• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Instructors: Thoughts on knee pain from wedge skiing demos!

climbingbetty

Angel Diva
I am having some really bad knee pain after instructing. It only occurs after lessons where I'm teaching/demoing wedge skiing for beginners.

It's very sharp, distracting pain inside the right knee joint and I can walk normally, it's just painful. In general it doesn't bother me after days of skiing in "normal" parallel technique- only on days I'm teaching where I'm often in a wedge- though it has started to get more achey after skiing normally in the last two weeks.

I come home from a day of ski teaching and it's very achey and sore and I'm limping on it trying to get relief. By the next day I wake up and its fine. No pain, walking normally again.

Because of that last detail, I don't think I've torn the meniscus or ACL. But I'm also not sure what would cause such bad pain from skiing in a wedge that would simply be healed by the next day.

I'm also wondering if this is indicative that I'm doing something 'wrong' in my wedge demos that might be worsening the issue.

I've also noticed that the problem is MUCH worse if I teach in a pair of stiffer skis...

Thoughts? I'm really curious to hear what other instructors might have to say or have experience with....

I like instructing and I'd really like to keep doing it... but if I can't get to the bottom of this, I might have to sacrifice it in order to be able to ski for the foreseeable future.

TIA
 
Last edited:
Funny you mention this because now that I have been instructing for a few weeks now I have been experiencing pain just above my kneecap. Curious as to what others say about this also.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Have someone check your technique. Sounds like somehow you're using your knees in the turn. Not sure about PSIA, but the CSIA emphasis is on steering with the feet and knees just absorb any change in the surface.

Also I encourage the student to breath in and relax just before they start their turn. Could be you need to do that do! Too much pressure and not enough glide might make the knee achy.
 

jellyflake

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hm, watch yourself how you are doing the wedge - there are mainly two parameters: the stance, i. e. a bigger or smaller "V" and how much you use your edge, i. e. how much you bend your knees to the inside.

Making a bigger "V" often causes issues with the hip (mainly for men, I believe) whereas more edging in the wedge *can* cause knee issues.
Are you putting quite some pressure on the inside edges? Question yourself and play around with your position :smile:

Second thought: make sure to push the inner leg/ski a bit in front of the outer leg/ski when turning, so the inner ski tip is in front of the outer tip during the turn. That helps to not twist the inner knee to much.

All that are just some thoughts - I cross fingers you do not really have any issue with your knees! Is it both knees or just one?
 

climbingbetty

Angel Diva
@jellyflake It's just my right knee. That is my dominant side though, so I am sure there are various muscle adaptations/imbalances in that leg that are not compatible with how I am doing the wedge, leading to the problem.

I really hope it's not a major knee issue either. It certainly hurts badly enough to cause one though. My fear is that whatever is happening is placing too much stress on the cruciate ligaments/meniscus. The pain dramatically reduces when I remove the stress (hence why I don't think it's an acute injury) but if I don't get to the bottom of this soon, it will lead to a rupture, either because it one day can't take the stress anymore or it becomes so weak that even doing something little will cause it to completely rupture. :-( Thanks for your thoughts about my wedge technique. I will try those this weekend!
 

jellyflake

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sounds not good. Make sure you look after your knee and have all stress removed. Skiing should not be painful!!

Best wishes :smile:
 

snow addict

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Could be a sign of a patellofemoral syndrome. Try a simple neoprene brace with support for patella, or taping. Stretch your calves and thighs daily and often. Next time mention it to your doctor. But if it is a patellofemoral syndrome there isn't much to do about it but work on strength, stretching and possibly bracing for activity. And move up the ranks in instructing to get out of teaching to snow plough - it does put stress on your knees.
 

canadianjem

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I had the exact same problem. One knee worse then the other.

I have been to a DR, a physiotherapist and Personal trainer.

Arthritis ruled out by Dr.

However, Physiotherapist gave me knee joint strengthening exercises and my personal trainer has me rolling out the leg muscles on a foam roller and yoga based stretches i have to do daily.

The change is knee pain ( or lack thereof) is incredible.

Oh...and make sure the IT band is loose and stretched. It is surprising how tight muscles can throw off the knee.
 

ling

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Use less edge. And small wedge angle too.

I have that problem even just skiing, like snowplowing at the lift line! So how do I demo snowplow to beginners? I open up the tail, ask the student to watch my edge while I'm stationary (easier to watch while not moving anyway). I flex my knee inside and wala the edge comes up! I emphasize on varing the edge angle rather than the shape of the wedge. (the wedge should ONLY be big enough so the knees don't bump into each other) While moving, I keep the wedge open but not a big wedge, and don't really putting them on much edge either.

I use a dedicated teaching ski which is quite short and soft. It has so little glide that if I really put it up on edge, I would stop dead on the bunny slope. :smile: So for the most part, I use very little edge while wedging.

(Also, my ski school prefers we don't teach big wedges because it's hard to break that wedgy habit later on.)

And yes, I use my feet (not my knee) for those small edge wedges.
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Don't panic.. check your form.. is most likely 'over powering' your knees demoing wedge, I think it does hurt if you are doing a wedge a long time, good reason for students to get parallel sooner. :-)
 

Geeneeski

Diva in Training
I am having some really bad knee pain after instructing. It only occurs after lessons where I'm teaching/demoing wedge skiing for beginners.

It's very sharp, distracting pain inside the right knee joint and I can walk normally, it's just painful. In general it doesn't bother me after days of skiing in "normal" parallel technique- only on days I'm teaching where I'm often in a wedge- though it has started to get more achey after skiing normally in the last two weeks.

I come home from a day of ski teaching and it's very achey and sore and I'm limping on it trying to get relief. By the next day I wake up and its fine. No pain, walking normally again.

Because of that last detail, I don't think I've torn the meniscus or ACL. But I'm also not sure what would cause such bad pain from skiing in a wedge that would simply be healed by the next day.

I'm also wondering if this is indicative that I'm doing something 'wrong' in my wedge demos that might be worsening the issue.

I've also noticed that the problem is MUCH worse if I teach in a pair of stiffer skis...

Thoughts? I'm really curious to hear what other instructors might have to say or have experience with....

I like instructing and I'd really like to keep doing it... but if I can't get to the bottom of this, I might have to sacrifice it in order to be able to ski for the foreseeable future.

TIA
 

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,630
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top