Help how to stay forward during skiing

Trencher isn't advocating excessive forward lean all he said was that you need to have an appropriate amount. As far as I am aware all the bindings on the market today have some degree of ramp between the toe and heel piece, it varies from model to model and on some it's excessive. Having to flex the boots in order to get forward is indicative of fore/aft balance problems.

For recreational skiing the idea is to be able to keep your centre of mass over your feet irrespective of whether you are in a neutral stance, at full extension or in deep flexion. Very often the angles built into the boots and created by the bindings prevent us from doing this.

All ski boots are designed in size 26.5, the other sizes are obtained by scaling the design size up or down, but all the angles built into the boots remain the same as those in the design size. A boot with 16 degrees of forward lean might well be fine for an average sized skier with size 25 – 27 feet, but skiers with short legs and smaller feet may need a boot with less forward lean conversely skiers with longer legs and large feet might need more.

The "delta" angle created by the bindings (the stand height differential between the stand points on the toe and heel pieces) varies from model to model and increases as the toe and heel pieces are moved closer together. A high delta binding combined with a short boot very often forces the skier into the back seat. Changing the delta angle changes the lower leg angle and where the knee plumbs over the ski.

Sorting out these issues can often lead to a dramatic improvement in your skiing, it did for me and it it also seems to have worked for Trencher.

Thanks for the more expansive post SwingBeep.

Often when people say they liked this ski or that ski, it has a lot to do with the different stand heights of the bindings, putting them into a better skiing stance. I think generally there is a reticence by instructors to bring up "set up" in lessons, preferring to focus on drills. The best (Longer) instruction courses will often look at boot set up on day one, because it is such a limiting factor.

A good boot fitter is the first place to start, though there are limitations. To a great degree, a boot fitter is only as good as the feed back they get from the client. The problem for most skiers is, what should a good set up feel like, if they have never experienced it before?

Some of "my" cues for knowing the set up is right for me are,

Statically in a good stance (with skis on) - Starting with my shins lightly engaged with the boot cuffs, and weight evenly distributed along the length of my feet, any movement forward (straightening knees/moving hips forward/raising arms forward will both increase cuff pressure on shins and move weight pressure to the balls of my feet.

Skiing slowly - If I pivot in a neutral stance, the pivot point on the skis is under my feet. If I use the movements described above to move forward, the skis will pivot at a point forward of my toes.

Skiing faster - I am able to allow the skis to move forward as the turn progresses, while still maintaining shin cuff contact. At transition, pulling the feet back both firmly engages the shins, and moves the balance/weight point to the balls of my feet to start the new turn.

The tendency for intermediate skiers to get in the back seat as the skis move forward in a turn is often I think an effect of poor set up. The result from instructors has been the cry to get forward, get forward, get forward.

I'm not a believer in lifting your toes to get forward, as you are left balancing on your heels and shins.

Am getting the plumb line out - but you do raise some interesting points.

If you were to tell me to do pure pivot turns then I would have to 'stand up' to get to a neutral weighting to turn around centre of ski. So definitely get where you are coming from. Does that mean my boots / bindings are wrong?

I my mind I tend to see that all from the perspective of where my feet are in relation to body and constant need to pull them back. As long as my arms are in front of my body then being forward is purely my feet underneath me which can be corrected at each turn.

Ranchero_1979 wrote:
I my mind I tend to see that all from the perspective of where my feet are in relation to body and constant need to pull them back. As long as my arms are in front of my body then being forward is purely my feet underneath me which can be corrected at each turn.

So that's the interesting part. We can't constantly pull the feet back; it's not a static position that creates the tip pressure. At the start of a turn, we can pull our feet back relative to mass of our upper body, engaging the tips of the skis. By mid turn, we relax the pull back, and balance on the whole outside foot. This is especially pronounced in short turns.

a good helpful tip given to me was. always try and keep body at 90 degrees to the ski whatever the slope,its great foundation then try the other tips,am 75 and this helped me after many years skiing
and loosing my way a bit on holiday only technique....john.........skiglf

forgot to add try all the tips on easy slope green/ blue allowing your body to give you feedback,and things are easier to correct and keep in control thanks......skiglf

It helps to think of using the front inside edge to initiate the turn, with some weight on the boot tongue, and using the ball of the foot or even the big toe to create the pressure which turns you. Not much up and down movement is necesssry, unless it is thick snow, and even then try to avoid it. And face (and lean) downhill with the upper body square to the fall line.

I was aware of keeping one's hands forward but not of pulling the inside leg back. We had our first dump of heavy 'sticky' snow and I'm wondering if I need wider skis to stop me from sinking in so far and having too much drag in the snow...