Those turns...illustrated - Page 5

I'm working on it guys--thanks for the thoughts. As you can see, the Wedge Christie diagram has a photo sequence from behind, as well as a couple from the front. I put that one together in response to some of the earlier comments on this thread, and I agree that it is a a good idea. Unfortunately, finding just the right footage to produce a good photo-montage from is not always easy, and shooting more footage in July is a little difficult in this hemisphere. But I'm working on it!

Best regards,
Bob Barnes

Hi a4runner87--

I'm not sure this is the best thread for this discussion, but it's a good question and, hey, why not?

First, some clarification--when you say the "turn side ski," I assume that you mean the inside ski of the turn, ie. the right ski in a right turn?

If so, it's a very common mistake, generally caused by trying to turn by twisting and/or tipping the upper body (shoulders, usually) into the turn. That causes the hips to move toward the outside of the turn, flattening the outside ski, and increasing the big-toe-side edge engagement of the inside ski. It's typically the inside tail that gets "hooked up," hindering the turn, and it usually gets worse the harder the skier tries to force the skis to come around with the upper body.

It happens to all sorts of skiers, but men are notorious (trying to muscle everything with their upper bodies), and small children often lack the dexterity and refined foot and leg movements needed to guide their skis without their upper bodies. 6 year-olds, though, should be able to overcome the problem with some good coaching and practice.

As with anything, the first step is to identify the root cause of the problem. Very often, gross upper body twisting movements result from defensiveness--the attempt to "not go" the direction the skis are pointing, to try to avoid letting the skis run downhill, and to try to force the skis across the direction of travel for braking. If that's the case, the first thing you must do is eliminate the defensive intent. Lower terrain angles, lower speed, skiing across the hill rather than down, and even visualizing going UPhill rather than braking downhill can all help here. "Follow me" on a very slow, easy line can create the offensive intent to "go" where your tracks lead, rather than trying to "stop going" the way they were going.

Technically (once the intent thing is worked out), anything you can do to help develop the ability to tip and steer the skis with the legs, rather than twisting them and leaning with the upper body, will help. Sidestepping (often difficult for 6-year-olds) can help them learn to tip both skis toward their uphill edges--generating the right sensations and movements for tipping both skis with their legs in turns. They'll probably try to lean uphill with their upper bodies when sidestepping at first, so you'll need to give good coaching and feedback to help them learn the correct tipping movements.

Beware, though, of being too technical. Probably the biggest thing you can do for these kids is to keep them offensive, keep them playing, get them to love gliding, to want to go faster, not slower, all the time. Games, chasing around on the flats, skating and pushing with poles, gliding down one hill and up another--these are the types of activities that lead to the offensive intent of expert skiers.

Again, keep a sharp eye out for any "don't go" body language that indicates that you've gotten them defensive again. Great turns, as discussed in this thread, are purely offensive, made to "go that way," rather than to "stop going this way." And intent dictates technique. You simply can't succeed at teaching the offensive movements of great turns to defensive skiers--at any age!

Best regards,
Bob

PS--sorry that the images in this thread no longer work. My old image-hosting service (CompuServe) no longer maintains the images site. I'll try to work with our administrators here to update the illustrations.

Best regards,
Bob

For starters, here are newer versions of the original Basic Turn illustrations that started this thread:









Let the discussions resume!

Best regards,
Bob

Thanks for the plug, TT! And thanks for replacing the images in the early posts of this thread. Everyone should be aware that the images there are the new, current illustrations, not the original ones. Some of the discussion that ensued may not be entirely relevant. (Would it be possible to insert a note to that effect, TT?)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Best regards,
Bob

That wouldn't be a touch of "inside leg steering" going on in that 2nd frame, would it? (Is that a wedge in the first frame?) I think our boy's getting it!

Happy New Year, Greg. I hope all is well in the hot southern climes.

Best regards,
Bob