This video explores the movements of the inside leg for balance, stability, increasing edge angle, turn transition, and recovery. The channel can be supported here www.paypal.com...
The sign of a truly dedicated and top notch coach, taking your boot off on the hill to accentuate the point of what ankle flexion is and is not and connecting it to the importance of why one ski should not be too much in front of the other ski. Brilliant!
Somehow ended up watching the same clip from three years ago... Need to add it to my list of what to watch every year at the beginning of each season just to refresh the memory. Best instruction on the topic, hands down!
In Dynamic Steering terms, the outside ski is the "platform ski", the inside ski is the "steering ski". Weight wise, on average, the outside ski gets "body weight", inside ski gets "leg weight". Point the inside knee in the direction you want to go. We recommend keeping ankles flexed at all times. Great video Deb...
I don't understand what you say. The ski that holds our body weight, the outer one, will automatically leading ski - according to physics. The direction it goes cannot be changed by ski with lower friction.
@@podunkman2709you must understand the people following this channel are not very intelligent, they don't ask questions, they don't ask WHY. They just believe what they are told. Like lemmings.
podunkman - "Direction it goes can not be changed by ski with lower friction " ...Zoom your view ou a bit...both legs(femurs) join to your pelvis... Inside leg can "allow" pelvis to move further inside your turn shape. Following inside leg, pelvis "pulls" outside leg into higher edge angles. If skier is properly stacked and balanced on outside ski...outside ski responds by carving a tighter radius turn.
Might be your best video for us older A-framers from the 80’s. As a Masters racer I was late for just about every turn until I understood this concept of ankle flexing and rolling inside ski to match angles. Thanks again Deb, you are beyond awesome. Hope to see you at Steamboat one day.
This is dead-bang on. Most skiers, even instructors haven't figured out what Deb just explained. The better skiers have been doing this for decades, but here we are in 2020 and folks just getting around to explaining it (properly). Thanks Deb. If memory serves, think I got to ski a couple runs with you 20 years ago. A real pleasure. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
I had this conversation with many ski instructors and they don't understand this separation and importance of inside leg activity... I have to say that really really pisses me off!
Another fantastic RIGHT to the point tip - the A Frame eliminating - bending pole tip at 1.15 is brilliant ! I also benefitted from the point about loss of ankle flexion if the uphill ski is pushed to far forward.
Deb, I think you're spot on with this and perhaps the first reputable coach that comprehends this and promote in this fashion. To add to your idea of ankle flexion, that joint, and all joints should never be in an unathletic position (equal balance between flexion and extension), like all good athlete perform regardless of their sport. Second, micro analyze the movement of using the inside ski and realize there can only be proper sacrum (hip) alignment when you do this, one begets the other. It's the king of drills and gives you the best alignment for skiing possible. In fact, scrutinizing to the smallest level, every little movement of the inside foot will translate in movement up the kinetic chain of the legs and through the sacrum to give the best alignment. Have fun!
Thanks! This is so important and I had to understand this by myself. Nobody explains this essential thing, or better I've never heard it before. It is a good feeling to hear about it teached by professional. Thank you so much!
I really liked how you used your ski pole and inside leg to demonstrate how you apply pressure to the inside edged the inside ski and flexed the pole. Great visual demonstration throughout the entire presentation as usual. I actually spent most of today skiing groomers and worked on this today. My friends and I call it “Study Hall”.
I just wanted to say thank you for the content, and keep it up. I am new to this sport, second season skiing, and watching these videos has translated into great success for me on the slopes which is why I think I love skiing so much
1. Bravo for taking off the boot to show what is really important. Not enough people focus on the foot / ankle. 2. Learning to telemark has made me a better alpine skier. I highly recommend if anybody wants a better understanding of the forces available to the uphill ski.
Great! Ankle flex, dorsiflexion, active inside leg! :) The hidden side of the ski lessons. I miss the timing, the physics, more anatomy but this video a big step forward from the simple "outside to outside ski" topics. Happy to see it!
Hi, Deb. Great to see your video. Very instructive. I participated in your racing program at Taos years ago and you helped me cut my average time on the course by 1.25 secs. The pic and comment about Mikaela's inside leg flexion affecting the pressure on the outside ski edge is invaluable. I can't wait to practice it next time I'm out. Thanks.
Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! Inside leg and manipulation if inside ski to initiate turn and control edge angle is so vital! Finally a great explanation or rolling and tipping! I've heard of this being an "Austrian Technique" and why they are traditionally so fast... Thank you!
You're absolutely right... but I think the video may have missed the bigger picture. The inside ski is extremely important- even for beginner skiers. Too many new skiers are taught "rotary push-off" where they shove the outside ski out- in the new direction, then DRAG the inside over to "match". If they were taught to guide the inside ski as they attempted to also steer the outside, instead of lateral force generated by the push-off they'd have the force or rotational torque from the inside, up the inside leg, across the pelvis and down into the outside ski. instant turning power. The skis would automatically match, if not create instant parallel. While they may still have converging skis of some sort, it would only be because the outside ski was turning at a different rate than the inside. Add a little more speed and the wedge disappears without further ado... or instruction. No unlearning of Christie moves required. No re-learning of where the body needs to go, once the newer skier attempt turning both skis simultaneously. And what's more, in the process by teaching the inside ski's important, you've pre-emptively set the new skier for natural countering that is "skied into", rather than artificially forced. Yes... the inside ski and leg are important as the video points out... but far more important than many, if not most, give credit for.
Great video with clear photography. When you say "inside ski" I tend to think old inside ski soon to become the new outside ski, that uphill ski. The pinky toe edge of the uphill ski is so important, Mikaela & other racers with the crossover move off of that uphill edge of the uphill ski. Whereas beginners & so many intermediates want to dig in that downhill big toe and and wedge out the uphill ski to begin a turn.
I was taught to ski by an old school instructor at A-Basin about 30 years ago. He was all about the inside leg or uphill ski. He used to say, you paid for both skis, you may as well use both skis.
Hey, just wanted to pop in and say how much I appreciate all your videos and work! Really has helped me in pursuing excellence in my coaching/instructing career, and in my own skiing. I have a lot to thank both you and Robin Barnes for. Not the least of which is the inspiration. Got my shirt and mug ordered! Ski on!
Truly excellent video. Great attention to detail and analysis- but clear demonstration and explanation. Not to mention...free advanced coaching from a gold medal racer who is obviously still passionate about ski instruction. I'm still trying to ditch the old A frame and tip the inside ski more- especially on the non-dominant leg. Will go back to practice "scales"- side slips; slip-turns; railroad tracks...
Excellent video! Some great exercises and drills as well as clear explanations. Great stuff Deb! There’s no way I’m taking my boot off during my lessons though, I’ll take my chances with explaining what’s happening inside the boot with my boot on thanks! Lol!
Fantastic information Deb! Especially the details about distribution of weight between uphill and downhill skis. That has been a question of mine for some time now. Can't wait to try that next winter where I ski, namely Perisher, Australia.
Took your PSIA clinic “High Performance Turns” a few years ago at Vail. Remember you talking about moving “hip to tip” at transition, to get the pressure moving to the new outside ski. It also assures that the uphill ankle stays flexed.
Isn’t moving “hip to tip” what is often called “extension”? Extending legs so that hip moves forward and down the hill? Although at 7:05 Deb seems to suggest that such extension is not necessary or even desirable (?)
@@solitone During that specific clinic, Deb wanted us to move our hips toward the tip of the uphill/inside ski, just prior to egde change. This was one way of managing the foot to foot pressure at initiation. The extension that you speak of will come at the end of this movement. This is all very subtle, of course, and a demo would be clearer.
Hi. I am here in the UK and next week I will be skiing in Austria (hopefully). I have watched one or two of your videos and I think that they are great. Thank you :-)
Good content Deb. And I think it can be expressed even more simply: by shortening the inside leg , keeping the ankle flexed and intentionally edging the inside ski, your center of mass moves inside of your feet thereby increasing the edge angle and increasing the bending of the ski.
Lead change! I'd like to think you made that section of the video for me! Good stuff! Have spent a few days with Stephen Helfenbein so far this year working on the inside leg!
I had to learn to make turns on the outside edge of the inside ski just to survive the nagging little injuries of full time ski patrolling. Other than being fun unto itself, it offers a great deal of recover ability in dicey situations. It also allows the skier to make long fast runs since it offers relief to the burden of the muscles working the inside edge. A very well fit boot helps with this and of course all of your skiing. Invest wisely.
Awesome video. I like it very much. You are great. But there is one highly important thing you leave out. Why is the inside ski so hard to handle? You say several times, that we should not push the uphill, following outside ski forwards, just before and during the edgings, because this would make the ankle flex decreased. A completely correct analysis and suggestion. But we have more options. What if we pull back the inside ski, at the moment of edging and then decreasingly util the apex? The real problem with the inside ski is, that it runs ahead of the outside ski in its own turning circle, it leads too much and we risk losing our ankle flex on the inside ski by this. If the inside ski leads and it has no ankle flex and it is loaded with pressure, we will risk an accident. So my suggestion is that during the edgings we pull back the following inside ski, when the skis start running, we move our outside hip into the turning circle of the outside ski, by this we don´t risk losing the ankle flex and we make this ski moving faster. The result should be hat the two skis run at the same turning phase, both having almost the same ankle flex and almost the same load. By this strategy, we don´t risk losing our ankle flex on our both skis. Until the apex we modify the speeds of both skis so that we can feel a good pressure on both sides, at the tongues of the boots. After the apex we let the inside ski lead, during the time we unload our skis, that will help the creation of the necessary separation at the following edge change. I believe, all racers and expert skiers do this, but they don´t really know, what is going on. Their goal is always to keep both skis, both boots close to each other, none of them should move out too much, at any direction from the other.
Another great video!Selfishly wishing that you would have spent a little more time on the transition part, as I’m working on this myself as I have a tendency to complete my turns ( PSIA instructor completion of the turn - hanging on -) and in short turns I have a slight up ( pop) movement to initiate the transition-
ms. Armstrong love all of your videos and helped me a lot! And your abillity to put all the information across to viewers! I just want to make a small annotation. In 2:48 you are not completely right with the term "my hips are not twisting". It would be better to say "my PELVIS is not rotated". Cause hip is just a joint and it's not so practical to take it as a reference point in a 3D coordinate sytem. Just for the love of anatomy and mechanics. Thank you.
Great stuff! If I initiate the turn by just lifting the heel of my downhill ski up off the snow I can make a good turn. If I angle it inward it causes my uphill ski to also angle inward and I make a better turn. If I flex my ankles then I make an even better turn. Is this what you do? If not, is there anything wrong with turning this way? BTW, I was skiing at Steamboat last week from the 24th-27th.
Deb - I love your channel - just excellent instruction. Would you consider the tipping of the inside ski to be the driver/ instigating the turn - with the outside ski then tipping and following - thanks
Many know that you can start transition by pushing off on your long leg. Fewer know that you can transition by relaxing/flexing and then tipping your old stance leg.
Deb Armstrong, This is Alan Roach, the having trouble with the shaped ski's guy that you responded to a day back. I watched the "inside leg video" I understand the turn transition. I, on the 205cm Rossi 9s skis do it (tipping) along with un-weighting......a simultaneous 2 step process. After un-weighting and tipping I sink forward in the boots (Which turns my knees uphill and strongly sets my edges) and keep my chest parallel to the fall line with 90% of my weight on the downhill ski thus establishing the new turn. Is this an INCORRECT technique on a shaped ski? (on a conventional ski this technique bends the ski creating a radius on the edge and thus turns the ski. Thanks for you previous reply.
@Deb, I remember watching one of your drill vido. It is an outside ski drill but focusing on the transition period that balances on uphill ski pinky toe. I can't find it. Do you have the link?
I am sorry, I am not sure what video you are talking about. Here is the link to my RU-vid channel. I have a lot of videos I know. I hope you find the one you are looking for. let me know if you have any more specific questions. Sorry!
Hi Little Question here , I ski a lot I consider myself good skier but I kinda feel unstabple on hard snow and ice I have a feeling that skis will slip away when I'm carving , is there any drill or do I need to sharpen my skis more ?
Great video, i think this is the most important aspect of ski you must make sure you are doing right because without it you won't be able to do anything. Yesterday is was skiing after two years without skiing and i fell all morning. All of my knees moment wasn't being successful and i was loosing balance almost all the time. I couldn't figure out what was my problem. In the afternoon i got an insight that i was not making sure if i have enough pressure between my shin and my ski boot tongue, my realization was that if i don't have enough pressure all my knees moment doesn't get transmitted to the skis to execute. After i started making sure i have enough pressure, i started skiing as i did two years ago. So, at the end i am doing what you're saying here, do you think my view on it is correct or i just accidentally did something right because of the wrong reasons ?
Very informative. Do you see this as part of a suite of different skiing tools to use which is not necessary foot to foot short radius turns but more like carving and more up to date than "old school" where nearly all weight was on the downhill ski? Interesting that dependent upon conditions that the weight ration will change. Do you still see validity in weighting and unweighting? I like to think that this demonstration is additional to other techniques which can be used dependent upon conditions and terrain rather than instead of. Thank you.
Up-unweighing is slow and throws your CoM out of balance, this was the way they got pressure off the ski to develop angles on the side cut of old school skis. With modern skis the sidecut allows for down-unweighing, which is far quicker because it keeps your CoM heading down your chosen trajectory while your feet cross under you, your balance won't get thrown off by mechanical forces because you're managing it with the stance foot. The mechanical forces are absorbed when you down-unweigh to release edges, and it is at this moment, at transition, you leverage the fact that the skis are light to tip them onto their new edges. You want to delay pressure for as long as possible when you develop edge angles, that's the key to develop big angles quickly, making you able to control speed regardless of terrain steepness.
@@gu5907 Thank you. The "unweighting" can be very subtle like foot too foot and hardly noticable, however I totally see what you mean. Quite difficult to change approach after all these years even when skiing on relatively shorter skis, which I feel then results in thinking too much. I really like getting to the bottom and then thinking wow that felt great!
On easier terrain, up unweighting isn't that much slower, that's true. But once the gradients kick in, and the mechanical forces acting upon your stance legs increase (gravitational and lateral ones), any up unweighting at all really will mess your transition up, you'll have to save the next turn with athleticism, and you'll be later on your edges, meaning you'll get more forces acting upon you in the next turn earlier in the arc than with down-unweighing, meaning you'll have to cut the carve early or skid at the bottom of the turn, neither of which is fast, safe or efficient. If you think it's difficult, a great dryland exercise that will teach you the sensation of moving your CoM down and medially (or from inside the turn) to under your feet is this one: stand about shoulder width away from a wall (more/less depends on how well you maintain balance on your stance foot), tip your legs as if carving and have most of the weight/balance over the stance leg. Now, to change edges and bring your hips back under your feet, lighten the stance foot while weight shifts towards the inside foot. It's very important the inside leg is relaxed while you do this and doesn't extend as well, or you won't be able to get your hips under your feet, you will fall inside towards the wall again. I remember I struggled with this in the beginning, but once it clicks, it is very hard to go back to up-unweighing.
Three seasons of diligent practice with inside foot management (tipping, pulling back) and down-unweighing to release and I'm twice the skier I was in my racing days. It's not just about the bottom part of the leg, though. Focusing on the inside hip, arm and shoulder rather than the lateral side is also key. (For instance, a good pole plant, while being done with the outside hand, is really about developing the right muscular tension on the inside of your core to avoid hip rotation)Notice the common denominator: skiing is all about the inside part of your body. Get that right and your stance leg will be properly aligned and ready to take on outside forces. Why don't skiers improve? They ski bilaterally, they don't develop the inside discipline needed for the stance ski to hold an edge regardless of gradient or snow condition. This is a very important video and should get far more attention than it does.
@@gu5907 Thank you. I'm not sure I understand what "down unweighting" is. I would love to improve. Guess the point I was making is that I don't want overthinking to get in the way of feeling it, especially now, however never too old to improve. Thank you for your advice. Think I need a good lesson. Most lessons I have had over past three years don't explain things like this video does. I find it frustrating as I know what I need to focus on, however it is very much; "wider stance, full arc, not facing down as much" . Didn't feel I learned much. Will practice from Debs videos instead!
Good tips but the video needs to be shorter. Key messages and demonstrations could have easily fit into 3-4 mins. Unnecessary repetion looses listener' attention.
98%??? I really wish the ski instruction industry would explore more "inside" ski ideas. Too much "outside ski to outside ski" dark age thinking going on. When you demo, what I see is that you start every turn with outside hip extension, slight inside ski divergence and a bit of A-frame. I see the classic "outside to outside" skiing that so many great skiers like yourself use (and you are a great skier). I'm not saying there is anything "wrong" with your demo or the ideas you present. Just pointing out that you are not exactly "owning" your inside ski. We should be thinking more "inside ski to inside ski". Striving for more even weight distribution and movement patterns in more ways than just simple lateral movements. Doesn't the idea of being keenly aware of the outside edge of the inside ski and knowing where it's tracking while maximizing the edge grip it can provide sound like a good thing?? Why put most of our weight on one ski if we can use two?? What if this can be accomplished with a few simple moves that most good skiers already possess and beginning skiers can easily do??? That's what the ski industry needs.
