As some of you know, I travel to New Zealand every August to participate in the Rookie Academy Advanced Ski Training program. In existence since the 1990s, the Rookies were formed to help aspiring instructors from around the world gain the skills to attain certification. It later expanded to offer high-level all-terrain coaching to experienced instructors. Their reputation is such that they attract many of the top coaches and trainers from around the world. You train with a different coach each week and what is remarkable is the level of consistency and the amount of individual feedback you receive (groups average six participants). If your schedule and finances allow (the US/NZ exchange rate is very favorable and fees are charged in NZ dollars), I highly recommend it. Their website is rookieacademy.com.
In any case, I just returned home and thought it might interest you to share some of my key takeaways.
Week 1: Tim Cafe
(Olympic skier, World Cup coach; primarily focus was carving and efficiency in all terrain)
Before starting your run: Engage your core (both front and back, abdomen and glutes) so your limbs can be supple and responsive; dorsiflex both feet to engage the tibialis anterior muscle at the front of the shins and plant you in the "sweet spot" at the front of your heels; be in a functional stance width to facilitate angulation. Feel like your skis are an extension of your feet. Start everything low to the snow with tipping ankles.
In most turns, imagine the bottoms of your skis are continually planted against the bankings of an imaginary horizontal figure 8 bobsled run. As you come off one banking (in the shaping phase) into the point of the figure 8, give in to the force from the hill by softening the outside leg and transition with the skis right under you (this is an expansion of Bob Barnes' "Infinity Move" explained at the beginning of this Ski Instruction forum), then allow the skis to roll over and climb the next banking. JF Beaulieu describes this sensation as "climb the inside of the bowl/climb the wall" in this YouTube video:
After the transition to the new foot, keep the tips of the skis pointing straight across the hill as they climb the next "banking" and roll them over to a high edge angle. ("Show the bottoms of the skis to the side.") Resist letting the tips turn as the skis start downhill. This will engage the subtalar joint of the ankles, facilitate tipping and allow you to look and topple inside without stemming or skidding the outside ski. in most instances, be sure the outside ski is gripping the snow before starting downhill.
Starting downhill, lift the new inside foot (think of pulling it up from the second buckle back from the toes), slide it back and let that action flow right into lifting the new inside thigh. Try to feel the outside ski simultaneously slicing ahead. Pressure is directed to the outside ski, but also feel the inside edge of the new inside ski in the snow (especially useful in crud and ungroomed snow). At higher speeds, your body can be tall and topple inside at the start (inclination), leading to hip and/or knee angulation as needed at the end of the shaping phase, depending on terrain and speed.
Even though the angles of your body should match the slope of the hill in the shaping phase ("inside half higher and ahead; outside half lower and behind"), drive the outside hand and forearm low and ahead to help stabilize you and help direct pressure to the outside ski.
Week 2: Tom Gellie
(Australian demo team; kinesiologist specializing in functional body alignment and use; carving and all-terrain focuses)
Again, focus on the bottoms of the feet. You want to create a strong interface between you and your skis. Keep functional tension in the feet (never loose or floppy). Imagine a raised, round ridge running fore and aft along the soles. Your goal is to roll across it continually, never settling. This helps create continuity from turn to turn with no pauses.
Tipping the skis is most effective if the angle of the tipping in the foot is diagonal and toward the back, not straight across or ahead. (Imagine your foot is a triangle with the toes as the wide top and the heel as the narrowest point. Tip along the line running from front to back.)
In ungroomed snow, crud and bumps, ski a bit lower than usual with a very strong core. Keep your knees flexed and over your toes. That keeps the skis in constant contact with the snow, as opposed to extending to start the turn, which creates a loss of snow contact. As the skis turn, the knees should follow the tips. Note: Many high-level skiers prefer to use a relatively flexed position at all times, in all conditions, as their default choice. In short turns, it will be pretty much mandatory. Experiment and find what works for you.
(Good exercise: Hold a ski pole horizontal just above your knees. As you turn, keep the pole still and feel your knees slide back and forth along it This exercise is well illustrated in this video starting at 3:50:
Week 3: Sebastien Michel
(Captain, Canadian Interski team; Canadian national ski team coach. Carving and all-terrain focuses, primarily in the areas of edging and pressure management)
As a general rule, the Center of Mass (CM) should be aligned against the forces acting against you to ensure efficiency and strength. This is not a static "position" as these forces may come from different directions (bumps, heavy snow, etc.). An effective reference for the skier to confirm the CM is aligned with the Base of Support (BOS) is to feel continual light contact between the ski boot and the shin. This will ensure the CM is neither too far forward nor too far back when resisting the forces. A strong core engagement will help maintain alignment in demanding situations.
As a rule of thumb, the goal is to achieve 100% balance on the outside ski. In most situations, active turning starts only after this balance is achieved. From there, and depending on the situation, a combination of steering and edging will be used.
In longer carved turns at higher speed, keep your body aligned and avoid excessive angulation/flexion. To achieve optimum edge angle, resist the forces on the new outside leg and let the Center of Mass move inside the arc and away from the Base of Support keeping 100% balance on the outside ski. Tipping the edges to maximum angle needs to happen relatively quickly to ensure the turn shape does not become too long or allow speed to get out of control. If the skier does not yet have the appropriate skills, or the terrain is too steep, some steering action should replace carving at the beginning of the turn.
(Good exercise to explore inclination in dynamic carved turns: This exercise requires at least moderate speed on a groomed blue slope. As your skis start towards the fall line, balance on the outside ski, remain tall, and start inclining your whole body, bringing your CM and shoulders inside the turn. Stretch out your inside hand toward the snow with the outside arm lifted. Your ultimate goal is for the inside hand to touch the snow as far away from your feet (BOS) and as early as possible in the arc. This is challenging, because you must strive to keep pressure directed to the outside ski at the same time. To increase your chances of success, use a narrow stance, allow the inside leg to lift towards your chest, and resist opening your hip towards the outside of the turn.
Every situation, every turn, is different, but the tools we use to increase edge angle on the snow remain the same. Tipping ankles, hip and knee angulation, or body inclination all have an effect. Body separation will have an effect on range of angulation at the hip joint. In general, at higher speeds on hard snow, inclination plus hip angulation (your strongest tools to manage edge angle) can be very efficient at resisting forces while still allowing the skier to maintain balance on the outside ski. On the other hand, turns made at slower-speeds or on softer, less-supportive snow, may well require more knee angulation and less inclination.
(Good hip-angulation exercise to develop skill at moving the hip inside the arc while maintaining balance on the outside ski: On a moderate groomed slope, as the skis enter the shaping phase, rest the inside pole on your shoulder and stretch the outside pole long, with a straight arm, and drag the tip in the snow as far away as you can. )
Maximum pressure is generated during the shaping phase as your strong (but not braced) outside leg resists the forces back from the snow.
As you decrease edge angle and release the old turn, your objective most of the time is to keep in contact with the snow and manage forces in such a way that your CM can balance on the new BOS at the beginning of the next turn. Softening the old outside leg to allow the CM to move toward the next turn is one way, and will usually be needed if the forces in question are quite high (high speeds, bumps).
After the transition to start the next turn, project the hips and center of mass forward. (Some people pull their feet back to help achieve this.) Deb Armstrong calls this commitment forward "hips to tips" before the new outside ski begins to grip and the skis start downhill. You can see this illustrated very clearly in this video of Richie Berger at 1:41.
If, like many skiers, you have a tendency to settle back at the ends of turns and let your hips drop, think of pulling your center of mass forward between the front of the binding and the tips, keeping shin pressure moving ahead into the inside diagonal "corners" of the boot cuffs.
Finally, as a general rule, most skiers tend to be quite static and lack a sufficient range of motion to maximize efficiency. Until you feel the extremes of how much you can move, particularly in the vertical plane, you likely are nowhere near optimum range.
(Good exercise to explore the extremes of range of motion: As you start downhill on a groomed green or moderate-pitch blue run, extend tall with no bend or angles in your body. In the middle of the shaping phase, reach both hands down and touch both boot cuffs. As you transition to the next turn, extend again.) Get a sense of how much further you really can flex and extend!
I hope these summations stimulate a desire to explore these focuses both intellectually, and in your own skiing and teaching. Tom Gellie has an excellent series of podcasts available on iTunes called Global Skiing. In each episode, he interviews a leader in the snowsports industry. Guests have included Ron LeMaster, Richie Berger, Harald Harb, Jonathan Ballou, JF Beaulieu, and Jurij Franko (one of the creators of the shaped ski). Highly informative and entertaining! Tom also has a series of instructional videos and information on improving your body strength and alignment available on his website: (https://www.functionalbody.com.au).
I'm sure many of you have questions about some of these takeaways. If I have been less than clear, or you disagree with any of the focuses, let's discuss!
One final thought from Sebastien Michel:
"Skiing is not rocket science. Keep the technical aspect simple and focus on the real challenge, which is to adapt to all the environments out there. Success will come in part from technical skills, but also from the ability to make appropriate choices as we move down the hill."
Best!
Mike
In any case, I just returned home and thought it might interest you to share some of my key takeaways.
Week 1: Tim Cafe
(Olympic skier, World Cup coach; primarily focus was carving and efficiency in all terrain)
Before starting your run: Engage your core (both front and back, abdomen and glutes) so your limbs can be supple and responsive; dorsiflex both feet to engage the tibialis anterior muscle at the front of the shins and plant you in the "sweet spot" at the front of your heels; be in a functional stance width to facilitate angulation. Feel like your skis are an extension of your feet. Start everything low to the snow with tipping ankles.
In most turns, imagine the bottoms of your skis are continually planted against the bankings of an imaginary horizontal figure 8 bobsled run. As you come off one banking (in the shaping phase) into the point of the figure 8, give in to the force from the hill by softening the outside leg and transition with the skis right under you (this is an expansion of Bob Barnes' "Infinity Move" explained at the beginning of this Ski Instruction forum), then allow the skis to roll over and climb the next banking. JF Beaulieu describes this sensation as "climb the inside of the bowl/climb the wall" in this YouTube video:
After the transition to the new foot, keep the tips of the skis pointing straight across the hill as they climb the next "banking" and roll them over to a high edge angle. ("Show the bottoms of the skis to the side.") Resist letting the tips turn as the skis start downhill. This will engage the subtalar joint of the ankles, facilitate tipping and allow you to look and topple inside without stemming or skidding the outside ski. in most instances, be sure the outside ski is gripping the snow before starting downhill.
Starting downhill, lift the new inside foot (think of pulling it up from the second buckle back from the toes), slide it back and let that action flow right into lifting the new inside thigh. Try to feel the outside ski simultaneously slicing ahead. Pressure is directed to the outside ski, but also feel the inside edge of the new inside ski in the snow (especially useful in crud and ungroomed snow). At higher speeds, your body can be tall and topple inside at the start (inclination), leading to hip and/or knee angulation as needed at the end of the shaping phase, depending on terrain and speed.
Even though the angles of your body should match the slope of the hill in the shaping phase ("inside half higher and ahead; outside half lower and behind"), drive the outside hand and forearm low and ahead to help stabilize you and help direct pressure to the outside ski.
Week 2: Tom Gellie
(Australian demo team; kinesiologist specializing in functional body alignment and use; carving and all-terrain focuses)
Again, focus on the bottoms of the feet. You want to create a strong interface between you and your skis. Keep functional tension in the feet (never loose or floppy). Imagine a raised, round ridge running fore and aft along the soles. Your goal is to roll across it continually, never settling. This helps create continuity from turn to turn with no pauses.
Tipping the skis is most effective if the angle of the tipping in the foot is diagonal and toward the back, not straight across or ahead. (Imagine your foot is a triangle with the toes as the wide top and the heel as the narrowest point. Tip along the line running from front to back.)
In ungroomed snow, crud and bumps, ski a bit lower than usual with a very strong core. Keep your knees flexed and over your toes. That keeps the skis in constant contact with the snow, as opposed to extending to start the turn, which creates a loss of snow contact. As the skis turn, the knees should follow the tips. Note: Many high-level skiers prefer to use a relatively flexed position at all times, in all conditions, as their default choice. In short turns, it will be pretty much mandatory. Experiment and find what works for you.
(Good exercise: Hold a ski pole horizontal just above your knees. As you turn, keep the pole still and feel your knees slide back and forth along it This exercise is well illustrated in this video starting at 3:50:
Week 3: Sebastien Michel
(Captain, Canadian Interski team; Canadian national ski team coach. Carving and all-terrain focuses, primarily in the areas of edging and pressure management)
As a general rule, the Center of Mass (CM) should be aligned against the forces acting against you to ensure efficiency and strength. This is not a static "position" as these forces may come from different directions (bumps, heavy snow, etc.). An effective reference for the skier to confirm the CM is aligned with the Base of Support (BOS) is to feel continual light contact between the ski boot and the shin. This will ensure the CM is neither too far forward nor too far back when resisting the forces. A strong core engagement will help maintain alignment in demanding situations.
As a rule of thumb, the goal is to achieve 100% balance on the outside ski. In most situations, active turning starts only after this balance is achieved. From there, and depending on the situation, a combination of steering and edging will be used.
In longer carved turns at higher speed, keep your body aligned and avoid excessive angulation/flexion. To achieve optimum edge angle, resist the forces on the new outside leg and let the Center of Mass move inside the arc and away from the Base of Support keeping 100% balance on the outside ski. Tipping the edges to maximum angle needs to happen relatively quickly to ensure the turn shape does not become too long or allow speed to get out of control. If the skier does not yet have the appropriate skills, or the terrain is too steep, some steering action should replace carving at the beginning of the turn.
(Good exercise to explore inclination in dynamic carved turns: This exercise requires at least moderate speed on a groomed blue slope. As your skis start towards the fall line, balance on the outside ski, remain tall, and start inclining your whole body, bringing your CM and shoulders inside the turn. Stretch out your inside hand toward the snow with the outside arm lifted. Your ultimate goal is for the inside hand to touch the snow as far away from your feet (BOS) and as early as possible in the arc. This is challenging, because you must strive to keep pressure directed to the outside ski at the same time. To increase your chances of success, use a narrow stance, allow the inside leg to lift towards your chest, and resist opening your hip towards the outside of the turn.
Every situation, every turn, is different, but the tools we use to increase edge angle on the snow remain the same. Tipping ankles, hip and knee angulation, or body inclination all have an effect. Body separation will have an effect on range of angulation at the hip joint. In general, at higher speeds on hard snow, inclination plus hip angulation (your strongest tools to manage edge angle) can be very efficient at resisting forces while still allowing the skier to maintain balance on the outside ski. On the other hand, turns made at slower-speeds or on softer, less-supportive snow, may well require more knee angulation and less inclination.
(Good hip-angulation exercise to develop skill at moving the hip inside the arc while maintaining balance on the outside ski: On a moderate groomed slope, as the skis enter the shaping phase, rest the inside pole on your shoulder and stretch the outside pole long, with a straight arm, and drag the tip in the snow as far away as you can. )
Maximum pressure is generated during the shaping phase as your strong (but not braced) outside leg resists the forces back from the snow.
As you decrease edge angle and release the old turn, your objective most of the time is to keep in contact with the snow and manage forces in such a way that your CM can balance on the new BOS at the beginning of the next turn. Softening the old outside leg to allow the CM to move toward the next turn is one way, and will usually be needed if the forces in question are quite high (high speeds, bumps).
After the transition to start the next turn, project the hips and center of mass forward. (Some people pull their feet back to help achieve this.) Deb Armstrong calls this commitment forward "hips to tips" before the new outside ski begins to grip and the skis start downhill. You can see this illustrated very clearly in this video of Richie Berger at 1:41.
If, like many skiers, you have a tendency to settle back at the ends of turns and let your hips drop, think of pulling your center of mass forward between the front of the binding and the tips, keeping shin pressure moving ahead into the inside diagonal "corners" of the boot cuffs.
Finally, as a general rule, most skiers tend to be quite static and lack a sufficient range of motion to maximize efficiency. Until you feel the extremes of how much you can move, particularly in the vertical plane, you likely are nowhere near optimum range.
(Good exercise to explore the extremes of range of motion: As you start downhill on a groomed green or moderate-pitch blue run, extend tall with no bend or angles in your body. In the middle of the shaping phase, reach both hands down and touch both boot cuffs. As you transition to the next turn, extend again.) Get a sense of how much further you really can flex and extend!
I hope these summations stimulate a desire to explore these focuses both intellectually, and in your own skiing and teaching. Tom Gellie has an excellent series of podcasts available on iTunes called Global Skiing. In each episode, he interviews a leader in the snowsports industry. Guests have included Ron LeMaster, Richie Berger, Harald Harb, Jonathan Ballou, JF Beaulieu, and Jurij Franko (one of the creators of the shaped ski). Highly informative and entertaining! Tom also has a series of instructional videos and information on improving your body strength and alignment available on his website: (https://www.functionalbody.com.au).
I'm sure many of you have questions about some of these takeaways. If I have been less than clear, or you disagree with any of the focuses, let's discuss!
One final thought from Sebastien Michel:
"Skiing is not rocket science. Keep the technical aspect simple and focus on the real challenge, which is to adapt to all the environments out there. Success will come in part from technical skills, but also from the ability to make appropriate choices as we move down the hill."
Best!
Mike
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