Ok, back to the title of the thread: "Lifting the inside ski as a way to test balance." This might be a way to test balance, but in most skiing, there will be some weight on the inside ski. In a performance turn, there might be 5 or 10 percent, but rarely would there be no weight on the inside ski. So while the ability to lift the inside ski might indicate whether the pressure was being directed primarily at the outside ski, your body alignment will likely change somewhat when you lift the outside ski.
...If the skier is in balance, a very small increase in counter balance will occur as the skier lifts the inside ski off of the snow during a turn. If the skier is not in balance, either they will not be able to lift the inside ski, they will fall to the inside when lifting the inside foot, or they will have to make a gross movement elsewhere in the body to find balance on the outside ski.
Try this in front of a full-length mirror while standing barefoot with a space of 4 to 6 inches between your feet, with approximately 50/50 weight distribution: With arms hanging loosely at your side, slowly (or quickly) lift one foot. Observe how you only need a small shift of the body to stay balanced. While skiing, even if we have approximately 50/50 weight distribution at some point during a turn, we can lift the inside ski to test balance. Yes, that means a momentary change to 100/0, and yes, we will have to increase counterbalance ever so slightly to now be balanced over the outside ski. Just as we observed a very small adjustment during the static drill in front of the mirror, we should observe a small adjustment to maintain balance, preferably an increase in counterbalance, when we lift the inside foot during a turn while skiing. If the skier falls to the inside or must make a gross counterbalancing movement to maintain balance when lifting the ski, then the two-footed skiing that preceded the lift was not in balance.
There are a variety of drills that are focused on specific outcomes that have been mentioned above. Stork turns, also called outside ski turns, are a really useful tool for multiple objectives. They can be used to work on balancing on the outside ski, for fore/aft balance, for working on angulation as opposed to just inclination, and for tipping. To start, one might lift the inside ski after the edges have been changed. Unless you are a very high level skier, you will need a sliding fulcrum to provide additional turning force, so drag a pole or the tip of the lifted ski. For bringing fore/aft balance into the equation, lift the ski entirely off of the snow and try to keep the lifted ski parallel to the surface of the slope. If the tip is lower than the tail, you are likely on the front of the ski and vice versa. To work on tipping, raise the old outside ski/new inside ski prior to edge change and roll the new outside ski down the hill to change edges. Generally, this move will be easier and more accurate if you initiate the move by tipping the old outside ski that is in the air down the hill by moving the knee attached to it into the new turn.
The stork drill, as you have described it, is not the same as a mid-turn test of balance by lifting the inside ski.
For the stork drill, I agree that the skier should tip the lightened/lifted foot (old outside ski) to the little toe edge while the skier is still on the uphill edge (LTE) of the old inside ski; however, the focus should be on tipping the free foot, not on moving the knee. There is no need to employ a "sliding fulcrum" for extra turning force.
Javelin turns are a drill to work predominantly on rotational separation. The objective here is to cause the outside ski to steer under the lifted tip of the inside ski. So the pelvis needs to remain oriented to the valley at the apex of the turn when the inside ski is lifted -- the outside ski continues to turn under the inside ski (e.g. the outside leg turns under the pelvis) with the result being that you arrive to the finish of the turn in a countered position. So, the inside ski is lifted at or before the fall line and remains with the tip pointed toward the valley. The outside ski then continues to turn under the inside ski. The inside ski should ideally be in a position where the tip is lower than the tail.
One should not steer the outside ski during a javelin turn. The outside ski does turn, but it should not be steered. The javelin turn is a drill to, as indicated in the description of the video below, "teach outside ski balance, counterbalance, counter rotation [counteraction], and free foot management." The movement of the pelvis while counteracting and counterbalancing (these are movements, not static positions) are made relative to the lower body's movements and the dynamics of the turn. While it often coincides with the direction the pelvis is oriented, the valley is not to be considered a reliable point of reference
While the javelin turn, as demonstrated in this video, is an excellent drill, it is also not the same as a mid-turn test of balance by lifting the inside ski.
Last edited: