So there is a new force that the learning skier needs to get comfortable with in how it can support them even if their feet are now out to the side.
So I guess what I'm saying is that for some skiers learning to ski, this would have to be explained to them.
My take on it, trying to reduce things to the most basic level, is this. Skiing mostly and necessarily consists of two things--descending and making turns. The force of gravity leads to descent. Centripetal force bends the skis, creating turns.
Beginners are very familiar with what gravity is, and what it will do. Too much so, you might say. In the unfamiliar situation of standing on slippery skis, on slippery snow, they accelerate down the slope. Lacking the skills to control speed through proper turning, they will either continue in a straight line, out of control, or instinctively make braking moves--wedging or sideways skidding. If taught those braking moves, they'll embrace them, and then have a hard time letting go of them. Therefore, I believe that the very first thing beginners should learn is just to
move with the skis. That is to say, on the gentlest terrain, allow themselves to move in good fore-aft balance in a straight line. It's necessary to start by doing this in a place that ends in a big flat runout or a "return pipe," so that the student doesn't have to do
anything to be able to slow and stop. At this point, one wants to avoid instilling any braking move whatsoever.
Then comes the time to introduce centripetal force. Everyone instinctively knows what this is, and feels the effects in everyday activities, but may not be able to articulate it. In particular, beginners are very unlikely to realize that centripetal force bends a ski, and that the bending is what creates turning action. Whether or not the instructor will have a conversation with the student about this, and what kind of a conversation it will be, is going to depend upon the student. Discussing it explicitly with a four year old probably won't get far. But one way or another, the goal should be to get the student to recognize the effect of centripetal force on ski performance, at a subconscious level. The student needs to feel and see the results of putting the skis into an orientation that triggers centripetal force and leads to turning action, and to recognize it for the good thing that it is.
This can be done through direct-to-parallel progressions, or through wedge-based progressions. In either case, the fundamental mechanics that make the skis perform are the same. In either case, the instructor's objective should be that the student
continue to move with the skis, and use centripetal force to bend the skis to create turning action--not relying upon an abrupt, deliberate redirection of the skis to change the direction of travel, which is fundamentally a braking action.
