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Curing the backseat blues

Skisailor

Angel Diva
@liquidfeet Thanks for all the references - super duper helpful! While I do not have the potty seat stance, I do tend to tilt my pelvis in a swayback position (I imagine my backline looks a bit like a ski jump, concave as and then an upward curve at the base). I found this SkiDiva thread that was also great [help-understanding-correct-stance-posture ]. Gonna work on the old "push the bush" moves later today and try to get the pelvis tucked back in while keeping ankles in proper position. Hoping it's quiet at the mountain so I can just do laps to build the muscle memory.

Thanks, @Skisailor @snoWYmonkey @santacruz skier @Abbi @Bluestsky and everyone for all the advice. Seeing it explained a variety of different ways will certainly help me decode feedback I see/hear and get from others/instructors. So grateful to you all *insert heart emoji here*!

Before you work on trying to tuck your pelvis, I hope you will read carefully through that old thread and check out the video that Ursula put together for the Divas, in part to address that very subject. I have a significant swayback as well, but I don’t think tucking the pelvis is helpful for skiing (or really even possible for very long without getting tired). Pushing the bush is about bringing the hips forward. The best way to do that is to simply bend your knees less and flex your ankles more.
 

Powgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I actually have a lot of concerns about the article. Not because there aren’t some potentially helpful hints or cues that might help someone, but because so much of the advice is more like - it depends - and because I have seen these kinds of tips be commonly misunderstood.

IMHO, the worst of the tips by far is the “keep your torso tall” concept. I agree that it is not very effective or efficient to crouch, but crouching is usually a result of too much knee bend and the associated bending forward at the waist to compensate.

But one of the 2 most common ways that skiers get in the backseat is because of a vertical spine. Skiers told to “stand tall” invariably ski with their shoulders too far back!! So in my experience, this advice is usually counterproductive.

Try this: stand with your back (and butt) against the wall and your heels a couple of inches in front of the wall. Flex your ankles and knees just a bit so that you are comfortable. Now - bring your shoulders forward by flexing in your hip socket. There is no increased pressure where your butt is against the wall. Flexing at the hip to bring your shoulders forward does NOT move your hips back and does NOT make your butt stick out!

Over flexed knees resulting in a more horizontal femur angle is what actually moves the hips back.

You can potentially be “forward” with your hands behind your back. Or in the “backseat” with your shins on the boot cuff.

Rather than relying on these cues when developing your fore-aft stance, understand that you own the ultimate measuring tool for determining where your weight is actually centered - the bottom of your feet. Is the predominance of your weight on your heels? your arch? the balls of your feet? your tippy toes? Does it move around during the turn?

Fool around with the various cues from this article and by changing the relative amounts of flexion in in your ankles, knees and hips and be sensitive to the bottom of your feet. They will tell you - with certainty - where your weight is actually centering.

Once you are dialed in, if one of these tips works as a good reminder for you, great. But be wary of this advice as a “just do this” and you will have the correct fore-aft balance.

Thank you for this, @Skisailor ...I am ready to ski 4 days in a row, the most since my accident...I keep replaying why I fell so fast, so hard and straight back...my posture has been suffering lately, probably due to my gardening work...I was hearing that I needed to stand up more as I was a bit crouched over my skis...and I think that standing up was pushing my shoulders back, especially on the steepish hill I fell on... perhaps the cause!

I am working on the posture issues in PT (much improved) and need to dial back into the correct stance...
 

Powgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I actually have a lot of concerns about the article. Not because there aren’t some potentially helpful hints or cues that might help someone, but because so much of the advice is more like - it depends - and because I have seen these kinds of tips be commonly misunderstood.

IMHO, the worst of the tips by far is the “keep your torso tall” concept. I agree that it is not very effective or efficient to crouch, but crouching is usually a result of too much knee bend and the associated bending forward at the waist to compensate.

But one of the 2 most common ways that skiers get in the backseat is because of a vertical spine. Skiers told to “stand tall” invariably ski with their shoulders too far back!! So in my experience, this advice is usually counterproductive.

Try this: stand with your back (and butt) against the wall and your heels a couple of inches in front of the wall. Flex your ankles and knees just a bit so that you are comfortable. Now - bring your shoulders forward by flexing in your hip socket. There is no increased pressure where your butt is against the wall. Flexing at the hip to bring your shoulders forward does NOT move your hips back and does NOT make your butt stick out!

Over flexed knees resulting in a more horizontal femur angle is what actually moves the hips back.

You can potentially be “forward” with your hands behind your back. Or in the “backseat” with your shins on the boot cuff.

Rather than relying on these cues when developing your fore-aft stance, understand that you own the ultimate measuring tool for determining where your weight is actually centered - the bottom of your feet. Is the predominance of your weight on your heels? your arch? the balls of your feet? your tippy toes? Does it move around during the turn?

Fool around with the various cues from this article and by changing the relative amounts of flexion in in your ankles, knees and hips and be sensitive to the bottom of your feet. They will tell you - with certainty - where your weight is actually centering.

Once you are dialed in, if one of these tips works as a good reminder for you, great. But be wary of this advice as a “just do this” and you will have the correct fore-aft balance.

Thank you for this, @Skisailor ...I am ready to ski 4 days in a row, the most since my accident...I keep replaying why I fell so fast, so hard and straight back...my posture has been suffering lately, probably due to my gardening work...I was hearing that I needed to stand up more as I was a bit crouched over my skis...and I think that standing up was pushing my shoulders back, especially on the steepish hill I fell on... perhaps the cause!

I am working on the posture issues in PT (much improved) and need to dial back into the correct stance...
 

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