We spoke to top ski instructor on Maison Sport, Lizzy B. about three easy ways that you can improve your skiing by yourself. Lizzy talks us through three common errors that many skiers will experience and how to self-correct these issues. If you’d like to see the full video where Lizzy guides you through these corrections make sure to check out our YouTube channel today!
STEP ONE | Get more grip
Do you ever feel that you’re losing grip throughout the turn and your ski slips away from you?
The reason for this is often that your weight has just gone onto the inside ski. There’s no pressure on the outside ski, there’s no weight on it, so when you go to do your turn it can’t bite the snow and you lose grip from your outside ski, it just slips away. You may have felt this before, especially if you hit a patch of ice.
How to fix this!
The easiest fix that you can try yourself is to keep the outside hand low and drive it down towards the snow and this will help keep pressure and grip over the outside ski so it doesn’t slip away. When you successfully drive your outside hand over the outside ski you should feel your skis grip a lot easier and you will achieve a well rounded off turn.
STEP TWO | Control your speed
Do you ever find that your skis pick up more and more speed as you’re heading down the hill and you struggle to stay on top of them?
Most often, the reason for this is, you set a rhythmical corridor but as you set off down the mountain, especially on a steeper slope, you don’t come around the hill enough or close the turns (which would allow you to use the terrain to slow down). Instead you start to direct the skis further and further down the slope and you will just start to pick up more and more speed.
The easiest thing to do is to make sure at the end of the turn that you come right around the hill to finish the turn, making sure to let your skis come across the slope before you start the new turn. So this means creating more of a C shape turn at the end of the turn. Just by closing the turns off, you will feel so much more in control and so much more rhythmical. With the C shape turns you’ll manage to gain really good control by using the terrain to help slow you down and set yourself up to be in the perfect position to start the new turn again, rather than the ski’s running away without you.
STEP THREE | Rest your legs
Do you ever feel that when you ski down a slope you get around seven or eight turns in and suddenly you’ve got a really bad thigh burn and you just have to come to a stop?
The reason for this is that often we back off the slope a little bit and our whole position comes back. Our calves rely on the back of the boots for some support and it means that we stay in this constant low squat position and our thighs never get a chance to come up and rest.
When you’re skiing down try to focus on moving forwards in your transition between your turns, this way your thighs catch a break and it’s much easier on your legs to keep skiing.
You want to focus on not holding a static position, and make sure you’re coming up in the transition between turns so that your legs get a chance to move and it reduces the fatigue giving you a chance to rest.
These exercises are a great way that you can improve your skiing by yourself. Don’t forget if you want some extra tips and support make sure to book a lesson on Maison Sport. You will find the fantastic Lizzy B. available to book in Courchevel.
