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Establishing a dynamic stance and balancing on the outside ski are fundamental skills for skiing anything anywhere. Here is a coaching plan for that.

Tech talk

The stance on skis should be athletic - in the sense that you should be flexed and have some tension in your body and be prepared to react. The stance is not a static notion, but a dynamic notion and we talk about stability with mobility.

A stance that is too wide will feel stable while standing still but will not help much while skiing on the outside ski. Likewise, too narrow - with the feet glued together.

Elements of a good, balanced stance:

• feet under hips, neutral... note that this is not hip width, but just naturally letting the feet drop down strait from the hips, see Skiing - the wide stance debugged
• boots even (top of the turn) or with tip lead (end of the turn)
• dynamic throughout the turn (narrow-wide-narrow)
• upper body used for balance: angulated joints, separated lower/upper body
• fore/aft balance allows tipping and untipping the skis
• an overall athletic stance (flexed/low) allows movements and balance

Stance, tipping and balance go together, see Tipping in balance.

Drills and progressions

• braquage sliding sideways down the hill

  • keep torso facing down the slope, Coiling
  • notice the effect of shuffling the uphill ski forward on opening the hips and allowing the Coiling
  • adjust stance while in braquage - leave a boot width between boots

• see Welcome to braquage and Play with braquage

• falling leaf

  • from braquage progress to falling leaf
  • move weight fore and aft to cause the skis to go tip down or tail down

• see Falling leaf

• 360 clickers

  • from braquage progress to 360s
  • while turning, focus on keeping the boots even (not shuffled) by pulling (keeping) back the inside boot
  • also, progress to lifting the inside boot and touch the heels
  • the turning should be all done on the new downhill ski
  • focus on the stance, vary it and feel the effects
  • two/three turns on either side then switch
  • don't get dizzy
  • see Click your heels

• railed turns on green and tuck turns

  • squat, low position
  • turn only by tipping the skis on edge from the ankles
  • vary stance width - notice effect on upper body (higher) and tipping (easier)
  • keep poles in the tuck position, handles forward: as the skis tip and you're turning to the right, twist the poles and entire torso the other way to exaggerate separation. Feel the effect this has onto the outside ski

• phantom turns and Javelin turns on green

  • phantom: lift the inside ski and pull it back and tip it on the inside
  • javelin: lift the inside ski and overlap the tips of the skis
  • balance only on the outside ski
  • progress to blue
  • see The Phantom and The Javelin

• J turns on blue

  • start down the hill, rail turns on the outside ski, across the hill, to finish facing up the hill
  • start narrow going down the hill, open wide at apex / max pressure and close narrow again at end
  • focus on feeling in balance on the outside ski
  • exaggerate separation and angulation to balance over the outside ski
  • vary the stance, from extremely wide to extremely narrow, fell the effects
  • very effective if turned into a contest: who can stop higher up the hill...

• stance alignment turns on blue

  • start short skidded turns
  • start with a very wide stance for a few turns, mid-stance then narrow stance for a few turns
  • then settle on a "normal" comfortable stance

Read more

Related articles:

• Focusing on the Inside Ski
• Skiing - the wide stance debugged
• The Phantom
• Exploring all planes of balance

Lesson plans / drills:

• Tipping in balance
• Balance workout session
• Explore stance

References:

• article

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