Saturday, December 20, 2008

The Sweet Spot Part 1 - The Balancing Act of Skiing

One of the most magical and exhilarating aspects of skiing is the seemingly gravity defying ability to hover inches from the snow as you balance against the inertial forces that are pulling you towards the outside of the turn (photo from Ron LeMaster). The feeling of laying yourself over as those inertial forces build throughout the turn is indescribable.

As a coach and instructor, I see very few skiers who have been given the opportunity to experience this piece of paradise. Most people I see on the slopes, even seemingly very good skiers, are stuck in a rut of stiff, robotic skiing that prevents them from tapping into the flow required to perform this feat of multi-planar balance.

The problem often lies in our perception of good skiing, and the way that skiing has been taught and ski technique communicated in the past. All too often our skiers are taught to ski through "positions," "poses," or "stances." I hear things like: "put your hands up", "push your arms forward", "press on the front of your boots." Please understand that I do not for an instant profess that instructors and coaches don't know what they are talking about. Each of these directions, in the moment, may indeed be valid. However, lets consider a different approach. How about looking at "why" the skiers hands are not naturally moving higher, for example. If the fundamental structure of the skier is lacking, it will be impossible to make lasting changes in the ephemeral property of stance.

A stance is a fleeting thing through which a skier passes in an instant, only to move onto and through another in a constant search for balance. Imagine balancing an umbrella on your fingertip. The umbrella is never "balanced." You must continually readjust your finger under the center of mass of the umbrella in order seek a new instance of balance. The moment that you stop moving, the umbrella will tumble. There is no “perfect stance" for umbrella balancing. The same is true for skiing. There are fundamental principles of balance and structure which, when applied, will lead to recognizable stances that are similar from one good skier to the next, but there are not perfect stances.

The "Balancing Act" Of Good Skiing

[Video has been moved to the SkiFlow Inner Circle member's area on SkiFlow.com]

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