Movements Used in Skiing

When training ski instructors, experts at the Professional Ski Instructors of America, PSIA, identify balance, edge, pressure and rotational skills as the primary movements of skiing. These fundamental skills form the basis of the carved ski turn. Deficiency in any of these skills affects your ability to perform the others.

Balancing Movements

Forward and backward balance, which instructors call fore/aft, transfers your weight back and forth from your toes to your heels. These movements are extremely subtle. When you perform correctly, observers riding the lift notice your turn, not your weight shift. As you begin your turn, shift your weight toward your toes and press your shins against your boots. In the middle of the turn, your weight shifts toward the center of your foot, and coming out of the turn, your weight shifts very slightly to the back onto your heels.

Lateral Balance

When you see Olympic champions like Bode Miller skiing with one ear practically in the snow, they are demonstrating an extreme version of lateral balance. This type of balance enhances your ability to get high up on your ski edges, thereby increasing your speed and control. Like all skiing movements, lateral balance begins in the feet and ankles, and involves a seamless, edge to edge weight shift. Novice skiers, who lack sufficient lateral balance, often perform sequential weight shifts, with one ankle leading and the other following. In contrast, experts shift the weight of both feet simultaneously.

Edging and Pressure

Edging has a direct relationship with lateral balance. When you want to turn your skis to the right, for example, you shift your weight so that you balance on the little toe of your left foot and the big toe of your right foot. Weight shifts in the legs and hips, which happen after you shift the weight in your feet, increase the pressure on your ski edges and help you carve a smooth, tight turn.

Rotary

Rotary movements control the direction of the turn. Bob Barnes, PSIA Rocky Mountain examiner and author of "The Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing" demonstrates rotational movements to his trainees during apres ski. Barnes stands on a bar stool, centers his upper body and rotates his feet from side to side. As a skier's feet rotate, the upper body should remain in what instructors call a countered position, which keeps the upper body facing directly down the hill toward the fall line. Rotary movements work in conjunction with carving, but in powder and mogul skiing -- usually performed without carving -- it is the primary movement skill.