LEARNING – Biomechanical Analogies

Biomechanical analogies, or metaphors of movements and motor actions, replace explicit biomechanical rules or instructions. They are combinations of known movement schemes that merge to form new motor schemes. They facilitate, through comparison, the first contact with the task to be learned which will later become more complex.                                

The Theory of learning by analogies describes the correspondence between two domains of experience. To understand one in terms of the other is to extrapolate one to the other. It encompasses both the process and the end product, that is, the process of remembering a certain domain or motor skill and the end product as the concrete application of that motor memory to a new domain to be learned.

The most common definition is the evocation of a certain domain or experience, e.g., riding a bicycle, in this case it is abstract because it refers to remembering the ‘how’ to ride, i.e., legs’ movements, body posture, visual anticipation, etc., in order to transfer them to another domain to be learned, in our case, skiing, resulting in something concrete in immediacy.                                         

The use of analogies in learning skiing aims to reduce the declarative and procedural knowledge of the multiple movements and actions of a technical gesture into a single global image. Its purpose is to direct our attention towards direct execution, eliminating the mechanisms of short-term memory to retain the specific technical indications of the motor gesture to be executed.

When we hear a biomechanical analogy, we give it a personal meaning which is the purpose of the analogy. Our mirror neurons affect the processing of explanatory language to facilitate the mental simulation of the chosen analogy. Getting to incorporate it as a simple method to solve a complex problem of motor execution, it provides a practical sense that facilitates the relationship between the familiarity of the analogy and the novelty of the execution to be learned or practice.    

The intention is to substitute technical rules of motor execution by a simple general rule that we can follow almost without realizing it, especially in stressful situations. They serve to reduce or downplay the complexity of the technical concept to be implemented by replacing it with what we already know, finding spontaneity in their similarities. A benefit of analogies is that they help us to recover part of the past, apply it in the present, and project it into the future.

Learning motor skills through analogies requires fewer attentional resources. In contrast, explicit learning requires more information. By decreasing the attentional load on working memory resources, it frees it for use in other operations.      

The application of biomechanical analogies, instead of declarative and technical knowledge, produces a better result in situations of execution under pressure, inducing a decrease in the conscious control of our movements. In this case we’re told only one rule consisting of a specific equivalence, which conveys the technical aspects necessary for successful execution, reducing the amount of information to be processed.

References of Biomechanical Analogies

Concept / Analogy Name	Everyday Analogy Description	Skiing Technical Execution
Bicycle Principle	Turning on a bicycle where one leg shortens and the other lengthens.	The leg on the turning side shortens (pulls upward) while the outside leg lengthens (pushes downward). Both legs incline toward the turn, keeping the upper body stable/forward with eyes looking toward the direction of motion.
Accelerator and Clutch	Shifting weight like pressing the gas pedal and releasing the clutch (and vice versa) in a manual car.	Executed for weight shifting on gentle slopes. On steeper slopes, this coordination is combined with the short leg-long leg technique.
Opening the Lid	Pressing down and rotating your hand at the same time to open a pill bottle.	Used as a steering action to guide the supporting outside foot during skidded turns.
Turning a Doorknob	Rotating your hand outward to open a door.	Replicates the outward rotation of the steering inside foot to facilitate a smooth edge change on the inside ski.
Forward Upper Body	Leaning forward naturally while washing hands, fast-walking, running, or riding a bicycle.	Used to maintain an athletic, forward-leaning upper body posture over the skis.
Swimming Pool Dive	The forward-leaning body attitude when diving into a pool, river, or lake from the edge.	Used to oscillate the body forward (“diving” downhill) when absorbing a mogul to prevent being thrown backward.
“Challenge” Gesture	Pushing the chin and upper body forward in a gesture of confrontation.	Applied when approaching the crest of a mogul to maintain proper forward positioning.
Pole Plant	Bringing a glass of water directly to your mouth.	Replicates the motion of the arm during the preparation phase of planting the ski pole.
Releasing a Manual Hand Brake	Pushing a car’s hand brake down to release it.	Analogous to rolling your knuckles down toward the snow after a pole touch on a bump crest, which helps move your body weight forward.
Pointing the Inside Knee	Driving the knee forward and into the turn just like steering a bicycle.	Provides a spatial reference for driving the inside knee toward the center of the new turn.
Heavy Wheelbarrow	Keeping hands/arms low and pushing forward against a heavily loaded wheelbarrow.	Used when absorbing a mogul to keep the upper body forward and arms stable.
Shins Under the Chair	Sitting in a chair with feet apart at 90° and sliding them back under the seat.	Demonstrates the forward-tilted, parallel angle required between your shins and feet to flex ski boots correctly.
Skiing like Walking	Natural walking where weight alternates seamlessly between your feet.	Standing firmly on the ball/inside arch of the outside foot while the inside foot lightens, moves slightly forward, and leans on its little toe.
Popping the Cork	One hand holds the wine bottle and pushes down while the other hand rotates and pulls upward.	Weight shifting and edge change where the outside foot pushes down (holding the bottle) and the inside foot rotates/retracts upward to reach the little-toe edge (pulling the cork).
Gas Pedal	Pressing down firmly on a car’s accelerator pedal.	Turning the ski by pressing down hard on the big-toe edge of the foot.
Sit-ups Breathing	Exhaling deeply while pulling your abdominals tight toward your spine during floor sit-ups.	Breathing out exactly over the crest of a mogul to stabilize the core.
Kneeling Forward	Flexing knees forward where the right knee aims for the right tip and left knee aims for the left tip.	Used as a mental tool to break ankle stiffness and achieve deeper forward ankle/knee flexion.
Playing on a Seesaw	Pushing against the ground to rise, and flexing the legs to absorb impact when landing.	Replicates the exact leg extension (pushing) and leg absorption (flexing) needed when skiing over bumps.
Holding a Big Steering Wheel	Keeping your hands high, wide, and forward while driving a large vehicle at high speeds.	Maintains optimal hand and arm placement for stability during high-speed ski runs.
Tennis “Ready” Stance	Assuming an athletic, alert, forward-leaning posture while waiting for a tennis serve.	Used to position the upper body dynamically when approaching the crest of a mogul.
Tilting the Bike	Leaning a bicycle or motorcycle over to one side to execute a high-speed turn.	Translates to tilting both ski boots and both legs simultaneously toward the inside of the desired turn.
Sitting on a Chair	Bending knees, pulling the pelvis back, and leaning forward as your pelvis approaches a chair.	Used at the end of a turn to absorb momentum by matching the hips and knees to a sitting posture.
Getting up from a Chair	Guiding the chin forward to break inertia, feeling feet under the pelvis, and pushing off the floor.	Used to initiate a new turn by moving the chin forward to break inertia and pushing the feet firmly against the snow.
Brake and Accelerator	Pressing the gas pedal to speed up, or releasing it to slow down the vehicle.	To speed up, press down on the accelerator foot (outside foot) at the start of a turn. To slow down, release it via dorsal flexion at the end of a turn.
Thumbs Up	Raising your thumb into the air to express an “OK” signal.	Replicates the action of rolling up the big toe of the supporting foot to cleanly release the ski edge.
Staircase Standing	Standing sideways on a flight of stairs with one foot on a lower step and one on a higher step.	Replicates the leg differentiation needed in a turn: a long outside leg (lower step) and a short inside leg (higher step).
Elevator Stop	Flexing your legs to absorb the heavy braking force felt when a descending elevator stops.	Actively relaxing and flexing the legs at the end of a turn to absorb the friction forces produced when skis cross the fall line.
Absorbing Bumps	Bracing your core and contracting your stomach muscles as if preparing for a punch.	Tensing the abdominal wall to handle sudden impacts while skiing through heavy bumps.
Turning Signal	Activating a car’s blinker well before you make a physical turn down a street.	Translates to preparing and planting the ski pole early as a timing indicator before changing direction.
Balancing on a Swing	Flexing legs at the highest points of a swing arc and extending them fully at the lowest point.	Establishes leg mobility and rhythm by using flexion-absorption at the pressure peaks and extension at the troughs of terrain or at the beginning of a turn on a groomed slope.
Rocking Chair Oscillation	Shifting weight smoothly from the back to the front rocker rails of a rocking chair.	Shifting pressure from the heel to the ball of the supporting foot prior to an edge change, or moving the pelvis/upper body over a mogul.
Pushing a Car	Extending one leg hard to push a dead car forward while the other knee flexes, moving the hip with it.	Initiating a new turn via auxotonic extension of the supporting leg to push the pelvis forward, break inertia, and alternate foot supports.
Arrow and Bow	Pulling an arrow back close to the body while extending the opposite arm straight out with the bow.	Represents leg asymmetry: extending the arm with the bow is the long outside leg; pulling the arrow close is the flexed inside leg.
Holding a Soccer Ball	Cupping and securing a soccer ball tightly using the instep of your foot.	Creates the necessary dorsal flexion and muscular tension required in the steering inside/uphill foot.
Bouncing a Soccer Ball	Juggling or bouncing a soccer ball upward using the top of your thigh.	Visualizes the short, high, flexed positioning required of the inside/uphill leg.
Inside Foot Drive	Steering a car wheel where the inside hand does the active pulling/driving while the outside hand follows.	Highlights how the inside foot actively “drives” and pulls into the turn, performing more structural steering work than the outside ski.
Walking Restart	Initiating a step forward from a complete standstill.	Proactively transferring weight to the new outside foot while releasing the old outside foot to break static friction and cleanly initiate down-line momentum.
Downhill Leg Retraction	Pedaling a bicycle with clipped-in shoes where you actively pull the pedal up instead of pushing down.	Retracting the downhill leg to initiate a turn.
The Pencil Analogy	Writing with a pencil: pressing too hard breaks the lead/paper; pressing too light leaves no mark.	Managing ski pressure against the snow. Too much force creates excessive edge friction; too little force prevents edges from biting.