When I talk about it, I am speaking from someone whose background is kinesiology. So, an open joint is one that is not flexed. In this case, the hips are not flexed, the turn is not initiated from a flexed hip position, but from an unflexed position. Of course, the hips are always a bit flexed during a turn. Tom Gellie did a video of this while instructing someone about a year ago. Let me see if I can find it.Several people have mentioned being uncertain what hips "open" means.
"Open" hips means the pelvis is facing the outside of the turn.
It breeds discussion and experimentation, which is what I like. I can watch a video myself and play around with it, I can discuss points of it here with others who watch, and I also regularly discuss with one of my instructors who also watches Deb and we play with and discuss points from her videos in lessons together.Dare I say this is why I'm not a fan of watching ski instruction via YouTube video. NOT knocking Deb Armstrong at all so it's not about that. There's just too much opportunity for confusion with watching videos. I'm a feeler and a doer, I get more out of instruction by experiencing it.
It breeds discussion and experimentation, which is what I like. I can watch a video myself and play around with it, I can discuss points of it here with others who watch, and I also regularly discuss with one of my instructors who also watches Deb and we play with and discuss points from her videos in lessons together.
Yes, that is the sensation I get when I "unbend" (extend, open, whatever) the hips--the tips of the skis really engage! It is a VERY odd sensation and unsettling if I exaggerate it, so I play with it as much as I can and am now trying to find the happy medium. As I go down this rabbit hole, I am becoming aware that I still have some lateral alignment issues but am not sure if they are in my boots (my skis are flat when going straight) or my body. My hips are quite crooked as is evidenced on my bike saddle and my horse saddle and the wear marks being different beneath each seat bone. So, now I need to figure out how to address this. Meet with the boot fitter again? This sport is so challenging!I should've added that when the hips question was brought up to Deb, she said she rarely tries to teach it now b/c of the complexity involved. She said she's found that it often can result in confusion -- as we are witnessing in this thread . Check this older video at around minute 2:40.
. This is exactly my tendency - I have too much forward bend at the waist and am sacrificing the usefulness of of the front and tips of my skis. As Deb put it, "that forward bend does nothing for you" in terms of fully engaging the front of the ski.
How do you determine when it is just us and technique based issues to be worked through.. balance, how we align over the skis, needing more work on certain elements and getting comfortable with them etc... versus equipment or something "fixable" with alignment that should be adjusted? I struggle with this at times.. some days I can feel so "on" some days so "off" or some days I'm playing with all different types of different feelings over my skis throughout a turn and on different skis that provide different feedback where some is good and some is bad or some is just more difficult and I need to work through for a couple of days and get comfortable with etc.Yes, that is the sensation I get when I "unbend" (extend, open, whatever) the hips--the tips of the skis really engage! It is a VERY odd sensation and unsettling if I exaggerate it, so I play with it as much as I can and am now trying to find the happy medium. As I go down this rabbit hole, I am becoming aware that I still have some lateral alignment issues but am not sure if they are in my boots (my skis are flat when going straight) or my body. My hips are quite crooked as is evidenced on my bike saddle and my horse saddle and the wear marks being different beneath each seat bone. So, now I need to figure out how to address this. Meet with the boot fitter again? This sport is so challenging!
The way "open hips" has been used in ski instruction (as I've encountered it) refers to having your belly button point towards the outside ski's tip (essentially the outside of the turn). That would be having the belly button point towards the left ski tip in a right turn. This is definitely not skiing "square" - in which case your belly button is facing the way both skis are pointed.@liquidfeet cab you explain facing the outside of the turn in this context? Is it the same as staying squared with the skis or is the pelvis continuously pointing downhill or in transition to do so?
I certainly have struggled w/it in the past, @MissySki. Luckily, I started working with a very good boot fitter a few years ago and I've developed an understanding of how I want my boots to feel. I have new boots this season and after 30+ days I started feeling a bit of play that I didn't like. It was markedly apparent last week in more demanding conditions than I'm used to.How do you determine when it is just us and technique based issues to be worked through.. balance, how we align over the skis, needing more work on certain elements and getting comfortable with them etc... versus equipment or something "fixable" with alignment that should be adjusted?
Amen, sister.It is always a bit of a detective process to try to see what a limiting issue can be for any of us, myself included.
Interesting, as I would personally at this point prefer to work on technique far more than deal with gear issues, for myself in general. I think I wore myself out on boot stuff years ago, as it was the most miserable experience ever to be in a constant trial and error state with them. Don't get me wrong, finding a great boot fitter made all the difference in my comfort and having alignment that wasn't completely out of whack. Am I in the number one perfect boot I could be in right now? I have no idea. Is there a perfect boot for me? I truly do not think so, but I do think I'm in one that comes really close to fitting as good as anything on the market will work for my wonky feet at this time. Just based on the past and where things are for me now. So I've taken a it's mostly "good enough" there approach outside of some small tweaks here and there recently to play with canting and deal with some heel issues I have from packed out liners with plans for an aftermarket liner as soon as I can get back to my bootfitter. Beyond that, the real changes in my skiing over the last few years that I've seen have come from mileage and lessons and working on stuff in crappy conditions that challenge me.. imo.Amen, sister.
When dealing with issues in my own skiing, I've always wished it was the gear because that's less emotionally taxing to deal with.
But I always fear thinking it's the gear is a defensive choice. Such an attitude, if inaccurate, will keep me from finding the issue in my skiing which is the real cause of whatever weakness I'm worrying about. Time for detective work - yep!
One just doesn't know. Trial and error has been my default go-to, as no more experienced skier or technician has ever been able to reliably tell me which one, gear or me, is at fault.
I agree.. it was a tough time that I’m glad to be past!Nothing about skiing should ever be "miserable."