learning to ski

The problem is that many skiers stop lessons way to early and rely on mileage alone "to build confidence" as result they don't really have any solid technique and often invent their "own" way of skiing, read bad habits which can be hard to eradicate and which really impede progress as skiing is not efficient, through certain parts of the turn skier is little bit out of balance and control is harder. Also the stance can be an issue and reliance on muscles for support instead of the skeleton, which also makes skiers tired quicker. Men get away with it better than women but it doesn't make them any better skiers. Strong legs are very good but you need them so that they could move and absorb terrain better, but support should be skeletal.
Just pay attention when watching others skiing. Lot of skiers bring their hand too far forward and acroos their body which is not a lot better than dragging it behind, and many while priobably believing that they are skiing a tight line just break across the fall line instead of skiing it, and turn by twisting the tails of their skis which creates the lift of the inside ski as in this case there is no room for it to turn and even the slight lift means that they are not skiing parallel at all but may think they do. Speed is your enemy here, make the moves slower to develop a muscle memory, take time to ski alone, sking in a group of friends you adjust your speed to theirs and don't really feel what your legs and skis are doing. Skiing alone is great for developing good technique, just take lessons first and repeat them regularly, because practice makes permanent, so it's important to practice the right thing rather than "just skiing".

:thumbup:

VSB is correct. At least for part of every run people should focus on technique, even if this means just doing 10 turns full concentration at beginning. Plenty of simple drills that will really improve skiing. My favorites.

1) focus on an object ahead (normally piste marker/sign). And ski towards is whilst keeping in your focus. Helps with separation of upper and lower body.
2) practice turning with flat skis, pivoting skis 180 deg, keep facing down slope. Again similar purpose but will also help your mogul skiing .
3) flat pistes/greens/paths:- try to carve on one ski. On flat slope forces you to really focus on body position.
4) Big fast arcs, really squeezing oblique muscles to ensure get good angulation and driving downhill ski hard forward.

Ranchero_1979 wrote:VSB is correct. At least for part of every run people should focus on technique, even if this means just doing 10 turns full concentration at beginning. Plenty of simple drills that will really improve skiing. My favorites.

1) focus on an object ahead (normally piste marker/sign). And ski towards is whilst keeping in your focus. Helps with separation of upper and lower body.
2) practice turning with flat skis, pivoting skis 180 deg, keep facing down slope. Again similar purpose but will also help your mogul skiing .[u]
3) flat pistes/greens/paths:- try to carve on one ski. On flat slope forces you to really focus on body position.
4) Big fast arcs, really squeezing oblique muscles to ensure get good angulation and driving downhill ski hard forward.

Sorry, I don't understand this

:-). Face downhill, with flat skiis pivot skiis perpendicular to slope and then back other way. Upper body should be facing downhill throughout. Basically your heading in straight line but always with skiis perpendicular to slope.

If you watch moguls competition to is basically their technique, although looks much more dynamic then when somone practices on slope. Basic movement exactly same though.

Ranchero_1979 wrote::-). Face downhill, with flat skiis pivot skiis perpendicular to slope and then back other way. Upper body should be facing downhill throughout. Basically your heading in straight line but always with skiis perpendicular to slope.

If you watch moguls competition to is basically their technique, although looks much more dynamic then when somone practices on slope. Basic movement exactly same though.

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Two thoughts on VBS comments.

Use of the hips during the turn. Once someone has moved on to free skiing, this becomes a main aspect of technique. Pushing the inside hip forwards early in the transition has a big impact on the ski/snow angle.
To discover this for yourself, get some shorts on, so you can see your legs, and sit in a chair.
1. Face forwards, knees held tight, together or apart, try and move the ankles at a side angle. Your feet do not move much. They will move much less with ski boots on.
2. Face forwards, knees held tight, together or apart, try and move the knees at a side angle. Keep your hips still. Your feetmove 20/25 degrees.
3. Face forwards, knees held tight, together or apart, try and move only the hips at a side angle. Your feet move 40/45 degrees.
This will give you an idea of the effect of hip movement in skiing.

The second point is that of skiing alone. Yes, to think of technique. However, to ski the same run over and over again. Go down the sme line. Really learn the terrain of that run.
What do we learn from this? We learn how to make use of terrain, to use lateral and longitudinal ridges, hollows, bumps ~ in ways that are advantageous to our ski technique, and our ski efficiency.