Two
Footed Parallel Carving
Report from the PSIA-C Mini-Academy with Dave Lyon
Wild Mountain, February 2003
By: David A. Cook
PSIA-C Education/Certification Staff Member
Day
One
The 2003 Mini-Academy was graciously hosted by Wild Mountain, near Taylors Falls, MN. Our group spent the two days under the guidance of PSIA Demonstration Team Member Dave Lyon. The other group was coached by D-Team Member Emeritus Jay Evans.
Dave is the director and head coach of Lyon Ski School at Steven’s Pass Ski Area, WA. He has an extensive World Cup and US Ski Team racing, coaching and teaching resume. He has a simple, straight forward approach for solving complex skiing problems. He had us all skiing better by the end of both days, carving with both skis.
It’s always a special treat to spend two days in the student role, not having to worry about what task to do next. I take notes during these days, with the expectation of presenting an article for our instructors that highlights Dave’s presentation. I hope you will be able to use some of these tasks or thoughts in your own teaching or personal skiing.
A review of the Mini-Academy articles written over the years reveals the developments and maturation in the D-team’s thinking about what makes up good skiing. There are individual team member differences, but the overall evolution in their on-hill presentations and printed materials becomes evident from these academies.
After the usual introductions and warm-up runs, Dave asked us to consider how we know where we are standing on our skis. What tells us where we are? How do we know when we are in or out of balance? Dave went on to state that he believes we are never in static balance. We are constantly fighting and moving to accomplish dynamic balance in the future.
After a few runs we attempted to answer these questions. One instructor mentioned that he could tell where he was on his skis by the feel of his legs against his boots. Another mentioned the feeling along the bottom of his feet. For another, it was the visual feedback and her hand position that helped tell her where she was over her skis. It seemed we had a lot of variety in how we determined whether we were in or out of good balance.
Dave mentioned that we use all of these inputs to determine where we are standing on our skis. He asked us to consider that the farther away from the soles of the feet we feel to sense if we are in balance, the more input we need from all of those body parts above the bottom of our feet. Foot feelers only need feedback from their feet to determine where they are standing (in or out of balance) and the feedback is quite fast. Those that rely on sensations above the feet need more feedback and the reaction is generally slower, less refined.
Dave went on to discuss our stance as having a “Functional Home Base.” Home base is a place that all movements revolve around—it relates to standing over our feet. All balancing, edging, rotary and pressuring movements can originate from there. Your Functional Home Base is how you stand over your feet, to balance toward the future, to react with either foot to control your skis with balancing, rotary, pressuring or edging movements. When you examine a skier with a good functional home base, you will note that the shaft of his femur (the long leg bone between the hip and knee) points toward his toes. This is a position of skeletal and muscular strength. When the shaft of the femur points toward the skier’s ski tips, this is a stance of weakness, relying more on the muscles to remain upright and “sitting back”.
Dave mentioned that we should feel some tension in our ankles to prevent over-flexing of the knees and waist. There is a distinction between having dynamic ankle movement verses static ankle flex. Dynamic ankle movement has tension that offers control, whereas static ankle flex tends to be too loose or tight and offers little ability to react or feel feedback. Static ankle flex may also have us pressed too much against the front of our boots.
Dave asked us to consider the next point as we skied during the day: “If a body is in motion it can react to changes. If the body is static, it first must move in the opposite direction to react.”
Our first skiing task was to grasp our poles mid-shaft, holding them parallel to the snow. Statically, he had us twist the uphill half of our body, until the uphill hand was over the downhill ski tip. “That is all the counter you will ever need!” What a great visual!
He encouraged us to let our legs ski (act) and let the upper body go for the ride (react). He asked us to show this extreme counter (uphill hand over the downhill tip) before we started our next parallel turn. We were directed to move our thighs through the corridor of the parallel-held poles—a diagonal extension. We were to stay countered as we switched from one turn to the other. Chewing gum or rubbing our heads was not allowed. The terrain was gentle, but the focus was intense.
After a few practice runs he guided us to hold our hands further forward (that would be further down hill if we are correctly countered) and move our thighs toward our extended hands. He wanted us to exaggerate to engage both ski tips with leg leverage. When he demonstrated this statically, the tails of both skis left the snow as he extended toward his hands, and the tips of his skis bent with exaggerated forward leverage. We exaggerated this while moving, then toned it down, keeping our ski tails on the snow.
Next tip: “At the top of the turn, when you extend your thighs toward your extended, countered hands, keep your uphill foot behind the body, but on edge. Don’t pull the outside foot back, move past it!” Moving the upper body ahead at the start of the turn and keeping it there, meant never having to catch up. With this tip the skis easily shaped the upper half of the turn with more carving.
“Now reaching forward (countered) with your hands, move your thighs toward your hands ahead of both feet; both feet equally edged.” With this tip, a lot of practice and further mental refinement, the group generally was making linked parallel tracks with both skis, leaving edged, carved two-ski marks in the snow! We were still on gentle terrain.
Even with our shaped skis, efficient and accomplished skiers must bend the front half of their skis as they start a new turn. They move their body forward to create pressure, so the bending, edged ski will turn from its tip, with very little steering and no skidding. A forward move first, as part of lateral movement. The forward component for future balancing and leverage, with the lateral component as edging—a forward lateral movement.
We were reminded of our functional home base stance. It was hard to stay ahead of our feet and to flex through our ankles rather than settling back in our hips. “Keep the femurs pointing toward our ski tips,” was a frequent reminder.
We skied quite a few practice runs to cement what we learned, getting tips, encouragement and feedback from Dave and others in the group. The result was a lot of carved, two-ski tracks from top to bottom, carved from the group.
During our practice runs we gripped our poles in the normal way and were encouraged to swing the basket in the same direction that the body moves. This easily blended into swinging both poles together, the double pole swing that so many racers use. The hands were held forward and countered, the beginning of the swing of both poles occurred during the extension while moving our thighs toward our hands.
For those who had a tendency to cross their hands in front of their body when swinging their poles, Dave had this solution, “Turn the pole grip 180o so the finger imprints of the grip are in the palm of your hand.” For unknown reasons this helps many skiers from crossing their hands in front as they swing their poles. A few in the group knew this tip and it helped a few “hand crossers” who hadn’t heard this before.
Next we linked shorter radius turns with the same effort when we were holding our poles in the middle, parallel to the snow. Dave asked us to consider skiing from home base to home base, or from fall-line to fall-line. All of our movements were in the same direction, with our center of mass moving down the hill from fall-line to fall-line. The center of mass moves past equally edged feet. This movement was guided by our feet, from home base to home base. There was a forward diagonal extension with weight redistribution, not total weight transfer from foot to foot.
Shuffling gave us a nice change in pace. This initially did not appear to be connected to the previous task, but the connection became evident. We were to shuffle and link parallel turns as if we were walking. That is, to move our legs under our hips to get a functional stance. To turn our skis while we were making these long leg shuffles, we had to steer or guide our feet. We all had a tall stance to do this big, long leg shuffle, and we could easily steer our feet to turn. We were reminded to shuffle the whole leg, a long leg, and keep our femurs pointed near our toes. This stood us up further. We were encouraged to keep this femur point going toward our toes at all phases of the turn, and not to settle back in our hips. That was tough, especially for us butt droppers!
For us butt droppers, Dave asked us to slowly jog and ski. Trying it was more important than mastering it. We “jogged” as if we were “jumping” from one foot to the other. To “jog” through the turns, you can’t “jump” if you are settled back in the hips. You must be settled or flexed over the ankles. This allowed us to jog from one leg to the other and still turn our feet in all phases of the turn. We had to connect the “jogging” to the “femur point.”
Next Dave had us begin our turns by shuffling our long legs into the fall-line and make parallel turns out of the fall- line. When we stopped the shuffling, we were to aggressively tighten the arc by edging both feet. Long leg shuffling kept us tall to the fall-line, then ankle flex to edge both skis, while remaining stacked ahead of the ankle with the upper body, while we carved through the finish. He wanted us to edge both skis equally with a wide track stance. Equal edging effort of both feet, not necessarily equal weighting of both feet.
These turns were nice and felt similar to what we had done earlier in the day. We made a lot of runs over different terrain to cement what we practiced.
Dave had us only do two tasks the entire day. The first was holding our poles parallel to the snow with moving toward our hands. Shuffling was the other task. For each task we skied a half or full run. He offered comments to better our performance, and then we skied it again, sometimes for several runs. He did not have us bounce from one task to another. He introduced another refinement to the same task, and then let us practice it for a run or two. He offered suggestions to improve our performance, then we practiced it some more. He would increase the difficulty of the task in small steps, allowing plenty of practice time with each increment. He introduced concepts on shallower terrain, and then moved us to steeper runs. This increased our understanding, performance and mastery. It was like savoring an entire pint of your favorite sinful ice cream, enjoying it slowly, one flavor, one spoonful at a time. Trying to mix in 31 different flavors into the pint would only spoil the experience. Why do so many instructors teach the 31 flavor way?
Day
Two
We started our second day by repeating the first, holding our poles in the middle and extending both thighs toward our countered hands. We were reminded to extend our thighs past both edged feet and keep those femurs pointed toward our tips. Dave asked us to try to feel the same sensations on both feet and boots at the entry and exit from the fall line. Most of us kept our torso ahead of both feet and did not have to make a big move forward. The group showed much less forward and backward rocking. The group members were centered ahead of their feet within our Functional Home Base!
We skied a lot of full runs. Dave guided us to match the sensation on both shins and feet—not equal weight but equal sensations.
As we moved to steeper terrain, he suggested that we hold our poles parallel to the snow with equal height above the snow. We did this by increasing lower leg edging (action) and upper body angulation (reaction). This got our shoulders level to the slope. We had to be reminded about the femur point again.
As the slope and turn dynamics increased, we had to tighten the core of our mid-body. Mid-body (core) tension about our stomach and lower back muscles, and increased angulation were necessary to hold our poles parallel and at an equal height from the snow. This mid-body tension was a reaction to the increased edging activity with both feet. Adding this mid-body tension gave the upper body the strength and stability needed for the legs to work against.
Eventually we returned to holding our poles by the grips, swinging them into the turn as we extended, just like we did on the previous day. The group’s skiing refinements were truly amazing. Most were making precise two-ski, carved tracks from top to bottom. Our functional home base was well established in our stance. That was a stance with our upper body staying ahead of our edged feet—feet with equal sensations, not equally weighted. We were flexing through our ankles and not settling back in our hips—femurs pointing toward our toes!
We moved to short radius turns. The only adaptation we made beside the quickness of the turns was to hold our hands wider apart and swing our poles further downhill. A few had to be reminded to swing their baskets closer to the snow to prevent them from standing up and back as they swung.
We skied a lot of runs practicing what we had learned. This practice time was necessary to integrate the performance changes we desired. Jumping to other tasks would have only left us confused. What a great two days!
Later in the day, Dave skied us through his Inter-Ski presentation. A fun bit of play, drill and adventure. Dave addressed how we present in a coaching mode rather than a telling or teaching mode. It was quite enjoyable.
Writing and reading do not adequately express the full delights and benefits this academy provides. To enjoy the entire Mini-Academy experience, you must sign up for this year’s event! J
The event often fills early, so sign up before the New Year holidays.
Now
For My Post Script
Viewed from the side, a skier’s ankle, knee and hip joints should all be slightly and equally flexed. The angles formed in front of the ankles, behind the knees and in front of the waist should all be similar. The femurs should point toward the toes without a feeling of balancing on, or ahead of the toes. He should be balanced over the center of his arch in this tall, yet slightly flexed stance. If he has to settle back in the hips and have his femurs point toward the tips of his skis to balance over his arch, he may have a problem with for and aft alignment
Many of the boot manufactures are increasing the forward lean in boots to help skiers get forward. They are also increasing the internal ramp angle in boots to help skiers get and stay forward. Binding manufactures are also trying to help skiers get forward by elevating the heel higher than the toe. I think many have gone too far.
Ramp angle refers to the angle from horizontal that your foot rests on the bottom of the boot. If you raise the footbed at its heel, the ramp angle is increased. If you lower the heel or raise the toe area of the footbed, the ramp angle is decreased. Some of our bindings also have the heel higher than the toe (delta angle). If you remember Earth Shoes, they had a negative ramp angle. High heels have a very positive ramp angle.
When the boot’s ramp angle is too high and the forward lean is too great, it is impossible for the skier to stand erect, slightly flexed in the ankles, knees and hips, with his femurs pointing toward his toes and stay in balance over the center of his feet. This person will likely be balancing over or even ahead of his toes if he stands erect. He compensates by dropping his butt back, over-flexed at the knees and hip, pointing his femurs toward the ski tips. Now he is in balance by using more muscles and less skeletal alignment, which is more fatiguing in addition to being lower, and a less flexible stance.
This over-flexed person appears to be over flexed in the ankle as well. The ankle is usually flexed minimally within the boot. It is the increased ramp angle and forward lean on top of the binding’s raise heal that gives the illusion of excessive ankle flex. The knees and hips over flex to compensate and adjust the balance over the arch.
To see this for yourself, try the following. Take a two foot long stiff board and place it flat on the floor next to a full length mirror. In your shorts and flat tennis shoes, stand on this board, flex all joints equally, and see if your femur points near or slightly ahead of your toes as you are balanced centered over your arch. Make sure you are standing sideways from the mirror so you can check your stance.
Now place a 1-2 inch book under the back of the board to simulate lifting the heals. Stand equally flexed in all joints. If the joints are evenly flexed, and the femurs are pointing slightly ahead of the toes, most of us will be balancing with our weight over our toes. To get balanced over the arch, you have to settle back in the hips and the femurs will be pointing 3-4 feet in front of the toes, the “butt drop” syndrome!
Next place the 1-2 inch book under the front of the board to simulate lowering the heals. Stand equally flexed in all joints. If the joints are evenly flexed, and the femurs are pointing slightly ahead of the toes, most of us will be balancing with our weight over our heals. To get balanced over the arch, you have to move the hips slightly forward and the femurs will be pointing at or inches in front of the toes.
To help skiers improve forward alignment with a taller less flexed stance, the following should be considered. First use the forward lean adjustment of the boot and upright it. To further reduce the boot’s forward lean, remove any rear spoiler from the back of the boot, and fill in the tongue area with shims or padding to get a tight fit of the cuff to the lower leg. Keep the upper boot strap tight and consider adding a separate power strap. Ski these changes with a coach; this may be all that is needed.
Next the ramp angle can be lowered by grinding the heel of the footbed down or placing thin shims to raise the toes. Some need to do both and hollow out the toe box within the boot to make more room for the lifted toes. Finally, consider lowering the binding heel or raising the binding toe piece.
Consult your boot doctor, boot and binding rep, or a person you trust with forward alignment before attempting these tasks. A few of the better skiers I have worked with over the last two years could not stay in balance over their arch while keeping their femurs pointing toward their toes while turning. They could not consistently carve with both feet and stay in balance until some of these changes were made. I personally benefited from making these changes.
Most of us are good at recognizing the over- or under-edged skier and can advise appropriate lateral canting or cuff alignment. I think many of us are missing the forward/aft alignment problems. Or maybe it’s just me who has been missing this. J
David Cook
Please send any comments to dcookdds@SmilesAtFrance.com