Using the Feet

Not actually standing on a tin of beer just the same kind of balance movement. I was using it as an obscure example.

Good luck with the boot fitting, remember and trim your toenails.

I had a lesson when I was skiing in January, and my instructor told me to use the balls of my feet and turn almost by rolling on them, using my big toe - worked a bloody treat! I stopped thinking about my turns, and my husband said he could see the improvement in my skiing straight away. It did a lot for my confidence anyway!

kateshaw wrote:I had a lesson when I was skiing in January, and my instructor told me to use the balls of my feet and turn almost by rolling on them, using my big toe - worked a bloody treat! I stopped thinking about my turns, and my husband said he could see the improvement in my skiing straight away. It did a lot for my confidence anyway!

Kate, that's great. I wish I could turn like that, on the balls of my feet. Were you doing the pivotty sort of turns, or the skiddy ones, or carving turns (if you know what I mean?).

Pablo, thanks, but I don't think I'll be needing to trim my big toe nail on my right foot for my new boots - it's only just hanging in there and I think the whole nail will fall off shortly :shock:

Ally

I like to think I was pivoting and carving in a graceful manner....I fear there was some skiddy stuff going on though!

Trust me, it's remarkably easy to do - if I can do it, anybody can :lol:

Pablo Escobar wrote: Different things work for different people.

That's it in a nut shell.

Some reasons I've noticed for people getting too crouched when skiing. Boot cuff too loose, allowing ankle to flex forward before shin touches tounge. Boot flex too soft, or forward lean on boot cuff set too far forward (if adjustable).

If you are not able to experiment with boots, to figure out what flex works for you, or how much forward lean you need, then it's a shot in the dark, unless you find a good bootfitter.

Even the skis you use might affect the boot flex you need. Cem mentioned this in the race ski question today. I had the opposite problem with my new skis recently. My race boots overpowered the new skis, which don't need to be pressured aggressively. Another pair of boots, which I normally feel are too soft, matched perfectly with the input the skis needed.

Trencher

Thanks Kate, I will have a go next time I'm on some snow (in the summer in a snow dome probably).

That's the problem with turns, they do get rather mixed up. I mean, my most recent instructor showed us how to carve and then went on about doing very tight carving turns - which I reckon is impossible unless you have skis with a tiny radius, or you introduce a skid or a foot turning pivot somewhere in the turn.

AllyG wrote: A really good joke will keep me ski-ing relaxed for several hours :lol:

Started a thread just for you!

AllyG wrote:

That's the problem with turns, they do get rather mixed up. I mean, my most recent instructor showed us how to carve and then went on about doing very tight carving turns - which I reckon is impossible unless you have skis with a tiny radius, or you introduce a skid or a foot turning pivot somewhere in the turn.

All skis can turn tight or long turns to varying degrees, when you introduce pressure to the edges. A ski's radius is a measure of how long the ski takes to turn if it's simply put on edge. A skilled skier can vary the edge pressure at different points during a turn.