What are your cues for good skiing?

[Chris V.]

What feedback helps you recognize when you're skiing well, and when you're having difficulties?

Here's one I've been thinking about. When all is going well, I feel a fluidity in all the muscles in my body. Everything is in constant motion. The joints are continuously and progressively making changes in angles. In contrast, if I feel anything freeze up, get stiff, tense, static, lazy, then it's a sign I could be doing better. I'm in park and ride. Or I'm failing to move smoothly through transition in the turn cycle. I'm not in a state of readiness to make quick changes to adapt to the terrain, or to go into the next turn.

I know, they say that external cues are better, and that's the ultimate internal cue. But I'm not sure there's a substitute for it.

What do others find helpful?

 

[Jamt]

I have my cues in the signature.
Start the turn before the fall line. Balance on the outside at will. End the turn facing down. Accelerate up or down, always.

They are external, but I think they can be felt internally as well. For example, when I am light on the inside foot I know I am balancing on the outside. My last one is similar to your Fluidity cue. It is the most important one IMO.

 

[JESinstr]

I have my cues in the signature.
Start the turn before the fall line. Balance on the outside at will. End the turn facing down. Accelerate up or down, always.

They are external, but I think they can be felt internally as well. For example, when I am light on the inside foot I know I am balancing on the outside. My last one is similar to your Fluidity cue. It is the most important one IMO.

Jamt, Although my season is over (and a great season is was) I spent some time during my last days playing around with your "Accelerate up or down always" and I wanted to make sure I was in sync with how you define the statement. This is a relationship of my COM to Gravity statement yes? It is not a feet to Gravity statement as I am trying to get my feet out and away from my COM. Focusing on moving my COM "to ground" definitely improved my edging process and provided a much more stable and dynamic environment . Having said that, key to moving to ground was the active shortening of my inside leg.

To that end and to the question posed by Chris, My main internal cues are inside leg shortening and resultant pressure management through the arch of the outside foot (not pressure on the cuff of the boot).

Am I off base here?

 

[Scruffy]

For me it's about the flow. When I'm carving arc-2-arc and I feel weightless and my skis feel like they barely touching the surface, then I know everything is syncing and I'm in dynamic flow. When in the bumps, if I relaxed and looking ahead 5 or 6 or 7 bumps reading the terrain and I'm flowing effortlessly through them, then I know everything is working for me.

 

[Philpug]

I like flow and fluidity. But the first thing that came to mind for me is balance, when I am "on" I feel like I am in balance.

 

[Crank]

I'm with Phil. It's all about balance for me.

 

[crgildart]

Balance is a clue that I'm off. When I'm "on" I'm not thinking about the skiing at all. It's just happening. I do look at the terrain and other people around me but my mind isn't on the actual mechanics of skiing at all.

 

[Bad Bob]

It just "is". Everything mentioned is just happening. Everything is: in motion, in balance, solid, fluid, and flowing.

Would add one more item. Everything is quiet. There is no scraping or scratching sound that you get when the skis are skidding out in a turn. The mind is quiet too, it is busy processing everything, thinking of nothing.

 

[James]

For general turns it has to do with finishing the previous turn in neutral. That leads to flowing into the next.
When not that there’s a hitch ia movement necessary to start the new. Usually it’s not managing the upper body timing coming out of the previous turn.

In complicated terrain there’s many things, but seeing a path or move ahead is key. Usually when this isn’t done in non regularish bumps, problems ensue.

Accelerate up or down, always.

Moving out of the old turn and then initial inclination for the down?

 

[razie]

I have my cues in the signature.
Start the turn before the fall line. Balance on the outside at will. End the turn facing down. Accelerate up or down, always.

QFT. Yes, you kind'a know when those are right or not. Also @James for offroad and it's interesting to "finish in neutral", I like that thought.

Mine keep changing as my skiing is changing, but it's the same at a basic level.

But yeah, I would add "float" to that. Not sure it's the same as flow or fluidity or neutral, but close in a way - it relates more to impulse and extracting lots of energy, which creates float, which changes what the options are and how the skiing... "feels" and the feel could be flow, fluidity etc although the first tech coach you meet will be like "whaaa?".

And on that, in a recent video, Paul L had "fun" and "exciting" as the goal and the reality is that when everything is right, at our own whichever x-1000 levels, it feels totally exciting and fun...

 

[noncrazycanuck]

when everything around you goes into slow motion, while your speed remains the same. Same for all sports I've ever had success with.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Hoots from the lift.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

hoots are good but some of the biggest have been for spectacular crashes

 

[Doug Briggs]

hoots are good but some of the biggest have been for spectacular crashes

I'm good with that. When I wreck it is usually spectacular. I'd hate to have it wasted without anyone seeing it. There are plenty of people that can confirm that on this site.

 

[Delicious]

For me it's turn exit. When turn exit is "on", then turn entry is "on", and things get fun and easy.

 

[Lauren]

hoots are good but some of the biggest have been for spectacular crashes

He didn't specify whether hoots were a cue that he was skiing well or having difficulties. Maybe both.

 

[KevinF]

Bob Barnes would talk about his concept of "nothing" turns -- i.e., at the transition / neutral point, if you have to "do" something to start your turns, then whatever you had to do to start the turn should have been started a while back.

On the too-rare occassions I get to do nothing , skiing feels effortless.

 

[Rod9301]

My go to cue is too strongly pull my inside foot back

 

[Tony S]

whatever you had to do to start the turn should have been started a while back

That is pure Barnes. Infuriating and amusing and on-point the same time.

 

[freeskier1961]

maintaining balance...smooth feel