Hi all! I'm in the chalet waiting for the hubby to take his last run. Just wanted to report some progress after all your teaching here! I didn't get to be with an instructor today, like I wanted. So I decided to try all of the suggestions you ladies gave here. It's been a warm week, so today's conditions were grainy and icy. Lots of skidding. Eeeks... But I was determined.
I spent a good chunk of my time on the bunny hill, practicing my stance and keeping it consistent. The thing I was challenged with was to keep my stance the same all the way from top of the C to the bottom of the C. (C being the shape of a turn.) I did notice what
@volklgirl recognized: I was 'standing up' as I changed edges at the middle of the C. It is very subtle but enough to make me lose control fast and really easily. So I practiced
@snoWYmonkey 's suggested drill with turning one turn at a time and focused keeping my stance all the way through a turn. I totally perfected my turns on the bunny hill by the end of the night! I felt in control.
I went on familiar green runs inbetween my time doing bunny hill drills. At one point I was the only one on the bunny hill. Oh well...
I did wipe out a couple of times on the greens because it was icy and lumpy and there is a bit more to navigate with my drills that I wanted to perfect.
Near the end of the night, I did really get into the groove of things and really started to understand the mechanics of my body in different positions. One thing I found myself not doing enough or not doing automatically is to face the fall line no matter which way my legs are turning. Another thing I tried the second half of my night was to 'push the bush!' It really did engage more control in my lower half.
Another thing I noticed was that I was bending at my knees to get my ankles to bend forward. I realized this when I tried keeping my knees stiff and straight, and then just bent / leaned forward at the ankles. It was more of a tip forward bending when I bent forward at my ankles, which makes a big difference because then I'm not squatting in order to bend low. Squatting = no no, and sitting in my back seat! So this is where 'tits over tips' came in! That was definitely an aha moment. I also remembered the image of MJ leaning forward from few posts ago by
@CrystalRose in the Ski Revelations thread to remind me of this.
And lastly, for a few runs, my husband came alongside me and let me know what I was doing wrong. This helped a lot. I wish I can see how and when I'm not bending forward or low enough. He is a beginner but has advanced faster than me. For the last few runs when I really began to feel in control, I felt my legs getting really tired. But not in just one place like my quads. Just my legs in general. Does that mean I'm using the right muscles and using them more strongly? I took it as a sign that I wasn't using the right muscles hard enough before and now that I am, I realize I need to be stronger, both in my core and in my legs. I think my husband advanced faster than me maybe because he's stronger in both.
I'm still anxious for my next lesson! But practicing does make me feel a bit more confident and happier.