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I tried to focus on both looking where I was going and doing rounded turns instead of skidded Z shaped turns -
it seems I can one or the other but not both :P when I'm looking down the hill I can't seem to focus on my skiing enough to round my turns, and vice versa!
Skiing sure is a lot of components to remember (body position in terms of how the joints are bent and stacked, upper body position/direction, proper weight distribution on legs, fore-aft weight distribution, initiating turns properly, ending turns properly instead of just skidding and jumping into the next turn ;) ), i'm slowly getting there though! Good to know I'm far from the only one finding it a challenge to put it all together
I do see a LOT of people who look like they're skiing like me out there!
Most people (maybe all people ???) can only focus consciously on doing one thing at a time (by "thing" I mean stuff like what you listed above). This fact impacts how a skier improves. If there are multiple things you are consciously working on improving, you can focus on them consciously only one at a time. And you're right, there are SO MANY things to focus on. So how's a determined person to ever get all this stuff embedded in muscle memory so none of them require conscious attention?
There are several approaches.
1. Alternate; do five turns with one focus, then five turns with a second focus, for an entire run or more. Or do the same thing with three focuses.
2. Next run, work with another set of focuses. This way you can cover a lot of the things on your list in a few runs. Repeat all day. Do not do a run without a focus; if you do, you'll just be reinforcing the old habits that you want to replace. The earlier in your skiing career you do this process, the easier it will be to replace unwanted habits with wanted ones. It gets much harder as you embed the unwanted habits more deeply over time.
3. If alternating from one focus to another, in each run, isn't working for some reason, work with only one focus during a run. But it's real hard to maintain that focus. Count your turns as you do it so your mind doesn't wander off and forget it was supposed to be concentrating on this thing. That wandering-off thing is common.
4. Skiing with any kind of focus, consistently, is difficult. There are lots of things to distract your attention in every run, especially when you are a new-ish skier. Often you may find yourself at the chair, realizing that you stopped focusing on your chosen task at some point up the hill. Congratulate yourself when you realize you lost your focus! Don't feel bad. You've just regained your focus. Pat on back is called for.
5. If you want to improve as fast as possible, never ski without a focus. Skiing with friends makes this difficult. Recognize this fact and adjust your goals on each run. Try to maintain an intentional focus of some sort even though friends are always distracting you.
6. Eventually, interest in working on a
new focus will get strong, while the old things you've been working on no longer hold your attention. What to do with the old stuff that's sorta getting more intuitive, but not good enough to stop attending to? It's time to bundle two of the old focuses together, to make them into one focus. You'll find that some things "want" to be bundled together, at some point. Doing this halves the number of things you are working on. Does this sound really analytic? Yup, I know. It is. But you offered a list in your post that I'm responding to, so I'm betting you are game for this intensive and analytical approach. Many skiers are not willing to do this kind of mental work to improve.
7. You'll find that certain movement patterns automatically "fix" other things on your list without you having to focus on them specifically. If you are the kind of person who keeps skiing notes, you'll notice this over time.
8. You'll know you've succeeded in embedding a thing on your list above when it happens unconsciously even when you are startled or cautious.
9. Best of luck! Enjoy the journey; it's all a journey.