Takeaways from the PSIA National Academy, 2022

[Matt Merritt]

Matt: Not sure what you mean. Internet confusion, perhaps? You imagine a rubber mat underfoot, with no binding locking your foot to the ski. This helps you be sensitive to your balance point throughout the turn. You don't have an actual mat there. Perhaps you meant your suggestion as a joke?

As a joke was certainly not how I meant my comment. Personally, instead of just imagining it, I'd like to see what it would really be like to try standing on a pair of skis without bindings - on a very, very gentle slope, of course.

It's been a long time since I've been a ski instructor but I still enjoy thinking about fun ways to improve my own and others' skiing.

 

[geepers]

like to see what it would really be like to try standing on a pair of skis without bindings

Wincing at the thought. Recalling one and only experience snow boarding. Getting on/off the chair, when that loose foot stopped in the snow and the other continued sliding...

 

[slow-line-fast]

I’d say it’s about balancing on your feet and activating the muscles in your feet and legs instead of leaning on the equipment.

Yes.

 

[LiquidFeet]

...
I take it unbuckling wouldn't really work well if the skier's style is to strongly pressure the front cuff with the toes and metatarsals raised?

This has been my take on the unbuckled exercise... it shows you how much your feet alone can contribute to making a turn when you aren't fully using the leverage offered by your boot cuffs.

The first time I did this exercise I was shocked, shocked, at how my heels lifted up and my shins collapsed forward. I had not known I was skiing on the balls of my feet until I unbuckled my cuffs. Just knowing that helped me start using the back half of my feet.

 

[cosmoliu]

This has been my take on the unbuckled exercise... it shows you how much your feet alone can contribute to making a turn when you aren't fully using the leverage offered by your boot cuffs.

The first time I did this exercise I was shocked, shocked, at how my heels lifted up and my shins collapsed forward. I had not known I was skiing on the balls of my feet until I unbuckled my cuffs. Just knowing that helped me start using the back half of my feet.

I'd like to see some more comments on "using the back half of my feet". I was first introduced to actively dorsiflexing the feet in a Winter Park bump clinic about 7 years ago. I have used this maneuver only intermittently over the years, mostly when I think to concentrate on that part of my feet. It has by no means become a standard part of my stance. But it has always resulted in a positive effect when I have thought to use it, especially if I feel out of sorts on a particular day or slope.

 

[James]

I take it unbuckling wouldn't really work well if the skier's style is to strongly pressure the front cuff with the toes and metatarsals raised?

Good point. I was going to bring that up, but I’m always yammering about that
At some point your metatarsals need to be on the footbed or your just a weeble wobbling.

 

[mike_m]

Ah, now we get into some interesting concepts! One of the common misunderstandings in lessons is the concept of "get forward." This is often misunderstood by the student as needing to constantly drive into the front of the boot cuffs. This brings the skier into an unbalanced position on the balls of the feet through the shaping and finishing portion of the turn and usually produces the effect of the skier dropping his/her bottom to compensate for the resulting instability.

(One note: "Stroking the ski" from tip to tail by rolling forward and back along the bottom of the foot throughout the turn is totally different. The problem arises when the skier is encouraged to stay leaning forward on the balls of the feet past the initiation phase, and/or constantly drive into the front of the boot.)

Imagining you are constantly balancing on a rubber mat on top of your skis with no binding to support you encourages a constantly shifting and stable balance point on the bottoms of your feet. Skiing with your boots unbuckled helps create the same sensation.

Raising the front of the foot has the effect of closing the ankle joint. It engages the muscle in the front of the shin (the tibialis anterior) and automatically brings you forward in to an effective, not imposed, ski position. It also allows you to feel that you are standing and pressing off the strongest part of your foot: the calcaneus bone at the front of your heel bone, right underneath the tibia where it meets the ankle joint. Your body wants to be stable, so you will find that pressing off this portion of the outside-foot heel throughout the shaping phase of the turn will actually feel pretty good! You can find that position by doing one of several movements: Stand on one foot and lift the front. Hop up and down. Where do you automatically land? Also, if you do squats in a gym, where on the bottoms of your feet do you press off? Your body is pretty smart. It will will stabilize you and have you stand on the strongest part of your foot if you don't get in its way!

Hope this helps clarify some important points!

Best!
Mike

 

[JESinstr]

I'd like to see some more comments on "using the back half of my feet". I was first introduced to actively dorsiflexing the feet in a Winter Park bump clinic about 7 years ago. I have used this maneuver only intermittently over the years, mostly when I think to concentrate on that part of my feet. It has by no means become a standard part of my stance. But it has always resulted in a positive effect when I have thought to use it, especially if I feel out of sorts on a particular day or slope.

I don't think front nor back, I think center of the arch as home plate and move fore and aft from there.

 

[mike_m]

Josh suggests continually rolling back and forth along the bottoms of your feet throughout the turn: forward at the start and back at the end. This engages the tips of the skis, then the tails, and helps produce a continuity of movement. Deb Armstrong calls it "stroking the ski."

In regards lifting the front of the feet, if you make a conscious decision to start each run by doing this, it soon becomes automatic.

Best!
Mike

PS: I saw this at A-Basin yesterday. You never know what you'll see there closing week!

 

[LiquidFeet]

Josh suggests continually rolling back and forth along the bottoms of your feet throughout the turn: forward at the start and back at the end. This engages the tips of the skis, then the tails, and helps produce a continuity of movement. Deb Armstrong calls it "stroking the ski."

In regards lifting the front of the feet, if you make a conscious decision to start each run by doing this, it soon becomes automatic.

Yep.

 

[mister moose]

Josh suggests continually rolling back and forth along the bottoms of your feet throughout the turn: forward at the start and back at the end. This engages the tips of the skis, then the tails, and helps produce a continuity of movement. Deb Armstrong calls it "stroking the ski."

I learned this decades ago as "the rocking chair". Another tool in the tool box. Once you can feel that, and can manage it effectively, you can modify as needed/wanted to suit the conditions you find yourself in. Or recovering from!

 

[4ster]

Deb Armstrong calls it "stroking the ski."

If we’ve been paying attention for the past 15yrs, most of us have heard mention of “Inside Foot Pullback” but not so much about sliding the outside foot forward. I like a little of each, kind of a telemark feeling. Gas pedal on the outside foot, gas off the inside.
Watch how the ski tips match up during transitions …

 

[geepers]

If we’ve been paying attention for the past 15yrs, most of us have heard mention of “Inside Foot Pullback” but not so much about sliding the outside foot forward. I like a little of each, kind of a telemark feeling. Gas pedal on the outside foot, gas off the inside.
Watch how the ski tips match up during transitions …
View attachment 170507

Nice demo!

Tom Gellie and Paul Lorenz both make this point in their respective edu vids. They explain that the outside foot is pulled through the arc, not pushed, using the hip flexors. The intent is to keep the outside foot between the CoM and the GRF from the snow.

 

[James]

Another example with Felix Neurether



AJ Kitt when he came around for Nastar Regionals used to talk about pushing the outside foot back to increase pressure.

 

[4ster]

Another example with Felix Neurether

I miss Felix (the cat)

 

[LiquidFeet]

If we’ve been paying attention for the past 15yrs, most of us have heard mention of “Inside Foot Pullback” but not so much about sliding the outside foot forward. I like a little of each, kind of a telemark feeling. Gas pedal on the outside foot, gas off the inside.
Watch how the ski tips match up during transitions …
View attachment 170507

It's called a force couple. Pull inside ski back, push outside ski forward, and they will hit an invisible force-field that prohibits them from passing each other. This is no tele turn. The tension between the two skis as they attempt unsuccessfully to pass each other is dramatic. Like trying to force two magnets together when they don't want to go.

Works for me - in some situations.

The muscle activation is different from shuffling, where the skis do pass each other.

 

[geepers]

push outside ski forward

Why push?

Isn't it better to pull through with hip flexors?

 

[4ster]

Works for me - in some situations.

Works for me - in most situations

l didn’t mean to imply that it was a tele turn, just thought the movement may be relatable for some.

 

[4ster]

Why push?

I think more “slice” or as Armstrong says “stroke”.

 

[geepers]

I think more “slice” or as Armstrong says “stroke”.

Thinking is all well and good but what muscles engage / body parts move?