An action is an effect that someone causes something. Actions are the means that constitute our interaction with the mountain through our equipment. It is an active intervention in relation to objects (poles use, skis guiding) or about other actions to adapt to the environment.
We should not be a technical model imitator or a simple vehicle of our instincts, but someone who produces the effect of our own skiing by our ability to execute the intended actions. Our skill to act reflecting and self-regulating allows building and transforming our skiing through appropriate actions.
Actions are composed of two aspects: one is movement itself and the other, the goal of that movement, then, using the term “actions” it is understood as goal-directed actions. They can also be understood in two different ways. One is when we generate actions knowing our own intentions and objectives. The other refers to the observer (instructor, coach, others) which perceives our actions and deduces our intentions and goals.
According to Feldenkrais (1972), in a well learned and coordinated action there are distinguished aspects: lack of effort, lack of resistance, and the presence of reversibility (if the action is correct, it could be modified at any given time). As all action is the corporeal manifestation in space and time, to perform it, we need an accurate image or mental representation of our body.
When we ski, it is just enough a single harmonious action to stimulate our conscience. According to psychologist William James, consciousness should always be conscience of an action then, from this point of view, skiing would be a set of actions executed with consciousness oriented to gliding enjoyment.
Skiing is performed with active actions generated by us, and passive actions which we let them occur. To project the continuity of our activity (action) and our passivity (inaction), we must consciously place ourselves at the center of this constant alternation.
The main brain areas involved in action planning and control are, among others, the frontal, premotor, and motor cortex; the basal ganglia; and the cerebellum.
Action selection, inhibition, and retention
Selecting, inhibiting, and retaining motor actions refer to deciding the appropriate action for each particular situation. When we plan our actions, we inhibit others, i.e., we suppress not selected actions. We must decide the appropriate action in dynamic environments including other people disturbing our trajectories.
According to our goals, we choose an individual behavior based on the prediction of possible action effects. So when selecting a determined action, at the same time we inhibit others, e.g., slowing down or accelerating, diminishing or increasing turn radius, linking turns or traversing in between, turning or going straight, stopping or continuing skiing.
Action selection time is the instance when an action is momentarily retained; a time of prior deliberation to its execution. At that moment we may slow down and stop all following actions (stop), interrupt an action to promote another one (stop-change) as to go straight instead of turning, or ignore just one action (selective stop) like not planting our pole.
The retained action is suspended action, as a long traverse before turning where preparing future actions takes more time than needed; then, it is a moment of action absence or a decision pending action. It is a stage in which the previous action stops to allow the following but it delays to be performed impairing skiing flow. This behavior is often observed in skiers that retain their actions because of indecision, leading to a sudden execution of the retained action becoming almost a reaction.
