. It is better to ski into a countered stance than to create a countered stance than to create a countered stance with other movements.
PSIA Alpine Technical Manual, pg. 15 (That's the section on rotary movements)
Around 2005 PSIA Alpine Team released a document about skiing concepts. Here’s what they had to say about Functional Body Alignment
• The inside half of the body (foot, knee, hip, arm, hand and shoulder) is raised and ahead of the outside half (“Strong Inside Half”).
• A strong inside half helps produce accurate diagonal movements early in the turn, creating a turn that arcs into the apex.
• A strong inside half helps maintain a powerful stance through the finish, resulting in maximum strength/length of the outside leg, and creating the greatest angles during the highest loading portion of the turn.
• The amount of tip lead matches the alignment of the body and is influenced by a variety of factors (i.e., turn shape, speed, pitch of the slope).
PSIA-NW posted this terrific article
http://www.psia-nw.org/articles/Flow%20Like%20a%20River.htm
Now comes the fun part, making this into a great lesson. That will be my next post.
I’m doing homework on how to coach a strong inside half. I’m ready to start trying to coach it but not quite ready to post my thoughts. So here are some thoughts of others that are worth considering.
For a topic you hear discussed often it doesn't warrant much space in our technical manual.
A countered stance is a form of anticipation and a way to create a relationship between the upper and lower body that helps block rotary momentum. A countered stance is typically used when the inside (uphill) half of the body leads the outside (downhill) half through the turn; this allows for effective stacking of the bones and muscles to deal with forces. We call this a “strong inside half” because the strength and functional tension of the inside half of the body facilitates steering the legs. If you were to relax the inside half of your body, the upper and lower parts would be heading in the same direction at the end of the turn. It is better to ski into a countered stance than to create a countered stance than to create a countered stance with other movements.
PSIA Alpine Technical Manual, pg. 15 (That's the section on rotary movements)
Around 2005 PSIA Alpine Team released a document about skiing concepts. Here’s what they had to say about Functional Body Alignment
• The inside half of the body (foot, knee, hip, arm, hand and shoulder) is raised and ahead of the outside half (“Strong Inside Half”).
• A strong inside half helps produce accurate diagonal movements early in the turn, creating a turn that arcs into the apex.
• A strong inside half helps maintain a powerful stance through the finish, resulting in maximum strength/length of the outside leg, and creating the greatest angles during the highest loading portion of the turn.
• The amount of tip lead matches the alignment of the body and is influenced by a variety of factors (i.e., turn shape, speed, pitch of the slope).
PSIA-NW posted this terrific article
http://www.psia-nw.org/articles/Flow%20Like%20a%20River.htm
Now comes the fun part, making this into a great lesson. That will be my next post.
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