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Edging from the feet up

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I've spent a lot of time trying to correct this thing when I would just shove my hips to the side to edge by skis then I dumped by body inside. To fix this, I spent a lot of time working on edging from the feet up.

Caveat: It’s pretty common for people to do this and move purely laterally. Make sure your instructions and demos emphasize forward and diagonal movement. Also, keep an eye out and fix it quickly.

Start statically by rolling the uphill instep towards the little toe. You might have to point out where the instep is. You can enhance this by moving to the corner of the boot.

I try this out using a garland moving from the corner one boot to the other. You will likely see students try to twist the ski instead of tipping it. Remind students that we want to tip the ski before we twist it.

Then I bring up the focus to the thigh. Moving the thigh forward and inside the turn will draw the hips and upper body inside.

Thanks to the Elk guy who taught me this and helped me make the best three turns of my life!

What we want to:
SEE – Release and re-engage edges in one smooth movement, forward and lateral movement of the shins and hips, skis tip before twisting
FEEL – Contact with cuff, little toes and big toes move, hips cross over, draw upper body and hips in
UNDERSTAND – Tipping movements start from the feet, hips crossover
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Comments

  1. Allen FriedmanJune 21, 2010 at 8:36 AM

    Hi Jess,
    Thank you so much for this blog. I can not tell you how much it is needed. I'm sure you already know since you are making such a great effort to post such necessary and important information. I had quite the experience this year when I thought I was going to go for Part II of Level II (the teaching portion of the exam). I had worked really hard the two previous seasons to get my skiing to the point where I went for and passed the
    skiing potion of the exam. When I really started to look at the requirements for the teaching portion I realized how ignorant I really was about teaching.
    So much of what you have posted so directly relates to the kind of information I need and to the whole process in general. I can barely begin to describe my gratitude for your understanding of the big picture and
    the details as well. Would you please consider communicating with me via e-mail or phone. I would be so grateful for the opportunity to converse with you. I got what was referred to as a "rude awakening" this year. Honestly, it was very emotional, very upsetting to realize how clueless you are and then start scrambling for information. I actually had an exam scheduled and I contacted PSIA and cancelled, which really hurt.
    If you could possibly see your way clear to communicating with me I would be very appreciative !!! My e-mail is ajfhtnny@hotmail.com Again, I so much appreciate what for me is an incredibly relevant and important blog.

    With much gratitude,
    Allen Friedman

    ReplyDelete

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