what to do with my hands

I am skiing for a quite long and I think I am quite good skier. it is just that I have never taken any lessons and I think I am not working well with my hands. any advise?

The hands tell all!
They are the indicators of how well you ski!

All of the following is based on assumption that you are skiing on groomed slope and NOT in powder!!!

First suggestions ;take lessons! Really the few dollars, euros, yens you spend will give you 10 fold pleasure!

A great exercise I was given was to pretend you are carrying a case of beer! On an easy hill, ski mid speed and focus on having your arms in the "carrying" position!

There is a saying good skiers use, "quiet hands-fast feet" That is an expert skier!

Quiet hands means that there is little mouvement by the hands. Yes the legs are working here and there, but arms, hands are rock solid! The hands tell you how the upper body is while skiing!
A typical beginner will wave hands all over!

A typical intermediate skier will have "retarded" hand ( note hand no.... s). 90% of skier suffer from this major error!
They do turn, rotated around plant pole,and still hold pole down while skiing ahead. Result, pole and arm are behind, then upper body gets behind, thights begin to hurt and final lower back hurts!

Hands must never but never be behind hips! Arms must at all times be in front.

Another excellent exercise.
Take poles off.
Hold poles parallel to ground with palms up!
Do long GS turns keeping poles parallel to slope!
DO NOT GRAB OR HOLD POLES!!!
The poles are resting on palms that are open!
If poles fall off,,,,you are too much of an incline!

If you are good at slow GS turns in this position then pick up speed and make turns tighter.


Another
Take two tennis balls, oranges or apples. On easy slope, place two balls under armpit!
See if you can ski down without balls falling off! Have fun!!!

Another
Take elastic band half meter in lenght!
Place elastic bend around wrists
Hold elastic band tight while skiing
Keep band at same distance at all times!


Once you have quiet hands ( and near expert level)
Look at all ski racers in GS and SL events!
Look at where their hands are!
Why do you think they are so forward!
Yes you do not have gates but there is an imaginary point in which you pivot!

Try this!
Pretend your poles are like tatto needles.
The points must just touch for a milli second the slope ( not more)!
Try to move just your wrists only, while arns ar stable and quiet!!!

Now put it all together; quick touch, wrist action only and say to yourself as you do it, "pick",,,,"pick"

If your poles and hands are "behind" your pick pick pick rythm you are too long on the poles!


Think of your poles as "feeler" rather than crutches!
Think of the fish that has "feelers" in front of his mouth. Touching here and there. Never staying in one spot too long!! That is the correct action!

Now we get into serious technical analysis!
With modern skis ( I assume you have them)there is no longer a 3 phase ski turn! Unweigh,rotate and set edge
Now it is edge to edge with clean cutting lines!
An expert skier hardly uses poles! Watch the GS world cup skiers. They go from side to side with no pole action!
Poles now are interfaces for brain to get feedback on speed, inclination,etc...
I have shorten my poles 5cm and what a difference! Try it!!!

Hope this short message will help you!
Keep on skiing!

pavelski wrote:
Now we get into serious technical analysis!
With modern skis ( I assume you have them)there is no longer a 3 phase ski turn! Unweigh,rotate and set edge
Now it is edge to edge with clean cutting lines!
An expert skier hardly uses poles! Watch the GS world cup skiers. They go from side to side with no pole action!
Poles now are interfaces for brain to get feedback on speed, inclination,etc...
I have shorten my poles 5cm and what a difference! Try it!!!

I wonder if World Cup GS skiers would use poles, if they had the pull bars at the start like the snowboard racers use ? The extra umph from the bars might compensate for the extra couple of pole pushes they manage to get in. If that were the case, would they carry that extra baggage ?

I'm not contradicting Pavalski's advise, which from everything I've seen is up to date and very good. I'm just mentioning that IMHO most skiers only need poles for the lift line. If your hands are quiet and in front, helping you to maintain balance and a quiet upper body (per the drills above), then they are doing a good job with or without poles.

Trencher

Excellent and very helpful advice about hands from Pavelski!

Geoff Smith

thank you for your advise Pavelski. It exactly what I wanted to know. Now I just have to wait for the snow to fall and work on those tipps

Read your last message and I hope to inspire you NOT to wait until snow comes to "try" and train your hands!

All ski racers ( from regional to World Cup level) use a very simple apparatus which you can get at any hospital, physiotherapy center or ski racing center.

It is a plywood platform 50x50 cm. Under this platform is a centered half moon made of wood or very hard rubber!

You place feet ( shoulder width) on platform and hands parallel to floor! Try this in fron of full length mirror!
Once you think you are good ( at least 30 minutes on form) then get a half full glass of water, serving tray ( from any cafeteria). Now get on platform and hold glass steady!

You owe me one beer every time you spill glass!
If you can do this for 30 minutes I will pay you a case of beer or give you free ski lessons for one whole day!! ( really)
Now when the snow does come, your hands will be in the right position but better still,, you will have "conditioned" those tiny ski muscles around knees that always hurt the first day!

Cheers!

Found this good link for balance/ wobble boards. The great thing is, you can do this while watching tv, so it does take any time out of your day. It is also very good for your ankles. It isn't obvious that you need to work on ankles for skiing because the boot gives so much support, but there's a lot going on below the knees.

I like to do squats on a wobble board. You need balance through that range of motion for skiing and boarding

http://www.return2fitness.co.uk/rehabilitation/wobble_boards/wobbleplastic

Trencher