We mentioned that “Steering” is the act of causing a change in the direction of the skis as a result of muscular effort. It is the skier’s ability to steer, turn, and guide the skis in skidded round turns. The following are reference points that help us execute this action more efficiently.
Sensory Reference Points
- Fundamental Rotation: the primary sensation is the independent rotation of the femurs within the hip’s sockets (femoral rotation) beneath a stable pelvis.
- Static Proprioception: while stationary, lifting one ski and slowly rotating along its vertical axis to both sides to isolate the muscular effort required for steering.
- Directional Leverage: performing “stepping turns” on flat ground to both sides, first with the tips controlled by the big toes, then with the tails controlled by the heels.
- Dynamic Visual Feedback: at low speed on a gentle slope in a straight line, observe the tips of the skis diverging from the fall line because of the steering action of feet and legs.
- Unweighted Rotation: on the chairlift, with skis parallel in the air, practicing rotating both legs while orienting the tips and tails to either side.
- Tip-to-Tail Control: as a basic training for parallel turns, feeling how the toes direct the tips to initiate the turn and the heels rotate the tails to complete it.
- Tail-Triggered Initiation: in more advanced training, feeling that the “trigger” for initiating the turn is the tail of the inside ski, which is lightened and tipped to the little-toe edge. This requires a solid platform on the ball of the outside foot, which serves as the reference point for both the support and the rotational action of the outside foot. In this case, it will be the tails that initiate the rotational arc.
- Surface Interaction: feeling the difference between “smoothing” or “brushing” the snow with the tails (a clean, rounded brushed arc) versus “pushing” or “shoving” the snow (a defensive braking move) as the tails pass through all the “hours” of the imaginary clock-face.
- Directional Feetwork: remembering that the toes turn the tips and the heels turn the tails.
- Tail-Driven Roundness: visualizing the tails controlling the roundness of the turn as a rally car drifting its rear wheels during a curve.
- The “Medicine Bottle” Analogy: relating steering to opening a bottle-cap with a simultaneous downward pressure and rotational torque.
- On intermediate slopes: pressing down and rotating the hand (outside foot) in a 50% pressure and 50% rotation mode.
- On gentle slopes: applying 80% pressure and 20% rotation.
- On steeper slopes or in tight turns: applying 100% rotation to quickly turn the tails.
Steering Training Progression
- Off-snow:
- Resisted Rotation: sitting on a chair and extending one leg in the air; have another person hold a foot while trying to rotate it, isolating the adductor and rotator muscles.
- Static Boots: standing on a flat surface, with both feet parallel and weight distributed evenly between them, slowly rotating the feet toward the desired side using leg muscles. When they’ve rotated about 45°, rotating the feet toward the other side.
- On-Snow:
- Same as the previous point, but with ski boots on the snow.
- With skis on:
- Blocked-Tip Rotation: standing with the skis flat on the snow, “locking” the tip of one ski with the poles to feel how the leg muscles engage as trying to move it to one side or the other.
- On the slope:
- Clock-Face Brushing: feeling the “brushing” (controlled skidding motion) of the tails as they’re passing through the imaginary clock-face from 12 o’clock (start of the turn or upper “C”) to 6 o’clock (end of the turn or lower “C”).
- Mid-Turn Arc Control: in the middle of the turn, increasing or decreasing the arc.
- Fall Line Transition: on a gentle slope, directing the toes from 12 o’clock toward 9 o’clock (fall line), sliding straight a few meters, and then directing the heels toward 6 o’clock.
- Variable Arc Modulation: starting the turn with a wide, curved path and finishing it with a tight one, or vice versa.
- Ball-to-Heel Rotation: feeling the steering action on the ball of the outside foot, and then feeling the heel rotating the tail of that same ski.
- Two-Phase Arc Execution: first half of a turn: gradually pointing the tips toward the fall line from traversing. Second half: from the fall line, gradually directing the tails of both skis away from the fall line to finish the turn with the skis across it.
- Variable Radii: experiment with the rate of rotation. A faster legs’ rotation results in a shorter radius; a gradual rotation creates a long, sweeping arc.
Using the Inside Foot/Leg/Ski
- Navigating the Inside Ski: the biggest challenge when turning to one side is knowing what to do with the ski on that side (the “Inside Ski”).
- Inside Knee Drive: on a very gentle slope at low speed while skiing parallel, pointing the knee to one side (little-toe side), causing both skis to edge and waiting for the reaction: both skis will begin to slowly turn toward that side.
- Active Inside-Foot Steering: on a gentle slope at low speed with an open stance, executing short turns at moderate speed, focusing on the rotational action of the inside foot and knee (inside knee drive).
- Little-Toe Edge Engagement: moving the inside knee toward the little toe, feeling the tail of the ski “scraping” the snow as it turns.
- Early Inside-Leg Rotation: focusing on rotating the inside foot/leg quicker right from the initiation of the turn.
