Carving is the ultimate expression of efficiency and speed in postmodern skiing. Carving training is about mastering the delicate balance between inclination and pressure, teaching you how to engage the entire length of the edge to generate powerful, rail-like arcs. By focusing on refined edge angles and proper weight distribution, this training transforms your skiing from a series of braking maneuvers into a fluid, high-energy descent that harnesses the true potential of postmodern equipment.
The Role of the Hips in Carving
- The hips seem to be “in charge” because they act as the body’s central engine, connecting upper and lower body, controlling posture, and managing the center of mass.
- The hips “command” because they are your biomechanical control center. Although your feet touch the snow, it is your hips that decide how the turning force is applied.
Fundamental Reasons Why the Hips are in “Charge”
- Central hub of movement: the hip joints, supported by powerful muscle groups (glutes, flexors, rotators), handles most functional movements in skiing.
- Compensation point: if the hips are weak, your body creates tightness to protect unstable joints. Weak glutes cause the hip flexors to become overactive and tighten up, making your hips feel locked.
- Emotional stress storage: the psoas muscle, a major hip flexor, is known to harbor emotional stress, causing physical tension.
- Moment arm: when you lean your body into a turn (oscillation), your weight moves away from your center axis, so the hips must generate massive torque (centripetal posture) to counteract the centrifugal effect.
- Center of mass management: your center of gravity is located near the pelvis. To balance the torque and the ground reaction force, your hips must angle toward the inside of the turn (centripetal posture) while your torso remains stable. If your hips are not positioned correctly, the rest of the kinetic chain collapses.
- Sensation: feeling a “pinch” or tension in the external side of the abdomen (oblique’s muscles) is the torque needed to manage the centrifugal effect.
- Pressure distribution: your hips control how much weight goes to the outside ski. By shifting your pelvis sideways, you direct vertical force toward the edge, allowing the ski to bite into the snow instead of skidding uncontrollably.
- In carving, your feet feel the snow, but your hips dictate the trajectory.
Upper Body Position
- The shoulders should be oriented slightly toward downhill, maintaining the alignment of the inside hip which is positioned slightly forward along with the inside leg, foot, and ski.
- This position depends on each skier and/or situation. Some point their shoulders toward the tips of their skis, others are slightly counter-rotated, and still others are slightly rotated.
- In reality, it is not a fixed position, as it varies according to each skier’s intention, speed, turn type, and slope’s incline.
The Function of the Inside Foot/Leg
- The inside foot remains supported on the little-toe edge.
- The inside knee leans toward the inside of the turn so that the edge angle is even on both skis, aids in weight distribution, and regulates both edge angles.
Training Carving
Without skis:
- Without shoes, place your feet hip-width apart and bend your knees slightly.
- Lift your right big toe and shift your weight to your right little toe, then return to the starting position. Practice with the other foot.
- A common mistake when carving is to keep the outside ski on its edge while the inside ski remains flat. It is important to keep the skis apart, with the shins angled toward the tips of the skis and parallel. To get the hang of this stance, sit in a chair with your feet parallel and apart, at a 90° angle to your shins. Slide your feet back under the chair and notice the angle formed between your feet and shins.
On the slope:
- Start diagonally across the slope with your skis parallel, shift more weight onto the little toe of your uphill foot, and simultaneously point your uphill knee toward the uphill side. Let the skis glide on their uphill edges.
- On a nearly flat section, glide on the fall line and tilt both skis simultaneously in the direction you want to go. As you turn uphill, let the skis stop on their own. Repeat in the other direction. This requires the willingness to let yourself go and not try to force the tails to turn. Observe the tracks left on each descent.
- Practice until you can make two sharp turns without skidding. Then, always on very gentle, wide terrain, try to link two turns by tilting your skis in the desired direction.
- Do the same by bending and “driving” your inside knee, that is, the one closest to the side you want to turn toward: bend and “drive” your left knee to turn left, and vice versa. Don’t worry about the other knee, it will follow naturally.
- Focus on the inside foot. The result will be the same, but the action is initiated by that foot: tilt both skis using the inside foot for control.
Key References Points While Training Carving
- Train carving on very gentle slopes, as choosing the right terrain is crucial when starting to execute carved turns.
- Prepare for the acceleration that will occur.
- Start turning with almost no movement (flexion/extension). In these cases, what you “don’t” do is more important than what you do. Don’t use your poles, don’t try to turn, don’t force anything, and let it happen naturally.
- Focus from your feet to your hips to unlock your posture and allow the center of mass to shift toward the new turn.
- Edge the skis with your feet (not your knees) and then with your hips.
- Pace your movements to avoid skidding.
- Link turns by developing sensitivity to the lateral tilt of your legs.
- For better stability, tilt both skis equally.
- Apply pressure to the outside ski during the first part of the turn and release the pressure during the second part, distributing your weight almost evenly between both skis.
- Practice your first turns without pivoting; be patient and keep your skis parallel, allowing them to react and turn on their own.
- Notice how they accelerate at the start and decelerate at the end of the turn when positioned perpendicular to the fall line.
- Feel the tension created on the inside side of the outside leg as you keep your dominant outside foot firmly planted.
- Positioning your hips toward the inside of the turn produces greater edge pressure. Moving them toward downhill causes a change in edge and direction.
- Do not steer your skis; look ahead and let yourself be carried along. At first, allow the skis to follow their own path. Trying to force the skis to follow a specific path causes the feet to ‘turn’ unnecessarily, producing the tails to skid.
- Do not use weight transfer or foot rotation; simply feel the big-toe edge of the outside ski and the little-toe edge of the inside ski.
- Keep the tips almost parallel, without letting the tip of the uphill ski walk ahead of the downhill ski.
Terrain
- It is best to practice carved turns on a smooth slope with a gentle incline, no traffic, and good visibility that allows you to turn from side to side.
- The snow should be soft enough for the edges to dig in, but firm enough to maintain the lateral forces generated.
- Performing a carved turn on hard snow increases the likelihood of making mistakes, as it requires greater precision.
Common Mistakes
- The most common mistake is not allowing the skis to create the turning arc by trying to guide them, which causes skidding. The skier does not trust that the turn will “happen” and believes they have to “do” something to complete it.
- In other words, it is trying to steer the skis by rotating the bones over the joints -ankles and knees- instead of tilting the bones to tilt the skis (edging) toward the side you are turning and allowing them to turn.
- When linking turns, a common mistake is failing to release pressure on the downhill ski soon enough to initiate the edge change.
- An additional mistake is not using the inside ski enough. Remember that the edge angle of the inside ski controls the edge angle of the outside ski. If you want to reduce the turn radius, simply increase the angle of the inside ski toward the little toe of the inside foot.
- A common practice when initiating turns is to adopt a certain posture and hold it statically throughout the turn. Although this happens at the beginning, you should use your body’s mobility to compensate for the forces during the turn.
