Help Needed: Knee Bend vs Ankle Flex

[marzNC]

I need a mental trigger that's more "direct" so that I do it when I'm in motion. If it's too subtle of a reminder, things will move so fast that I won't do it enough. Does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense. Over the last decade I've worked with a number of very experienced instructors both at my home hill and at destination resorts, mostly in semi-private lessons with a friend or two. Note that the friend(s) are not necessarily of the same ability level.

I've been exposed to assorted "trigger" phrases, especially in the last 4-5 seasons. It used to be confusing to hear different phrases, but after a while I could easily realize that the different approaches were moving towards the same goal. Lately I may actually use more than one trigger during the same run when I'm in a mood to practice. A few of the best triggers are those I learned a decade ago when I started taking lessons more regularly after knee rehab.

 

[MarzSkiAddict]

I'm very late to this thread and you have figured this out already, but I'd thought I'd share what I know about this.

". Is it correct thinking that in order to touch your shins to the tongue of the boot, maybe bending the knees isn't the way to do it? Should I instead be controlling my ankles and slightly slide my skis back in order to angle my ankles?"

I find that if I lean forward so my shins are on the tongue of my boot, my ankles bend followed by my knees. I don't start with bending my knees, it happens by itself. My skiing improved immensely once I started to do this.

I also watch a YouTube instructor who I find really helpful.
Avoriaz Alpine Ski School
@Avoriazskischool

I hope this helps.

 

[Jilly]

You got it. Ankles, knees, hips.

 

[Iwannaski]

Just saw this thread, and I’ve learned late in life. Couple of quick notes about what’s happening in your boot and what I’ve noticed helps/hurts.

What I’ve found is that if I’m nervous, I try to hold on to the hill with my toes. Curling them under. If I do this, the ball of my foot is NOT in contact with my boot. So, if I’m focused on pushing my weight forward in the boot with this configuration, I’m probably way backseat, even though I can feel my boots with my shins. (I try not to spend time here, so I haven’t tried to figure out what this might look like, b/c I don’t want to create this muscle memory)

When I feel myself doing this, I do tell myself to pull my toes up… maybe just for a run or part of it.

What I have found is that if your toes are curled up “grabbing” the mountain, you cannot effectively achieve the 1-3 —> flat —> 2-4 edge transfer you need to turn confidently. Just try it. Curl your toes under and see what it does to your ankle mobility.

What helped me was really thinking about that pinky toe edge (which is counterintuitive). If I thought about really getting that edge solidly engaged, it forced all my leg muscles to relax, enabled me to flex THAT ankle, and as long as I remembered that the inside edge needed to have more of the weight, it naturally matched it. Your feet will do the work if you can figure out the feeling they need to feel.

But if they don’t know the feeling, and you’re in your head telling like 6 joints in your body all of the things they should do, it’s really hard. Hope this helps!!!

 

[ExpertOnBlueRuns]

@scandium this is exactly it! I keep hearing "bend at the knee and touch your shin on the boot." I keep bending at my knees like I'm going to sit on a chair. And then when I'm skiing, when I attempt to bend at the knees and HOPE to lean forward after that, I actually never get a chance to lean forward because my skis are already starting to slip out and away from me. I feel really unstable when I try and lean on my outside ski because I'm trying to 'catch up' to the tongue of my boots.

Maybe I should try to think of it as kneeling on a lower stool that's in front of me? And hopefully that will get me to ankle flex and shift my weight forward at the same time instead of one after another.

Something I think about is to always be trying to “pull” or slide my feet back and underneath me, which effectively moves your center of mass forward. This is the only cue that ever really made sense to me! Otherwise I end up sticking my butt out or doing something weird with my hips.