Stance

Stance

 

This is the most important aspect of skiing. We teach stance static, but while skiing we are always in motion. We are always moving through stance.

What is a good stance while skiing?

· Weight centered just behind the balls of your feet.

· Ankles flexed and soft

· Knees flexed and soft

· Hips vertical and forward so you are past the balls of feet. If you were standing like this you would fall forward. This is one of the keys of efficient skiing. Is your tail bone tucked under? It should be.

· Core engaged. Your legs and arms are moving you forward; your core has to stay stable so you have some where to work from. Think of sucking in your belly button back and up.

· Your torso will have the same angle as your lower leg while moving through stance.

Beginner drills to find stance.

· Jump up and down, when you land with flexed ankles and knees you will be in stance.

· Slouch, you are a teenager with a slacker attitude.

· Think of a sport you do and relate that to your stance.  All sports have a stance you work from.

Intermediate stance drills.

We come through stance when we land on our gliding ski as it is being driven forward. In teaching beginners we talk of stance on both feet. Let’s work toward stance on one foot as it is landing while skiing.

1. Start with range of motion in ankle and knee while standing. Have partner watch to see what range is what number.

·         Ankles and knees with slight bend becomes 1.

·         Ankles and knees with max bend become 5. Remember to stay in proper stance.

·         In the middle are 3.

·         A little to either side of 3 becomes 2 and 4.

2. Ski double poll working between 2 and 3slowly with partner watching to check for this.

3. Ski double poll working between 3 and 4 slowly with partner watching to check for this.

4. Ski slight downhill working between 2 and 4 slowly on own. This will help to work on fluid and soft stance.

5. Ski landing on gliding ski to see where you are at on scale of 1 to 5 to see you land. Have partner watch for this.

6. Work on landing at different positions to see how this affects your skiing. Does a lower stance allow for a better drive through?
 

Advanced stance drills.
 

 Let's look at where we are at in the front to back of our weight is on our skis.

Drill

In position 1(see above)

• lean back so you are over you heal and front part of foot is lifted.
• Lean forward so heal is lifted and you are over your toes.
• Now come back a little so you are on the ball of your foot, no weight on the heal and toes of your foot.

This is the idea place from where you should be skiing from.

Let's take this a step farther

Drill

Repeat drill above but do it in position 1-5. See how being lower in your stance affects where you are at front to back.

Drill

Let's take  this idea to moving on our skis.

• Double poll or find a small hill that allows us to glide along playing with the drill above. See how this affects the feel of your skis.
• While skating or diagonal stride where are you landing on your new ski?
• While loading the old ski to transfer weight to the new ski, where is your weight at?

If you spend some time playing with this idea, you should find that you are centered over your skis. This will give you greater control over your skis.