Any one have pointers to correct my bad habit??

[EShef]

Divas I need your help.

I've got a bad habit with my skiing technique and I'm not sure how to fix it. When I turn my skis make a v-shape. Someone told me they call it biathelon. In other words, my inside ski tracks a tighter radius than the outside ski.

What am I doing, and how do I fix it??

 

[Jilly]

You are talking about a V instead of a snowplow correct?? Got to look that one up.

 

[EShef]

Yup, not a snow plow -- it's an inverted snow plow (i.e. my tips are wider than the tails rather than parallel). And the weird thing is I don't do it all the time. I'm wondering if it's because the skis I have are too long for me with such a large turning radius that I'm trying to cheat by trying to force the turn. (?) Looks like it's all the equipment's fault!

 

[Jilly]

If its only one side/one way turn, it could be a weak side. What equipment are you on now? Ski name and length and then your stats. I'm CSIA and we have few PSIA on the board here. We will try to help.

 

[EShef]

I'm on a pair of 160cm Rossi Saphir's. I'm 5'3" and 130lbs, 33 yrs old. Now for the tough question... what type of skier am I ?
I like to think I'm advanced just not super aggressive, but maybe I'm wrong?! Here's my info...

I've been skiing since I was 3. I'll ski any run on the mountain but not necessarily with perfect technique (hence the plea for help!). I stink at moguls and not a fan of shear ice, but I'll do it! I like skiing fast(ish) and I am becoming more aggressive than in my earlier years skiing. I can carve nice turns on the cruiser runs where I can do big long radius turns, but have trouble carving shorter radius. I'm the "supervisor" of the high school ski team where I teach, so I'm often skiing with teenage male racers, and do alright keeping up.

Hopefully this helps in the online diagnostics!

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Jilly]

Another thing I was wondering about is boots. Have you ever been to a boot fitter? T & L or Knudstadts (spelling) should have someone on staff that knows boots. You may need some help inside the boot to align things up.
My hubby has the same problem on one side only/left ski downhill. But he had surgery on that ankle 3 years ago and that side is weak. Could be something similar.
Again without watching you ski, these are only ideas.

 

[perma-grin]

It sounds like divergence. If so =your weight is back with too much weight on that uphill ski, you are allowing your uphill shoulder, elbow to come back even with your uphill hip at the finish/start of the next turn. Your shoulders tend to be squared up with your ski tips and you are looking more across the hill than down the hill where you should be looking and moving. Also there is almost always a marked (more than 1/2 a boot length) sissor of the uphill boot from the downhill. Which allows you to carrry too much weight on the tail of the uphill ski. Some sissor will occur naturally from the pitch angle of the hill and thats okay but too much is bad and inefficient in moving into the new turn. Usually that is accompained by a nice bank to the uphill side (head and shoulders are tipped uphill into the finish of the old turn). Your skis diverge because they are being given mixed signals. 1. seperate upper body from lower body, don't let your shoulders follow your ski tips. 2. try not to push the new uphill ski out in front of the downhill ski. 3. make sure your feet are underneath your hips , don't let your feet pull you down the hill . Keep a quiet upper body this includes your hands! Don't drop your hands down by your thighs. It pulls your hips back when you do this. Very bad thing! Keep your shoulders level through out the turn. This is very common with advanced skiers, especially if they where strong skiers before they went to shapes. They mistakenly feel like they are really getting a high edge angle. However these movements really are putting you in a weak postion and will cause a loss of effective edge, not to mention making it more difficult to changes edges and directions quickly. Like when you are in the course running gates. This type of turn will make you late for your next turn. P.M. me if you would like some skill drills to help correct this. Of course with out watching you I can't be sure but the "V" is a pretty strong indication of this.