In race coaching, “edging” isn’t something we work on
Isn't that a/the problem though?
I mean, to answer my own question: based on my own experience, it is a huge problem.
But, to get to the point: in traditional race coaching and instructing, edging involves any manner and ability of putting your skis on edge, based on the premise that, no matter what else you do, to get deflection across the hill, the skis better be on edge.
Some even describe this as "a combination of inclination and angulation" as if we put the skis on edge with the hips and compensate with the shoulders (which most skiers and racers do, to be honest).
Those "in the know" would talk about "foot tipping" to drive the focus back on the feet and "rolling the ankles", where it belongs.
So - what is edging? Any combination of foot tipping, inclination of COM and angulation that allows you to create edge angles.
The order of focus on those dictates how well the edging is done... the best start tipping the feet and counterbalance the body on top of the feet, as needed - i.e. a lot of
visible lower body activity (tipping) and
invisible upper body activity (counterbalance).
The way the inclination of COM is created is another big discriminator between great and bad: did you send the skis up and away or you just dropped the hips?
In terms of the approach up north... on the instructing side, it's mostly about managing outcomes as opposed to inputs (so manage "grip" as opposed to "tipping"). On the race coaching side though, edging and lower body involvement is very much a focus, with roller blade drills and "rolling your ankles" etc. The fact that a good biomechanics description is lacking obviously generates a huge misunderstanding and allows way too much personal interpretation, way more than even Darwin would probably require for someone to be able to say "my racers are better trained than your racers"... so nobody can really claim that.
