One side weaker than the other - uh oh

[B.E.G.]

I was at Sugar Bowl today with a friend and her husband. My friend's husband is an advanced/expert skier (confidently does double blacks and all of that), and he watched our skiing and gave us some good tips. He told me that my right side turns are great - I'm totally on edge, pressuring both skis, really finishing my turns. Unfortunately, my left side turns kind of stink. He told me that I wasn't really finishing my turns - it was as if I got nervous going left and immediately starting trying to turn right again. He asked where my weight was when I turned left. I skied and thought about it - it was on my downhill/outside ski the entire time I was turning left. I realized I wasn't getting my skis on edge at all (especially that uphill/inside ski). My body REALLY did not want to turn left and tip my skis on edge. And it's bugging me! I'm sure it's normal for one side to be stronger than the other - FWIW I'm right-handed, right-eyed (visionwise), right-footed, so it makes sense. But I'd like to fix this. Because that same issue led to me crashing on a black today turning left, because my edges just weren't digging into the slope. :(

So any advice, or drills, or tips to help me get on track with this would be greatly appreciated. I am going to try to get myself into a lesson soon, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

 

[Perty]

I think most people have a better side. I do. I think it could be down to alignment, in which case I can't see drills really sorting it out.
It's something I want to correct-maybe not till next season. I had a freebie test a couple of years ago at the big Ski Show in London. It showed that my right foot/side is my stronger side-even in day to day life I put more weight on that side when I walk, and from a running assessment years ago I am aware that my feet don't actually point straight in front of me when I am standing still (using a clock face analogy-they should point to 12, but probably point to about 3 minutes to 12). I turn far better to the left than to the right.
I might actually get it sorted by an in resort expert rather than here in the UK. Certainly a friend had it done in Val D'Isere, had shims under his bindings (so he has a left and right ski now), and he skis so much better.

 

[Jilly]

I absolutely hate demo'ing a turn for students on one side. You do have a weaker side. Now that you know, you can be aware of it and work on it. It could be a biomechanical issue that alignment might fix, but try just being aware of it for awhile.

 

[vanhoskier]

I have the same issue with my left foot. I had my alignment checked and my boots canted, so I don't think that's the issue. My left leg is my surgical knee side too, and it's difficult to get that foot on the outside edge. Standing in my boots I can edge to either side symmetrically; I just can't do it while moving on my skis! I have to work on it.

 

[cleopatra]

this has me so confused now. I have a similar issue, (as we all do) I turn much easier to the left than to the right. I have been told it is because I am not weighting on my left (weaker) leg enough, or my downhill ski, when I initiate my turn to the right. I was essentially trying to turn both ways by weighting only my right ski. But you are saying you are weighting too much on your downhill ski?? This seems backwards to me...but maybe I have been thinking of it backwards the whole time.

On a different note, I have noticed a big difference this year due to working in the gym. Once I strengthened the left side I am more able to focus on weighting consciously on the left when required (sometimes this is becoming unconscious, but the moment I am tired it reverts back) Focusing on lots of one legged squats, lunges, hip drops, clam shells. Usually it is a weak glute med that causes you to not be able to weight on one side more than the other. As a massage therapist, I usually see more tightness on the stronger side's glute and quad, which can help to balance out when the are released. A trip to a good physio or personal trainer could help.

 

[altagirl]

Yeah, everyone's got imbalances. One of my yoga teachers who studied with Iyengar said "practice your bad side, demonstrate with the good side" By all means, work on it, but honestly I think it would be more unusual to find someone who is perfectly equal in both sides.

 

[contesstant]

I actually find that doing some one-legged drills particularly on my weak side (left leg, go figure!) helps balance me out quite a bit. I equate it to doing 2-point while riding a horse (which is where you rise up out of the saddle and find the balance point, then hold it.) It recenters everything. I am going to try some shuffle turns next time I'm out on my skis!

 

[Karlyboogy]

Balance exercises helped me with this. Standing on one leg while brushing your teeth or something and slacklining! And maybe now that you're aware of it, it will get better.

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I have a weaker turn as well. Turning to the left is easier for me since I'm right handed/footed, I tend to trust my right leg more than my left. So as far as weighting the downhill ski, it's easier for me to weight the right one.
Today I worked on doing some one footed turning drills, which helped a bit I think.

 

[newskimama]

I've had a similar issue that I've been working on, but it's my right turns. I was trying to do some exercises to strengthen, but no matter what, I just couldn't get my outside right food edge to engage like I wanted, no matter how many crazy exercises I tried. I even talked to a trainer and PT guy about things I should do. I some lateral training things I do, like a theraband exercise thingy to work muscles that support the knees, and I do a lot of jumps. Up and down, side to side, front to back. Easy to do in the kitchen. And keeps me from tearing a calf muscle playing tennis. My legs feel pretty strong now, but the problem persists.

So, I had my boots worked on. Got orthotics. Blah, blah, blah. It helped, but didn't fix the problem completely. I had some alignment work done. I think they actually pushed things the wrong way. I went to someone else for a bootfit evaluation, who pretty quickly suggested (without my input) that the alignment work I had done before probably made the problem worse once he looked at what I had going on. The new guy also didn't push me to new boots, but let me make that decision for myself, which I did, primarily because it put me into a boot that makes it easier to monkey around with adjustments. I've had 5 days out in them and feel better, but feel that things still need some work. So don't rule out monkeying with the boots some more.

Also, an instructor I ski with frequently told me to just start practicing those turns more and more. And stop on the "bad" side as much as I can. I am just a work in progress. But I'm going to keep just working those right hand turns and going back for some boot work until it feels right.

Everyone has a bad side! I hope you figure out the right solution for you!

 

[mustski]

After 4o years (with breaks) of skiing I still have a weaker left side. It goes with the territory. In a pinch, I always opt for a right hand turn if I have a choice. I do try to work the left side more to strengthen it. Sometimes, I make a point of stopping to the left and side slipping a bit to practice it. Over time, it balances out somewhat so that even though it "feels" weaker, it's still a strong turn.

 

[Pequenita]

Alignment issues aside, I think the only way to balance both sides is to be cognizant of the discrepancy and practice. Short of having an instructor check you out, you might want to have someone video you so you can see what's going on.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

After 4o years (with breaks) of skiing I still have a weaker left side. It goes with the territory. In a pinch, I always opt for a right hand turn if I have a choice.

38 years without a single break. Same thing. Oh, how bilaterally asymmetric we all are....

 

[Christy]

I've done Pilates for years now and it still amazes me that despite the fact that I do the exact same exercises on each side, I am better at doing them on one side. I too have a hard time turning to the right on skis; my left ankle doesn't seem to be able to roll like my right one can.

 

[altagirl]

38 years without a single break. Same thing. Oh, how bilaterally asymmetric we all are....

And the more yoga I do the more I'm becoming aware of all the imbalances in SO MANY different planes of movement. And teaching yoga you see people all the time whose hips aren't level, who carry one shoulder inches higher or lower than the other shoulder... Honestly, it would be nothing short of miraculous if you were truly the same on both sides. You're lucky if you don't have glaringly obvious imbalances to your posture or walking gait. It helps a lot to work on these things and keep making improvements (and not just for skiing skill but how your body feels on a day to day basis), but don't feel like this is some sort of unusual thing.

But whenever you can work on strengthening that weak side or practice more on it, etc. Noticing it is the huge first step.

 

[kirsje]

Gah! I did not see this and just posted about this in the health/injury forum. I just found out today that my left leg is 7mm longer than my right! I have VERY weak glutes on the left side and limited ankle mobility, which caused turning right on skis to be very sketchy. Three weeks of PT and home exercises have helped immensely. It takes way more concentration to feel stable in a right turn, but I can finally hold an inside edge on my left ski!

About a month ago I nearly had a tantrum mid mountain.