The problem with steering
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If you've read our thoughts you, no doubt, see that
I'm constantly accused that I am anti-steering or that I pooh-pooh steering etc.
Let's go back to the definition of steering
Here are the basic issues with steering:
- harder to control and manage
- taking the skis off the edge
- using big muscles
- kinetic chain activation
Hard to control
Nowadays most pros have moved away from "pivoting the skis". Pivoting the skis is a strong rotation of the skis, muscling them to twist them in the direction you want to go. The big issue with pivoting is the strong movement required to get the skis rotating - once in motion, it is not easy to stop or control this well, so it tends to lead to an imprecise skiing, constantly over or under-shooting and correcting.
Instead, the preferred concept is now "steering", which is a lighter effort, a smoother "guiding" of the skis around a turn, so more working with the skis than just muscling them around.
Still though - steered turns, since the skis are not fully engaged are about skidding and skidding is harder to control than not skidding!
Steered turns require good control and feel and precision to retain a nice C shape - many steered turns quickly become pivoted Z turns, usually skipping the entire top of the turn - where the skis go very quickly past the fall line and the skier spends most of the turn after the fall line, in speed control mode, which is what you really need when in over your head.
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