Would it be terribly cheeky to ask for feedback?

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

I have finally managed to post a clip of me skiing part of Olmet red run into Oz En Oisans, taken last week.

Now I hope you don't think this is too cheeky to ask, and just say if it is and Iwill remove the link, but I wondered if some of you lovely Divas would give a newbie skier, on her second week of proper skiing, a little feedback on her technique?

I appreciate this might be difficult, given that it is all filmed from behind, and it isn't a terribly long clip, but any advice would be appreciated.

The main issues I see, and want desperately to improve on, are the dreadful upper body rotations, and the fact that my legs are so far apart, you could probably drive a bus through them!

I'm posting this because I genuinely want to improve, so don't hold back on being critical!

So, here goes .....

 

[Jilly]

You say its your second week of proper skiing - WOW! Your moving well.

So what am I seeing - a slight wedge to start the turns. Nothing wrong with that at this stage. That is what is causing your legs to be far apart. If we can get rid of the wedge, then the feet might come closer together. Like you say you're rotating from the shoulders and squaring up to the turn. Learning the separate the upper and lower body will help with this. Loosen up and have some fun!! Have you thought about some lessons. It's really hard to write everything and explain it.

What's good is your balance. Love it

 

[bounceswoosh]

I genuinely think that after two weeks of skiing, you're doing just fine! What I mostly see is that there's a lack of fluidity compared with, say, someone who's been skiing consistently for years and years. Quel surprise.

You're right that your legs are very widely spaced and that you're sometimes twisting your upper body to initiate the turn. As you ski down the hill, I also see that you are bending forward and that's causing your butt to go in the back seat, like you're sitting on a toilet. I would be curious whether that would change if you weren't wearing a backpack.

I think that in order to fix the rotation thing, you would need to be using your edges more, so that your skis are turning under you rather than you turning with your skis. But I'm not sure what drills to recommend for that or what sensations to describe.

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

Thanks Jilly, I am seriously considering having some private lessons on the dry slope. They are a very reasonable price, so I am hoping to have perhaps one a fortnight.

Bounceswoosh, thanks for that feedback. I'm trying to be more dynamic with my turns, if that is the right expression. By that, I mean, more 'up and down - y' which is what my last instructor was encouraging me to do. I can see that I need to bring my hips forward when I come 'up and forward' to initiate the turn, but how can I stop my bum going back when I do the 'down' bit of the turn? Or maybe I've misuderstood the whole thing (quite likely!)?

 

[vanhoskier]

You're doing incredible well for having only skied 2 weeks!!!

Like Jilly said, private lessons will help you improve your technique. You are off to a strong start!

 

[Jilly]

I can see that I need to bring my hips forward when I come 'up and forward' to initiate the turn, but how can I stop my bum going back when I do the 'down' bit of the turn? Or maybe I've misuderstood the whole thing (quite likely!)?

Yee ole "push the bush"!! I'll let you look that one up!! Down or pressuring is not really required at this stage. In a parallel turn its actually a move to the inside of the arc. It looks down, but its really in.

Bend the knees and ankles, not push out the butt. Stance should be similar to bouncing a ball. We call it the athletic stance. Or would a ready position for tennis be more helpful?

Like I said before there is a lot we can talk about, but actually doing it would be more helpful.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Bounceswoosh, thanks for that feedback. I'm trying to be more dynamic with my turns, if that is the right expression. By that, I mean, more 'up and down - y' which is what my last instructor was encouraging me to do. I can see that I need to bring my hips forward when I come 'up and forward' to initiate the turn, but how can I stop my bum going back when I do the 'down' bit of the turn? Or maybe I've misuderstood the whole thing (quite likely!)?

I'll be honest that I never found "push the bush" all that helpful. And what we're talking about here is one of the more subtle aspects of skiing. One thing you might work on is feeling how much your ankles, knees, hips, and waist bend while you're trying to be more active. Ankles, knees, and hips should all be involved in bending. Waist, not so much. This is so subtle that I only had my "ahah!" moment about it this season, in a high level lesson. I'm not sure my discoveries would help you, because they were about allowing my lower legs to flow up over bumps, rather than thinking of it as a compression.

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

Wow, there appear to be many similarities between skiing and horse riding, believe it or not! At least as far as dynamic posture is concerned. Hmmmmmm.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Wow, there appear to be many similarities between skiing and horse riding, believe it or not! At least as far as dynamic posture is concerned. Hmmmmmm.

I haven't ridden in years, and was never terribly good at it, but yes, I think that's true.

 

[Skier31]

Ashleigh = thanks for posting the video. I agree you are on your way to becoming a good skier! Here is what I see:

1. Stance - your booty is consistently behind your hips. Try this- as you stand in your boots - stand up on your tip toes and then relax your ankles and knees. Feel your feet and notice where your hips are. That is a good place to start for stance.

2. It appears you are bending at the waist which can drop the butt back. You look as if you are sitting in a chair - so let's work with that. Start with your sitting in a chair position and then stand up from the chair. Notice where your hips go - this is also a good starting place for your stance.

3. Your shoulders turn before your feet: Stand sideways on the hill - your skis pointed across the hill. Try to move your downhill hip over your downhill ski and see what happens. Another image is to pretend you are closing a drawer with your downhill hip. See what happens. You should feel your skis go flat and start to slide. This is called edge release and edge release is what starts a new turn. Edge release allows us to steer our skis. If we don't release the edges, we can't steer our skis. If we don't use our hips/legs to release our skis - we have to do something to get off our edges, hence rotating the shoulders. Once you feel the edges release, turn your legs and you will be on your way.

Try these things and a lesson or so and you will be on your way!

 

[Blondeinabmw]

You look great, girl! Way to go!

My only addition to contribute is that I see that perhaps thinking of your body as two separate, independently moving halves - an upper half and a lower half, connected at the navel, might help a bit. Your shoulders/upper body should consistently face the fall line, while the lower half swivels, controlling your turns.

I once had a ski instructor show me a drill they use with little kids that really helped me in this regard. There might be a better way to explain this - I believe it was called shadow turns. It only works early or late in the day when the sun is directly behind you. Find a slope with a fall line that runs parallel to the sun's rays, so the sun will shine straight at your back for a few turns. Hold both your arms in the air, bent at the elbows. You should see your shadow on the snow, looking kinda like you are doing the YMCA dance, but your Y looks more like a U with a head in the middle! I think my instructor called it a pitchfork, but I like my description better. Travel down the fall line watching that shadow as you make a few turns. Try to keep the distance between the shadow of your arms and head perfect as you go downhill. As you turn, you will have to keep the upper body still and quiet, while the lower half controls the turn. If you do it correctly, that shadow won't change. If you move the upper half, you'll see a big difference in the shadow.

I'm not sure at what stage you will learn edge release/skidding to control speed, but that helped me immensely as well. Side slipping is a technique even my husband, who is pretty darn good, needs to practice to trust that edge release.

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

Thank you so much ladies, for taking the time and trouble to help me out. You are all amazing - FACT!

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

You look great, girl! Way to go!

My only addition to contribute is that I see that perhaps thinking of your body as two separate, independently moving halves - an upper half and a lower half, connected at the navel, might help a bit.

You see, this is EXACTLY what good horse riding should be like. Now if I could just put the horse on skis...........

Seriously though, thank you, I really appreciate the advice!

I have the SkiA Sweetspot trainer thingy, which should help me with this, I think.

 

[vickie]

You see, this is EXACTLY what good horse riding should be like. Now if I could just put the horse on skis...........

Sitting in a restaurant after a full day of skiing, a gentleman in our group said, "I bet you could teach a horse to water ski". And the conversation turned to how one would go about doing that. That gentleman IS in the U.K. I'm thinking now he may be a relative of yours ....

 

[Ashleigh Lawrence]

Sitting in a restaurant after a full day of skiing, a gentleman in our group said, "I bet you could teach a horse to water ski". And the conversation turned to how one would go about doing that. That gentleman IS in the U.K. I'm thinking now he may be a relative of yours ....

Well it is a small world.....:pound:

 

[eSki]

I'm no expert but having misunderstood the down and bend your knees instructions for a year I finally got it from listening to my sons coach.

My DS's instructor explained to the kids to bend their boots vs knee. She had them make their boots squeak. For some reason that clicked with me. I used to bend my knees like doing squats. The "down" or bend that you need for skiing is a bit more like kneeling with your ankles and knees.

 

[Lilywhite]

I'm no instructor but as someone who has struggled to get out of the back seat previously I would agree with ditch the back pack whenever you can.

The following advice helped me, it might help you too. It also might not be appropriate to you or your level (well done for a 2 weeker BTW) so some of the other more experienced girls on here might disagree, if they do, listen to them! Like you I'm a UK skier, I only ski a couple of weeks a year on real snow whilst a lot on here ski a lot more often and at a higher level than I do, there are also some instructors among us, hopefully they will offer some advice.

I couldn't get my head round where I was going wrong regarding the back seat and found myself back in it during the turn on many occasions. The light bulb moment for me was a really simple suggestion, my instructor likened the hip movement in the turn to trying to get up on a high bar stool without using your hands! In other words feeling like your rising to tip toes and offering your hip up to slide up and on the seat. It was a dramatic instant difference as it also helped me set my skis on edge unconsciously which bought my carving on in a big jump.

I think the way we are taught sometimes as beginners is the reason so many of us get in the back seat, I was taught to get my "weight forward over the tips" which is translated (in my head at least) to bend forward (tits toward tips), in actual fact, if I'd been taught to "stand up straight and lean forward over my skis"(tits over tips) with relaxed knees I might have understood quicker. Pressuring the tongues is another misunderstood saying as bending at the knee will pressure the tongue but not the way we want it to as again we are in the toilet position.

 

[marzNC]

I have the SkiA Sweetspot trainer thingy, which should help me with this, I think.

When you use the Sweetspot, have you been doing the rotation drill too? That's a good way to feel the separation of upper and lower body.

 

[mustski]

I am amazed at how well you are doing at this point in your journey! Kudos! Something that has always worked for me with upper/lower body separation is... as you start a turn (say RT), hold your other hand and pole (LT) out straight towards the fall line of the slope. That keeps your upper body pointed in the right direction. The next step is to point it and then plant (tap) it into the snow. Right away you will want to initiate a new turn. I still have to do that drill at the beginning of every season to get me balanced right.

 

[maggie198]

First, it's not at all cheeky to post your video for critique. We used to post these more often, and it's one thing I've missed on this forum this year. It's not easy to put oneself up for review, I admire you for doing so!

Second, you are progressing very well for such a short time on skis! Your hands are nicely kept forward, a good habit to keep, as letting the hands drop encourages back-seat skiing. There are many subtleties of skiing that just take time, mileage and a few well-placed lessons to learn.

As others have said, your booty is behind, a common problem for female skiers. Try to think more in terms of bending, or "closing" your ankles when you go into a turn, using forward pressure on your boot tongues, rather than bending from your knees or waist (the knee bending will occur naturally with the opening and closing of the ankle). Forward pressure on the fronts of your boots will keep your "bum" from going back. You may benefit from thinking of pulling your feet back under your body. "Pushing the bush" only worked so far for me, another term often used is "tits over tips" (sorry!).

Learning to separate the upper body from the lower, at the pelvic area is another thing you could progress to working on. A drill often used for that, but one you may not be ready for yet, is to hold your ski poles horizontally, in your hands, and face down the mountain. Try to keep the upper body and the poles facing down the slope, as you make your turns. As edging and carving skills develop, focus on making complete C-shaped turns rather than Z-shaped.

And have fun!