"Control the skis rotation (turning, pivoting, steering) with leg rotation, separate from the upper body."

STATIC

• Before we started, I asked the group to rotate their skis left and right while sitting on the lift and to pay attention to how much they could actually turn their skis while their hips were completely still in the sitting position

• Once we got to the top we discussed body parts at work to get that rotation, specifically the ankles and the Tibia . Fibula relationship - we acknowledged that the femur is rotating too

  
  

  Other static exercises we did were:

  • "Dead Bug" Where you lay on your back and your partner grabs your feet to help you rotate under stable hips

  • "Bow Ties / Butterflies" Where you unclick from skis and use your boots to rotate making the shape of Bow Ties or Butterflies in the snow pivoting from center of boot

  • Glove or pole under center of ski again allowing the skier to feel rotation with the center of the ski as a pivot point

PROGRESSION

• Side slip with Counter - And n exaggerated inside ski (uphill ski) lead and exaggerated athletic stance. This is exaggerated to illustrate how getting all those joints flexed coupled with the ski lead really puts your body in a position where your hips point down the fall line.

• Straight run to side slip in a corridor - I like to call this the "hockey slowdown" because were not working on the edge set so much as we are working on rotating the skis under a stable body. The corridor should not be much wider than the length of the skis

• Linked straight run to side slip in a corridor - Just a variation that gets you going both ways again keep that corridor tight no more than a foot wider than the ski length.

• Pivot Slips - now we're just speeding up the same basic movement again focusing on the hips pointing down the fall line.

We discussed some other drills and a progression could put together with many different combinations of drills. All Drills use a blend of the fundamentals so it is important to hear what your skiers are feeling and in an event where theyre not feeling what you are teaching you may have to tweak the drill or redirect the skier's attention to the body part or movement you are working on.

OTHER DRILLS FOR ROTARY

Look at page ELEVEN of this page posted by Steve Henderson

Some of the greatest hits are:

• Hands on Hips + variations with short turns

• Backward skiing short turns

• Countered Garlands

• Hop turns with tips on snow

• Javelin Turns

• One ski skiing - The kids LOVE leaving a ski at the bottom of Cub - this one is good because it forces you to close the ankle in order to get the ski to rotate

  
  

The Basic Traverse is used to teach, reinforce and evaluate the balanced athletic position in a comfortable, non-threatening environment. All the elements of a Balanced Athletic Position should be evident when an athlete is performing a basic Traverse. These elements will be used when making parallel turns.

The Traverse Extension is used to reinforce the balanced athletic stance and teach active weight transfer in a comfortable, non-threatening environment (in a basic traverse, not accelerating). The drill challenges fore/aft and lateral balance in motion through transfer of with to one ski via extension before returning to two skis. These are the prerequisites for creating a solid platform for turn initiation.

The ability to turn in a wedge introduces several important skiing techniques, promotes confidence, skiing independence, speed control, and allows the individual to explore the mountain safely.

We skate to reinforce dynamic balance, ankle engagement, independent leg action, edging movements, and flexion and extension movements. We can skate to warm up, to propel ourselves from one point to another (the lodge, the lift) and to gain speed at the start of a race.

Correct execution of this drill promotes solid balance on the outside ski through the duration of the turn. Drill teaches forward, active weight transfer, precision at initiation and allows the athlete to feel all stages of rolling onto and off edges, using primarily ankles and knees. It reinforces independent feet, fore/aft balance and a strong platform from which to apply force over the new outside ski at the top of the turn.

The drill teaches an athlete to maintain dynamic balance, a critical skill, while learning the flexion and extension movements of a skidded turn. It increases confidence to manage forces (gravity and centrifugal). The skidded turn requires the athlete to coordinate their foot movements, utilizing both skis (the ski actions match) which helps inexperienced athletes lose plow or reverse V safety net.

Hands on knees is a basic drill to help the athlete match their skis, while staying over the outside ski and building pressure. It is a kinesthetic exercise that allows the athlete to feel the forward and lateral roll of ankles and knees, and the simultaneous sensation of both knees working together, while building awareness of CoM positioning. This drill also teaches the athlete to be precise and wait for the ski to come around through the proper mechanics.

Hands on hips helps the athlete match their skis, while staying on the outside ski and building pressure. It is a kinesthetic exercise that allows the athlete to feel the flesion movements and muscle engagement of the entire leg, further building awareness of CoM positioning. Holding hands on hips impedes the athletes's ability to utilize their upper body to assist in the turn initiation or to maintain dynamic balance. The drill allows the athlete to feel appropriately "stacked" with their ankles, knees, hips and shoulders in alignment, achieving dynamic balance throughout the turn.

Arms in Various Positions, challenge the upper body stability and promotes dynamic leg mobility while performing linked turns. These drills build on Hands on Knees and Hands on Hips drills and allow the athlete to explore engagement of their core, heightening their awareness of CoM positioning.

Pole Jumpers teach fore/aft pressure skills, utilizing flexion, extension and core stability. It also reinforces the need for a balanced athletic position in an active environment, teaches coordination of foot movement using both skis at the same time and promotes gliding skis.

This drill further challenges upper body stability and dynamic leg movement in the context of executing carved short radius turns, while the athlete feels the flexion movements and the muscle engagement of legs and core. The poles "frame" a point further down the fall-line, which the athlete keeps in view, in order to limit arm movements and assists in developing kinestetic awareness of upper and lower body separation in the transverse plane.

This drill can be used to introduce the concept of angulation. Keeping the arms parallel to the slope helps the athlete feel a "pinching" sensation at the waist on the outside of turn enhancing awareness of CoM positioning. Airplane Wings is used to promote the athletes ability to focus pressure to the outside ski through matching the shoulders to the slope. Exaggerating the movement out and over the outside ski with the upper body promotes balance on the edge of the outside ski.

This drill promotes upper body stability and dynamic leg movement in the context of executing carved short radius turns while the athlete feels the flexion movements and the muscle engagement of legs and core. Dragging the pole tips on the snow limits arm movement and assists and maintaining upper body discipline.

This drill promotes later and fore/aft balance with use of feet, ankle, and knees for pressure control and exaggerated edge set. The progressive edge set and gradual release movement sequence requires precise edge pressure, balance athletic position and stable body position.

Garlands reinforce edging and pressure management in a fluid motion. The repetition of edge to flat to edged skis in a traverse allows the athlete to focus on and first feel the skis engage and turn uphill, then release and let tips glide into the fall line before engaging the edges and turning uphill again.

This drill reinforces the movement mechanics of precise edge engagement. The edge set and release motion sequence requires exact edge pressure, balance athletic position and disciplined upper body.

One ski skiing promotes edging control, balance, and use of independent feet. Skiing on one ski eliminates the balance advantage of being able to move from ski to ski. This drill demands that the athlete adjust their center of mass over one ski only. It requires adjustment of pressure fore/aft as well as regulation of pressure throughout the turn.

This Drill develops leg rotation, the ability to turn the lower body separate from the upper body. The complete stop allows the athlete to develop their athletic balance and feel the edging force needed to come to a complete stop within a prescribed distance.