Essentials of Skiing
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It's a set composed of a book and three DVDs, by Harald Harb. The book is perhaps the best book on skiing I have read to date and certainly the best 25$ you can ever spend on skiing.
The book describes skiing through a set of movements, the primary and secondary movements:
- tipping of the free foot (or inside foot)
- flexing of the new free leg and extending of the new stance leg (or outside leg)
- maintaining fore/aft balance, dorsiflexion and pulling the skis back
- counterbalancing
- counteracting
- upper body and pole use
The book goes into great detail into each of these movements, with great discussions, do's and don't's, drills and progressions. After analyzing each in detail, they are put back together in the later chapters.
The DVDs are the icing on this cake and will show you how it's done and give you ideas and drills for many years to come!
This skiing system is well suited for explaining what great skiing is about and it's simpler than other existing systems. These primary movements are used at the highest levels of racing.
There are three DVDs complementing the book:
- Tipping
- Complete Upper Body
- Flexing and Fore/Aft
Tipping initiates the carving and, being continually increased, will increase the angles and turning.
Flexing is the efficient way to release from the previous turn, as opposed to hopping onto the new set of edges (extension). After flexing to release, the new outside leg extends to maintain grip on the snow and later hold the pressures of the turn.
CB or counterbalancing is the natural way that the upper body maintains balance when the skis and legs are tipped into the turn: by tipping the other way. It is critical for edge-hold on ice, steeps etc.
CA or counteracting is the turning of the torso to the outside, counter to the turn that is. This is important for early edge set and continued edge hold, as well as keeping the body aligned when the pressures build up through the turn.
Fore-aft balance is created by pulling both feet back in transition and maintained by pulling the free/inside leg back through the turn. This will keep the hips in the right place, on top of the boots.
...with a detailed analysis over a gazillion pages and drills, complemented by tens of drills, master these movements and you will be a master skier, guaranteed!
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