I’m 68 years old and started learning to ski at 64. I watch Deb at night and apply what I learn the next day. This post has been a blast, paying attention to my hips is taking me to new levels. I’m having more fun with better control. I’m also noticing my inside ski coming in more parallel to my outside ski because my hips are better aligned.
If there ever was a channel worthy of over 100,000 subs and a Silver Play Button plaque, this is it. Nice to see it getting closer to that number. I appreciate you sharing your expertise with us and your teaching gifts. Wish I had this info years ago, started late in skiing (a great sport that connects you with nature probably more than any other), recent winters here in the NY Metro burbs have brought local ski areas not much more than ice.
I learned to carve in the 80's on 210 GS skis that must have had a 50M turn radius. That turn radius limited the ability for perfectly connected carved turns. Then the shaped skis came along. Now I got to play with body movements all while riding a "rail" at speeds that weren't going to kill me if I crashed. Oh boy! Experimenting with edge angles, angulation at the waist (yes, hips obviously), twisting my upper body both into and out of a turn, transferring weight fore and aft, bending my knees more or less, where I moved my arms and on and on... Personally, I concluded that the hips, waist, core combination was in many ways its own "compartment" but always the link between the upper and lower body. So much fun Deb, to hear your interpretation of what's going on with our hips and I loved how you prefaced it in saying how this was somewhat new territory. Our bodies are miracles and it's fun to play with miracles, especially miracles on skis!
You keep delivering Deb! This aligns so much with recent improvements in my skiing. Told by a USSA coach/friend "you're leaving your outside hip behind" last year and focusing on driving it forward made a dramatic improvement in my skiing. I hadn't really thought of it as skiing more square, but in fact as he confirmed today when I shared this video with him, yup. "Driving the outside hip forward with the turn, i.e. squaring up the hips is very important to me and all (really good) skiers." He said.
I suspect that you had your outside leg straightened/locked out and the hip instruction was a mnemonic to get you to bend the downhill knee more and even up the skis (better weight distribution to bend the outside ski). The outside hip pointer still trails (as does the shoulder), just not as much (as Deb notes vis-a-vis facing the chest down the fall line).
Deb this is pure gold! Very experimental and it is good for ski racers and higher level instructors. Once someone mastered the core foundation of skiing, only then they earn the right to break the rules, which is using the hip. Because the thing is, sometimes things gets over generalised throughout the years and they just want things to be a little more safer. But once people get into the deep end of skiing theories, then we realize we don't actually know anything about skiing. I'm using this knowledge to get more power in my turns!
As a boot fitter and C.Ped for nearly 30 years, it is my opinion that there is no-one who would not benefit from a sound understanding of the Gait Cycle. As the human body carries the head over the most variable terrain, and does so as a total system, understanding how that happens (Gait Cycle) greatly illuminates how the body works in any movements. There is, or at least was, a sign on the wall at Nike Corp and it wasn't "Just Do It" It was "If you have a body you're an athlete. An example, relevant to the clip at 6:55 - the three planes of movement C.Peds come to understand are the Sagittal, Coronal and Transverse. So glad you do these and I love the length and detail and more than anything is that you do this with someone. Thanks again!
I loved how Scott described his experience, I feel like I often have that feeling of not following my platform all the way tru my turn at high speed, then I end up a bit behind...
I want to sincerely compliment you for maintaining your intellectual curiosity and drive to experiment after such an extraordinary lifetime of highest-level skiing. I also want to compliment your courage for being willing to open the Pandora's box of openly discussing the hips. I would l like to contribute my own thoughts from exploring this subject over the past 53 years of teaching. A couple of times you said that the hips should align with the direction of travel and with the ski tips. During a turn, we cannot have both since, as you pointed out a few times, the necessary shortening of the inside leg will cause appropriate tip lead, and if we align the hips with that tip lead as I believe we should in medium to large turns (what I refer to as 'neutral counter'), our hips will not be facing the direction of travel but instead be facing slightly to the outside of the arc to match the tip lead. I like your idea of driving the hips around the turn but if that drive is transmitted efficiently to the skis through stabilizing tension, the hips will not lose their alignment with the ski lead since the skis will be driven around at the same rate that the hips are driving. From my eyes, this is what I saw being done so well in the best portions of this video. Lastly, thanks so much for busting the myth of keeping the upper body always facing downhill. No other false myth has done so much to prevent the average skier from achieving high-performance skiing. Thank you for openly busting this widespread false myth.
I made it into the background of one of Deb's videos! I got back into skiing last year; it's been fun to play with different movements and see what happens.
Been working a lot on separation in different environments this season. Moving the body over the skis and down the hill on steeps is not required on nice groomers. It almost becomes intrusive on my skiing. I’ve found allowing my edge to engage via my ankles and let my body follow suit in its natural plane especially on say blue groomers makes for a much more natural flow. It allows my upper body to become more dynamic and reactive. I’m not at your level Deb by a long margin, but significant progress has been made mentally for me with my muscle memory. Great content as always.
Scotts final turns using this technique and intent to use the hip to drive the turn were so much better than earlier - can't wait to explore this and see how it works - thanks for the thought provoking content as ever!
Thanks!! I always appreciate that Deb challenges not only my movements but my way of thinking. You, know, we start getting in trouble when we start thinking of skiing in absolutes.
@@scott.e.wiseman I've definitely fallen in to that trap, I've done a little instructing and when I was going through the level 2 stuff I definitely looked for "absolutes" to reference, thinking of short turns as having only one way to ski them and long turns as another very singular style, when in reality I feel there are many ways to get things done and they all blend from one to another. Some are more effect than others but it's definitely not as simple as A and B.
As an old racer, I love the feel of a clean arc, but I. have a bad habit of not completing my turns as much as I should, especially on steeper terrain, with the result that I am going way too fast for conditions in three or four turns. I have been playing around with using my hips a bit more at the end of the turn to better complete the turn by increasing pressure from the hips through the tip of the ski. The arc is still clean, but the turn shape is better. I plan to work more on it this winter. Thanks, Deb.
Been working this ever since I saw M. Hirscher using his hips to accelerate out of the turn, why he is often in the air in transition. What a zoom. Now to control the power. Thanks Deb.
Technically, Hirscher is releasing pressure (the slowing effort), and since you must pass through a neutral stance to get to the new turn, he ‘accelerates’ at that moment.
I find that keeping the hips more square, helps my skis pass in front of me to achieve this more rounded or C shape turn you are talking about. It's not that easy to Do on steeper terrain. I have to really work at IT. Very good explanation on a nebulous concept. Thumbs Up. The hips are probably the missing link of our skiing. Beeing more conscious about their movement or lack of, helps us digging deeper on our comprehension of skiing.
Very interesting and timely. I'll work on this when I get back to the hills. I am looking for a lesson on pole plants, as I just strained my rotator cuff by skiing over my own pole basket in moguls - ugh! Love your content! 🤩
This is exciting since this coincides with what I figured out about my own skiing when doing skill drills a few weeks ago. On an easy slope, I would lift up one leg (uphill ski) and try to have it tip forward while turning on my downhill ski. I realized that this was easier done on my right leg (downhill ski) but that when on my left leg as the downhill ski I would lose balance through the turn. To correct it I made sure my hip was not left behind and that it was keeping up with the turn. I am thinking this is similar to what you're talking about. I was not over rotating but more conscious of needing to get my hip to keep up with the turn - from there the ski arced nicely.
I think keeping the hips as part of the upper body when coaching leads to tipping and leaning in. After fixing my A-frame, my biggest next development recently was raising the inside hip early in the transition to keep it high through the turn, then I can still drop the hips down while keeping a strong stance with square pressure on the outside ski. Luckily I've always liked having a "swimming" motion to keep my hips square through the turn, kind of thinking of driving toward the new turn through the mid-end phases of the turn toward the transition.
Deb - these last two are some of the best you’ve ever done. I can watch your turns all day. Either you or another instructor you had talked about skiing to the corner of the box - whichever size you draw in your head. Tried that all last week and just doing that made the turns so much more intuitive - and also had the benefit of forcing you to square the hips with the turn as you discuss here while staying centered over the skis, but without having to overly manage rotation. Do I miss my 1980’s counter? Not a bit!,
Hi Deb, I have been skiing TSV for 20+ years. I have done lots of Ski Weeks. My 30 something daughter who lives in PNW is just getting back to skiing after being a snowboarder for 20 years. She asked "do you know any good videos," and I stumbled happily on yours. So much fun seeing these (I know I watched you on the hill making a bunch of these this year). So my comment on this hip video after watching a couple of the others. The thing I find so useful in the steeps is to move my old up uphill side hip to the "corner of the box". As I complete my old "J" turn, then letting that inside front part of hip drive to the corner of the box, the turn just happens. Anyways happy skiing.
10:26 Great video and I loved the change in Scott skiing as you worked with him on these ideas. I will not claim any great expertise as a ski instructor, still working on my level 2, I would like to say there is confusion about what is the hip the pointy bone that you feel at the level of your belt we commonly call the hip bone but the actual hip joint is much lower, where the leg folds into the trunk. So in fact the hip bone as it were is part of the upper body but the hip joint where the femur actually rotates is in the lower body Chris MD
Totally agree with you Deb! I believe that the hips tie the upper body and lower body together and that the hips naturally face the direction of travel. In all their sports running, biking, ice skating, the hips face the direction of travel.
Cool stuff, Deb! I've been playing with this for awhile as well while thinking about mobility through the core. When it's on, I feel pressure through the arch of the outside foot, AND pressure at the top of the femur head... ski's loaded, inside foot active and under, suspension's maintained, (no bracing, flexed through the joints), etc.... No matter how long we do this, it's always important for us to review and test our assumptions. It's great to see and hear you testing and thinking out loud ! Mark - Mission Ridge
This is a great discussion, thank you. I was mostly a tele skier but spent a few years working on the my alpine and got me L2. During that time, there was little mention of hips. When I got back to tele clinics, the examiners noted that my hips needed to get out of alpine mode (locked in with upper body) and back to tele and opening them up. I have been working on hip position in tele this season and found hip position to be more dynamic and not locked in with the torso. I am able to get the back ski more engaged without applying more pressure. I will get on my alpine later this week and will try different hip positions there as well.
The hips issues ! It is sooo fundamental and key !! My U16 2nd year kid used to make many podiums. But he's now down in the dumbs because of hips issues. He tends to "lock"his hips in each turn. Very tough to correct this.
Thanks for clarifying about the body position, especially the upper body facing down the hill. That concept alone is confusing when being taught in the intermediate level skiing lessons.
Hi Deb. Great video, you are right, the hips are a little explored grey area in general and needs more attention. Could you put out a few drills to isolate and focus on the different ways the hips work? Thank you. Annette Seiler
I started to pay more attention recently to the role of the hips in skiing and I wish I had done it sooner. They play such an important role in angulation, stacking, alignment and stability. Also, because we have less proprioceptive awareness of the hips, it’s important to develop awareness and learn how the hips move in the turn. Not to mention the importance of hip mobility and related core strength that are so important in providing the necessary joint stability especially at higher speed.
Hi Deb, Your videos are always such a great deep dive into the details that make great skiing. I can't wait to try and find this in my hips. I am heading to Taos next week for 3 weeks. It looks like you are back in Taos now. I will look for you on the new back side #4. Thanks 🙃
I always think hips are connecting between upper and lower body instead of part of either part. I found it's so similar to me doing boxing. When I do boxing, my punch starts from the ball of my feet to the knee, then extend my hip flexor and get into a stack position and finally the upper body to release the power. the hips turning (better say hip flexor extension) and stack position provide solid base for the punch and I think I can transfer the same concept to the outside leg movement.
nice comparison to boxing. Aside from skiing I play a lot of tennis, and the same applies there: a heavy forehand shot starts by pushing away from the ground then extending smoothly through the contact point. Upon completion of the shot, weight has been transferred from the outside foot to the inside foot. It is this weight transfer that makes the shot solid and heavy, which is what I am now seeking in my skiing too. Deb's video ski like you run makes for a key observation. In tennis, the amount of hip rotation varies from almost none, when moving forward through the contact point (closed stance) or a lot of rotation when moving forward is not desired or not an option (open stance). Oh, and I feel that hips are more lower body, because the hips control the legs through the heavy hip joints while the upper body is only connected through the thin and flexible spine....and any pair of jeans has a hip pocket
As a constructive critique, when using the term “square” it has to be relative to something, such as the direction of travel, the skiers skis, perhaps even the slope if considering a tilt in the frontal plane. It was eventually stated and demonstrated what was meant by squaring the hip (in this case relative to the skis) but it took some time and attention to get the concept that was be presented. As a cause / effect relationship, be careful to observe what happens to the action of the skis on the snow if the timing or intensity of the squaring action that’s described is too early or intense. I suspect that we’d see a washing of the tails and some resulting snow spray. As always, some great stuff to think about and practice with in our own skiing.
Thank you for this a very nice video. :) A tip that may work is to use clothes analogies to get spatial references. The sternum may be the tie and the pelvis the belt buckle. The trunk can only stay strong and allow subtle adjustments if the tie and the buckle face the same directions. In a way, hurdles sprinting show a similar phenomenon, the hips are going all over the place but the sternum and pelvis are barely twisting. An other way to experience this is to sit at the front of a tall/bar stool, feeling that both hips can twist quite freely without the pelvis bending or rotating all other the place.
Deb, I have been working on this exact thing with a couple of our Masters GITGs (Geezers in the Gates). I start with a large radius turn to get the feeling of the strength and power of the stacked alignment of the outside hip over the outside ski. I then go through a progression of shortening the radius but still feeling the strong position. Even though the feeling is similar the hips naturally become less square to the direction of travel of the skis and somewhat countered, especially as the skis hook up and provide rebound. There is a good video of Henrik Kristofferson training this way. He tended to ski much more square to his skis, even in slalom, than most others, especially Marcel Hirscher.
This is incredibly timely for me. Im sitting in the base lodge (at Sugarbush in vt) aa morning workout and what do you know! A Deb Strong lesson appears! Now I'm heading out to try and replicate this! Yay Deb! Thank you?
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong counter always needs to be created or uncreated naturally depending on the turn-shape and function of the turn. Without counter we will be on our inside skin eventually. Think of how we walk as humans. Front right foot 🦶goes forward, left arm counter balances us. This is created naturally.
Another great video Deb. I did notice at the beginning of each turn that Scott moves the tail of the new outside ski ever so slightly outward (mini-mini wedge) but your skis are perfectly parallel from the start of the turn through the finish. It's a minor move by Scott but noticeable. I still have ski instructor eyes!
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Just rewatched the video 8 months after and noticed the same slight wedge (abstem?). Do you think squaring the hips at the end of the turn amplifies that? What would you say the root cause is for Scott? Is it the timing of directing pressure foot to foot? Asking as this is relevant to my own habits.
@@eugenek4493 not sure exactly. It’s possible it just gets to awareness and intention. Could be a movement pattern Scott isn’t aware of while skiing, those are difficult to fix but he can do it. Lots of mileage with intention. To be more specific I would need to get back on snow with Scott. Not every issue requires a major correction elsewhere in the body. Just a thought for consideration
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong thank you for responding. Someone told me that my slight abstem was caused by my ingrained hip rotation. This is of course individual but I was interested if there were generalizations to be made. Sounds like such issues are individual and hip rotation is best done to the right degree at the right time.
Love this video. I have always thought of hips and shoulders being square to fall line. However this square with skis makes sense. Looking at you guys ski though I have noticed that shoulders become slightly square with ski( counter to fall line). Now how about on moguls... may not have enough time. I tend rotate around knees/ankles to smear a bit.
There is a lot of anatomy / kinesiology going on here. The femoroacetabular joints (hips) have 6 ranges of motion. They are ball and socket joints. In your video I don't actually see the true hip joints being referenced but instead there is pointing to the sacroiliac joints. (we always learned in school humans have 4 hips the 2 real ones and the two they call hips which are really the SI joints.) When you are talking about "counter" it's not the hips but instead the thoracic spine. The facet joint angles of the thoracic spine allow trunk rotation. The lumbar facet joints have very little if any rotation capabilities but are great for flexion and extension. Reference to the spine and skiing is very new territory. I have been a Chiropractor for 39 years and the spine is very important to skiiing but very complicated and well beyond discussion here.
I knew someone would be commenting about the anatomy surrounding the hips cuz clearly I don’t know it🤣🤣🤣🤣 what I know from that region of the body is what I experience and feel when I ski. Whatever you say here, if you are accurate, sounds good to me😉
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Get ahold of a human spine model and you will see the facet joint planes of motion and their angles. Then look at the 7 layers of back muscles and you can see how the muscles move those joints. It's really amazing especially when you bring in dynamic movement since everything must integrate with the CNS and PNS.
I think of it not as upper body and lower body but upper, lower and mid body where the hips are a dynamic link between upper and lower. In low effort skiing the hips are more part of the upper body, with high performance skiing there is much more movement in the lower spine so the hips are not as tightly coupled to the upper body.
Deb, I believe the higher and longer the mid turn G load lasts, the more the "hips" match the upper body. In other words, the spine cannot twist or bend much at higher loads and longer durations (like DH). In shorter duration turns (like SL or narrow chutes) the spine can twist and bend more to provide additional counter and angulation vs what the pelvis alone should do relative to the femurs.
based on my observation virtually all world cup ski racers are very strong in the hip and the thigh, and they dont over rotate the hip at any point turning the arc of their turn. the hip is close to the center of mass and the vertical axis of rotation. the hip is for power in the arc. the upper body is for balance and rotational control. while turn shape and steering can be controlled by driving the inside knee, or rotating the outside leg in the socket,
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong the term used by world cup skiers is "stacking the hips" over the outside arcing ski, which is hip angulation, if i understand, correctly.
1. When i am initiating a new turn, i need to step on the new outside ski and to transfer my weight on it. I feel that this action is initiated from the pelvis, because the unweighting of the inside ski starts from pelvis. Then i can drive my knee and roll my inside ankle to the pinki toe edge. 2. When my skis start turning, i need to counter the forces, and separate my lower and uper body, so i will allow my hip to go inside of the turn. 3. By driving the inside knee-leg i am transfering the force of gravity and using it to drive the outside ski. In this mechanics pelvis is the lever for transfer of this force. This is my opinion. Apreciate what you are doing.
The interesting thing here is near the beginning: back in the 1960s, we were all taught to counter rotate--shoulders perpendicular to that fall line!--without being told when that was overkill. The adjustment comes naturally through laziness, but it's nice not to feel guilty about it. :)
Watching this i realise i am over-rotating my hips towards the slope...the key is the context, as Deb said - when and where to do it. As far as i understand the body straight down to the slope has application for short rhythmic turns?
Now I have to find Deb in Taos and play. Movement through feel over suggested technique is more important due to the fact everyone is structurally unique.
My basic instruction is: solar plexus 45 degrees (downhill) to the skis, and head turned a further 45 degrees (downhill). This relaxes the hips, and allows for relaxed crossover and weight shift. In some ways, it’s akin to walking naturally.
I've been trying to duplicate the feeling during my dryland training, BOSU ball and other balance platforms. Now that you know the feeling could you find a way to duplicate it dryland so we can practice repetitive motion that's intuitive on the hill? Such great information, thank you!
Your channel is a great destination for ski nerds like myself, who seek the carve!! 🙏 On a different note, as a former Olympian and World Cup racer, what are your thoughts on the alarming number of crashes and injuries to a large number of high level racers this year (men and women)?? Seems to be off the charts this year and becoming difficult to watch. Holdener,Curtoni, Ortleib, St Germain,Fleckenstein, Grenier, Haehlen,Gisin, Suter, Shiffrin(?), Schwartz,Kilde, Pinterault,Kohler… I’m sure I missed some? Condensed schedule due to cancelled races and tech skiers doing more speed?
No one needs to teach something that “comes for free”. The inside ski leads as the inside knee and hip flex. But maintain ankle flexion! Teaching inside ski lead has lead folks astray and leads to a foot shuffle, not what we want.
Deb, I think some of your comments were directed at my question. If so, you and Scott have misunderstood what I am saying. Lead and Square hips can coexist, however this changes your ankle flexion and has you asking your inside ski for a different turn than you are asking the outside ski for. If you are standing on a slope perpendicular to the fall line you will have a natural lead of the uphill ski. If you are facing this lead line "countered" your shins will be contacting both boots the same. If you now square the hip the downhill shin presses further forward than the uphill shin. This seems to inactivate the inside leg. I'm currently working on a powerful forward hip movement and am thinking I am actually getting my hips square and it's causing my inside ski to be less involved. Today I tried moving powerfully forward in what I consider an appropriately countered position (very small counter, definitely not overcountered) to get into both boots/skis equally. Preliminarily feels right but jury is still out. Too many other distractions today to get a full feel of what it was doing. As always thanks for all your info!!!
Another thought provoking video Deb. Isn’t this just a way to allow your CM to move along the length of the ski? All the way to the finish of the turn?
Squaring the hip same or different as pulling the feet back? They are different. They both help with Foreaft balance with the ski yet they are different ways to go about it
anatomically, the hip is a joint, in this case the interface between femur and pelvis. it's hard to develop proprioception while holding an amorphous concept of the body part in question. if you walk straight ahead, you will recruit rotation in the hip socket, and there will be an accompanying travel in the pelvis ... but 'you' will still be square. (to walk like frankenstein's monster, eliminate rotation in the hip.) this same hip rotation is involved in what deb calls the tip lead you get for free ... it's what enables the body to adapt to standing on a slope or an edged ski ... it's what enables the body to create angulation, and to move laterally without falling inside. without it, any movements initiating in the feet are greatly inhibited. to prioritize the orientation of the pelvis to the slope, is to dis-integrate the pelvis from its role of collecting forces that run through the spine. so the proprioception we're looking for is feeling the energy of the turn transmitted through the spine, and where we feel that is in our feet. when a skier experiences that sensation, and wants to recreate it, then they have a goal which will guide them to bring their pelvis back into an integrated, natural ( HEALTHY !! ) alignment. unsurprisingly, when energy is being transmitted into the snow effectively ... to the outside observer the pelvis is seen to maintain a stable relationship with the slope. of course it doesn't help the proprioception challenge that the musculature of the pelvis is opaque to the modern western human. learning to recruit pelvic muscles, including the pelvic floor, in both standing and sitting, will absolutely go miles toward a skier's ability to dynamically maintain their balanced posture throughout a ski turn.
Thank you very much for the contribution here with your comment. Cooper Puckett talks about the pelvic floor in the video that I did with him recently. The Cooper Puckett video.
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong WOW cooper !! love how he's just like ... uh, yeah the hips need to move through the turn, because that's where your power comes from. between the two of you, it's clear that the hips are their own, independent zone. seriously, go back to the title graphic and extend that middle oval from belly button to mid-thigh !! i'm left to picture our rotational mobility at every vertebra along the spine. we can't maintain balance in a dynamic environment when locked or braced in any of our joints ... and that principle must absolutely apply to the spine !!
Hello Deb, your videos have consistently inspired me, especially your recent ones. I find your exploration of hip drive intriguing. You mentioned applying it throughout the turn, but could you please elaborate? Specifically, does the hip drive persist for the entire turn, or does it begin and end at certain points while winding and unwinding occur during the transition?
Ya, like walking or running I view the ski turn as a continuous cycle of motion from one turn to another. A “start and end” or an exchange as the two legs, joints, hip area take on different yet complimentary roles. That exchange generally occurs somewhere through transition of the turn
As a ski pro part of my bread and butter was being able to take lazy east coast teenagers through the Talons Challenge at Beaver Creek before a late lunch. Often, because they're teens and don't want to stand around having a ski lesson inflicted upon them, they'd be right on my tails imitating my body positions and following my line exactly; so I made sure to telegraph near as possible to perfect bio mechanical efficiency while breathing through the nose. Because to ski so much vertical avec' bumps while being a out of shape low-lander, you HAVE to moderate your effort and be efficient, saving your energy for when the hill decides it's time for you to be agile and give a burst of energy. IMO the hips are a crucial component to get right, in order to ski both efficiently and strong, so I'm really enjoying your deep dive on em'. Thanks!.
Scott is a leftie, I'd bet. His left footed turns have a lot more shaping and "screlmpth" and his right footed turns have a lot more inside ski activation. There's something to all of us in terms of our "good side", but realizing what the "bad side" is doing can help both turn directions. For me, as a leftie, my left inside knee action is great, but my right inside knee can't quite get the same angulation and feels a bit foreign. This all traverses into our hips and our hip muscle mobility.
Trainers often advise moving up and forward during transitions to shift smoothly to the new outside ski. After watching this video, I believe I can achieve this without the rigid whole-body extension commonly suggested. Instead, maintaining a square alignment with the ski longer in the turn should work. The phrase "move up and forward in the transition" is overused and often misses the point. Your explanation made it clear that instructors sometimes emphasize isolated leg actions at the expense of integrating them with the upper body. Your transitions and core video with Veth clarifies the frequently misunderstood hip movements.
First thing important to understand is when movement analysis discusses "hips" they general mean the pelvis, not the hip joint. Read the first couple paragraphs on what the "hip" is here -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip. It's can mean the joint or the region. The joint is incorrect with respect to the discussion of a single body part and its position. And the region is incorrect because it refers to anatomy on both sides of the joint. So when we talk about "hip" position, is it upper or lower body? how square to the turn? we're really talking about pelvis. That does sound somewhat awkward so most instructors use the word "hips" to mean the pelvis area.
Fair enough. You know more than I do. The important thing is being clear as to what we’re talking about. I think my photo highlights the region. I hope so
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Please, there's no way no how you know more than I do. I love your videos. I'm a part-time LII. You know a gazillion times more than I do. ;-)
A very subtle inside hip movement automatically trims the tips of your skis resulting in a proper inside/outside “lead” relationship. No longer need to think of “pulling the lead foot back under you” which can ruin the flow and smooth connectivity in the turn sequence. 🤔WTF did I just say…🤦🏻♂️🤯🤷♂️😂😂😂🤷♂️
Come along for the ride. Lots to learn😉 it’s fun learning and getting better. You may prefer following someone who know their stuff. That’s good too. Have fun out there
I do not agree to many things you say in this video. It is well accepted by all medical experts that the hips are not part of the upper body. You can check this at any medical dictionary. The upper body refers to your arms, forearms, shoulders, chest and hands. Nothing else! The issue here is the term of "upper and lower body separation". This term has a wrong name, because what you need is never a separation between the upper and the lower body. Separation should be made between the legs and the whole torso, including the hips also. This is because your legs must turn together with your skis, but your whole torso should turn much less and this requires separated turning movements between your legs and the whole torso. It is of course possible to torn your shoulders much less or much more than your hips during ski-turns, but these kind of "separation" will make your torso less stable and there will not be a good ski-turn if you turn your shoulders separated from your hips. The square you talk about happens only at the apex point of your turns. At this point you should have no ski-lead and no separation at all. This means that your torso faces the same direction that your skis are directed to. Separation means that there is a difference between the direction of your skis and your torso. This difference is highest when you start a carving turn, it is zero during the apex and it increases during the transition.
The hips are the powerhouse of the body. You should look into Jiu Jitsu concepts of the hips, spine and shoulder "H" frame/alignment. The pinning of the hips and/or shortening the legs and restricting movement /power of hips can be applied to skiing too.. All about biomechanics and strength from structure. As always shoulders and legs should be actively relaxed with the connection being made through a strong core. Thanks for your videos.. Ski safe
Would like to know how can you have that hole piste for yourself. I mean its the middle of winter and those lines look cool and yet its only you and him on. Whats going on?
I’m 68 years old and started learning to ski at 64. I watch Deb at night and apply what I learn the next day. This post has been a blast, paying attention to my hips is taking me to new levels. I’m having more fun with better control. I’m also noticing my inside ski coming in more parallel to my outside ski because my hips are better aligned.
Cool!!!!!!💪💪
Good for you Barry!!
If there ever was a channel worthy of over 100,000 subs and a Silver Play Button plaque, this is it. Nice to see it getting closer to that number. I appreciate you sharing your expertise with us and your teaching gifts. Wish I had this info years ago, started late in skiing (a great sport that connects you with nature probably more than any other), recent winters here in the NY Metro burbs have brought local ski areas not much more than ice.
Thank you. Pass your thoughts along. Thanks for the support😉💪
I learned to carve in the 80's on 210 GS skis that must have had a 50M turn radius. That turn radius limited the ability for perfectly connected carved turns. Then the shaped skis came along. Now I got to play with body movements all while riding a "rail" at speeds that weren't going to kill me if I crashed. Oh boy! Experimenting with edge angles, angulation at the waist (yes, hips obviously), twisting my upper body both into and out of a turn, transferring weight fore and aft, bending my knees more or less, where I moved my arms and on and on... Personally, I concluded that the hips, waist, core combination was in many ways its own "compartment" but always the link between the upper and lower body. So much fun Deb, to hear your interpretation of what's going on with our hips and I loved how you prefaced it in saying how this was somewhat new territory. Our bodies are miracles and it's fun to play with miracles, especially miracles on skis!
You keep delivering Deb! This aligns so much with recent improvements in my skiing. Told by a USSA coach/friend "you're leaving your outside hip behind" last year and focusing on driving it forward made a dramatic improvement in my skiing. I hadn't really thought of it as skiing more square, but in fact as he confirmed today when I shared this video with him, yup. "Driving the outside hip forward with the turn, i.e. squaring up the hips is very important to me and all (really good) skiers." He said.
Love it. Thanks for the comment
I suspect that you had your outside leg straightened/locked out and the hip instruction was a mnemonic to get you to bend the downhill knee more and even up the skis (better weight distribution to bend the outside ski). The outside hip pointer still trails (as does the shoulder), just not as much (as Deb notes vis-a-vis facing the chest down the fall line).
Deb this is pure gold! Very experimental and it is good for ski racers and higher level instructors. Once someone mastered the core foundation of skiing, only then they earn the right to break the rules, which is using the hip. Because the thing is, sometimes things gets over generalised throughout the years and they just want things to be a little more safer. But once people get into the deep end of skiing theories, then we realize we don't actually know anything about skiing. I'm using this knowledge to get more power in my turns!
Live your thoughts. Thanks for the comment
As a boot fitter and C.Ped for nearly 30 years, it is my opinion that there is no-one who would not benefit from a sound understanding of the Gait Cycle. As the human body carries the head over the most variable terrain, and does so as a total system, understanding how that happens (Gait Cycle) greatly illuminates how the body works in any movements. There is, or at least was, a sign on the wall at Nike Corp and it wasn't "Just Do It" It was "If you have a body you're an athlete. An example, relevant to the clip at 6:55 - the three planes of movement C.Peds come to understand are the Sagittal, Coronal and Transverse. So glad you do these and I love the length and detail and more than anything is that you do this with someone. Thanks again!
I loved how Scott described his experience, I feel like I often have that feeling of not following my platform all the way tru my turn at high speed, then I end up a bit behind...
I wish I had a ski coach like Deb :) incredible details...
I want to sincerely compliment you for maintaining your intellectual curiosity and drive to experiment after such an extraordinary lifetime of highest-level skiing. I also want to compliment your courage for being willing to open the Pandora's box of openly discussing the hips. I would l like to contribute my own thoughts from exploring this subject over the past 53 years of teaching. A couple of times you said that the hips should align with the direction of travel and with the ski tips. During a turn, we cannot have both since, as you pointed out a few times, the necessary shortening of the inside leg will cause appropriate tip lead, and if we align the hips with that tip lead as I believe we should in medium to large turns (what I refer to as 'neutral counter'), our hips will not be facing the direction of travel but instead be facing slightly to the outside of the arc to match the tip lead. I like your idea of driving the hips around the turn but if that drive is transmitted efficiently to the skis through stabilizing tension, the hips will not lose their alignment with the ski lead since the skis will be driven around at the same rate that the hips are driving. From my eyes, this is what I saw being done so well in the best portions of this video.
Lastly, thanks so much for busting the myth of keeping the upper body always facing downhill. No other false myth has done so much to prevent the average skier from achieving high-performance skiing. Thank you for openly busting this widespread false myth.
What we teach others is eternal. Thanks Deb for proving that point over and over
Ah thank you
I made it into the background of one of Deb's videos! I got back into skiing last year; it's been fun to play with different movements and see what happens.
Been working a lot on separation in different environments this season. Moving the body over the skis and down the hill on steeps is not required on nice groomers. It almost becomes intrusive on my skiing. I’ve found allowing my edge to engage via my ankles and let my body follow suit in its natural plane especially on say blue groomers makes for a much more natural flow. It allows my upper body to become more dynamic and reactive.
I’m not at your level Deb by a long margin, but significant progress has been made mentally for me with my muscle memory. Great content as always.
Scotts final turns using this technique and intent to use the hip to drive the turn were so much better than earlier - can't wait to explore this and see how it works - thanks for the thought provoking content as ever!
You are welcome😉
Thanks!! I always appreciate that Deb challenges not only my movements but my way of thinking. You, know, we start getting in trouble when we start thinking of skiing in absolutes.
@@scott.e.wiseman I've definitely fallen in to that trap, I've done a little instructing and when I was going through the level 2 stuff I definitely looked for "absolutes" to reference, thinking of short turns as having only one way to ski them and long turns as another very singular style, when in reality I feel there are many ways to get things done and they all blend from one to another. Some are more effect than others but it's definitely not as simple as A and B.
As an old racer, I love the feel of a clean arc, but I. have a bad habit of not completing my turns as much as I should, especially on steeper terrain, with the result that I am going way too fast for conditions in three or four turns. I have been playing around with using my hips a bit more at the end of the turn to better complete the turn by increasing pressure from the hips through the tip of the ski. The arc is still clean, but the turn shape is better. I plan to work more on it this winter. Thanks, Deb.
Been working this ever since I saw M. Hirscher using his hips to accelerate out of the turn, why he is often in the air in transition. What a zoom. Now to control the power. Thanks Deb.
Awesome
Technically, Hirscher is releasing pressure (the slowing effort), and since you must pass through a neutral stance to get to the new turn, he ‘accelerates’ at that moment.
I find that keeping the hips more square, helps my skis pass in front of me to achieve this more rounded or C shape turn you are talking about. It's not that easy to Do on steeper terrain. I have to really work at IT. Very good explanation on a nebulous concept. Thumbs Up. The hips are probably the missing link of our skiing. Beeing more conscious about their movement or lack of, helps us digging deeper on our comprehension of skiing.
Thanks Deb and Scott for some more realtime experimentation!
deb'! is so good! squaring up the hips', proper stance', pivot of knees and ankles and other things are good to know! ooo ya baby! thanks and peace😃
Very interesting and timely. I'll work on this when I get back to the hills. I am looking for a lesson on pole plants, as I just strained my rotator cuff by skiing over my own pole basket in moguls - ugh! Love your content! 🤩
This is exciting since this coincides with what I figured out about my own skiing when doing skill drills a few weeks ago. On an easy slope, I would lift up one leg (uphill ski) and try to have it tip forward while turning on my downhill ski. I realized that this was easier done on my right leg (downhill ski) but that when on my left leg as the downhill ski I would lose balance through the turn. To correct it I made sure my hip was not left behind and that it was keeping up with the turn. I am thinking this is similar to what you're talking about. I was not over rotating but more conscious of needing to get my hip to keep up with the turn - from there the ski arced nicely.
I think keeping the hips as part of the upper body when coaching leads to tipping and leaning in. After fixing my A-frame, my biggest next development recently was raising the inside hip early in the transition to keep it high through the turn, then I can still drop the hips down while keeping a strong stance with square pressure on the outside ski. Luckily I've always liked having a "swimming" motion to keep my hips square through the turn, kind of thinking of driving toward the new turn through the mid-end phases of the turn toward the transition.
Very interesting
I am out on the hill tomorrow and will play around with square hips. Thanks Deb.
Deb - these last two are some of the best you’ve ever done. I can watch your turns all day. Either you or another instructor you had talked about skiing to the corner of the box - whichever size you draw in your head. Tried that all last week and just doing that made the turns so much more intuitive - and also had the benefit of forcing you to square the hips with the turn as you discuss here while staying centered over the skis, but without having to overly manage rotation. Do I miss my 1980’s counter? Not a bit!,
Love it
Hi Deb, I have been skiing TSV for 20+ years. I have done lots of Ski Weeks. My 30 something daughter who lives in PNW is just getting back to skiing after being a snowboarder for 20 years. She asked "do you know any good videos," and I stumbled happily on yours. So much fun seeing these (I know I watched you on the hill making a bunch of these this year). So my comment on this hip video after watching a couple of the others. The thing I find so useful in the steeps is to move my old up uphill side hip to the "corner of the box". As I complete my old "J" turn, then letting that inside front part of hip drive to the corner of the box, the turn just happens. Anyways happy skiing.
You described very well! 💪💪👍👍
10:26 Great video and I loved the change in Scott skiing as you worked with him on these ideas. I will not claim any great expertise as a ski instructor, still working on my level 2, I would like to say there is confusion about what is the hip the pointy bone that you feel at the level of your belt we commonly call the hip bone but the actual hip joint is much lower, where the leg folds into the trunk. So in fact the hip bone as it were is part of the upper body but the hip joint where the femur actually rotates is in the lower body
Chris MD
Totally agree with you Deb! I believe that the hips tie the upper body and lower body together and that the hips naturally face the direction of travel. In all their sports running, biking, ice skating, the hips face the direction of travel.
Cool stuff, Deb! I've been playing with this for awhile as well while thinking about mobility through the core. When it's on, I feel pressure through the arch of the outside foot, AND pressure at the top of the femur head... ski's loaded, inside foot active and under, suspension's maintained, (no bracing, flexed through the joints), etc.... No matter how long we do this, it's always important for us to review and test our assumptions. It's great to see and hear you testing and thinking out loud ! Mark - Mission Ridge
Love it
Excellent video! Thank you so much, I always thought hips are part of the upper body and needs to stay stacked. Now time to unlearn and relearn :-)...
This is a great discussion, thank you. I was mostly a tele skier but spent a few years working on the my alpine and got me L2. During that time, there was little mention of hips. When I got back to tele clinics, the examiners noted that my hips needed to get out of alpine mode (locked in with upper body) and back to tele and opening them up. I have been working on hip position in tele this season and found hip position to be more dynamic and not locked in with the torso. I am able to get the back ski more engaged without applying more pressure. I will get on my alpine later this week and will try different hip positions there as well.
Keep players no with it. Awesome
The hips issues ! It is sooo fundamental and key !! My U16 2nd year kid used to make many podiums. But he's now down in the dumbs because of hips issues. He tends to "lock"his hips in each turn. Very tough to correct this.
The most difficult thing he will ever do is unlearn movement patterns
Thanks for clarifying about the body position, especially the upper body facing down the hill. That concept alone is confusing when being taught in the intermediate level skiing lessons.
Thanks!
Thank you for supporting the channel. Appreciated
I started doing this 2 weeks ago and it feels so much stronger at the top of the turn
Hi Deb. Great video, you are right, the hips are a little explored grey area in general and needs more attention. Could you put out a few drills to isolate and focus on the different ways the hips work? Thank you. Annette Seiler
Hi Annette, I will think on it😉 thanks for the comment
I started to pay more attention recently to the role of the hips in skiing and I wish I had done it sooner. They play such an important role in angulation, stacking, alignment and stability. Also, because we have less proprioceptive awareness of the hips, it’s important to develop awareness and learn how the hips move in the turn. Not to mention the importance of hip mobility and related core strength that are so important in providing the necessary joint stability especially at higher speed.
Good stuff
Hi Deb, Your videos are always such a great deep dive into the details that make great skiing. I can't wait to try and find this in my hips. I am heading to Taos next week for 3 weeks. It looks like you are back in Taos now. I will look for you on the new back side #4. Thanks 🙃
Awesome!
I always think hips are connecting between upper and lower body instead of part of either part. I found it's so similar to me doing boxing. When I do boxing, my punch starts from the ball of my feet to the knee, then extend my hip flexor and get into a stack position and finally the upper body to release the power. the hips turning (better say hip flexor extension) and stack position provide solid base for the punch and I think I can transfer the same concept to the outside leg movement.
Hmmm interesting thought… the hips being neither the upper or lower body, but the mid body!
nice comparison to boxing. Aside from skiing I play a lot of tennis, and the same applies there: a heavy forehand shot starts by pushing away from the ground then extending smoothly through the contact point. Upon completion of the shot, weight has been transferred from the outside foot to the inside foot. It is this weight transfer that makes the shot solid and heavy, which is what I am now seeking in my skiing too. Deb's video ski like you run makes for a key observation. In tennis, the amount of hip rotation varies from almost none, when moving forward through the contact point (closed stance) or a lot of rotation when moving forward is not desired or not an option (open stance). Oh, and I feel that hips are more lower body, because the hips control the legs through the heavy hip joints while the upper body is only connected through the thin and flexible spine....and any pair of jeans has a hip pocket
Good Stuff! Very interesting...Thanks Deb.
Worked on squaring hips today along with driving hip into turn (CP)! 🔥🔥🔥
As a constructive critique, when using the term “square” it has to be relative to something, such as the direction of travel, the skiers skis, perhaps even the slope if considering a tilt in the frontal plane. It was eventually stated and demonstrated what was meant by squaring the hip (in this case relative to the skis) but it took some time and attention to get the concept that was be presented. As a cause / effect relationship, be careful to observe what happens to the action of the skis on the snow if the timing or intensity of the squaring action that’s described is too early or intense. I suspect that we’d see a washing of the tails and some resulting snow spray. As always, some great stuff to think about and practice with in our own skiing.
Thanks for the comment
Thank you for this a very nice video. :)
A tip that may work is to use clothes analogies to get spatial references.
The sternum may be the tie and the pelvis the belt buckle.
The trunk can only stay strong and allow subtle adjustments if the tie and the buckle face the same directions.
In a way, hurdles sprinting show a similar phenomenon, the hips are going all over the place but the sternum and pelvis are barely twisting.
An other way to experience this is to sit at the front of a tall/bar stool, feeling that both hips can twist quite freely without the pelvis bending or rotating all other the place.
Great great video Deb!
Deb,
I have been working on this exact thing with a couple of our Masters GITGs (Geezers in the Gates). I start with a large radius turn to get the feeling of the strength and power of the stacked alignment of the outside hip over the outside ski. I then go through a progression of shortening the radius but still feeling the strong position. Even though the feeling is similar the hips naturally become less square to the direction of travel of the skis and somewhat countered, especially as the skis hook up and provide rebound. There is a good video of Henrik Kristofferson training this way. He tended to ski much more square to his skis, even in slalom, than most others, especially Marcel Hirscher.
Love it
This is incredibly timely for me. Im sitting in the base lodge (at Sugarbush in vt) aa morning workout and what do you know! A Deb Strong lesson appears! Now I'm heading out to try and replicate this! Yay Deb! Thank you?
Nice
Scott you ski well and seem to have more freedom in your skiing with counter which allows you better lateral separation .
Ok but clarify, counter occurring where? Then do you want to see counter for all turns and how much?
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong counter always needs to be created or uncreated naturally depending on the turn-shape and function of the turn. Without counter we will be on our inside skin eventually. Think of how we walk as humans. Front right foot 🦶goes forward, left arm counter balances us. This is created naturally.
@@Scandinavianalpscoffeeroasters I understand counter and I play with it all the best me. I think my video speaks for itself.
Another great video Deb. I did notice at the beginning of each turn that Scott moves the tail of the new outside ski ever so slightly outward (mini-mini wedge) but your skis are perfectly parallel from the start of the turn through the finish. It's a minor move by Scott but noticeable. I still have ski instructor eyes!
Yep that’s there for Scott to work on for sure
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Scott has a great attitude and is willing to learn. He will do very well as he learns more. His students will really like him!
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Just rewatched the video 8 months after and noticed the same slight wedge (abstem?). Do you think squaring the hips at the end of the turn amplifies that? What would you say the root cause is for Scott? Is it the timing of directing pressure foot to foot? Asking as this is relevant to my own habits.
@@eugenek4493 not sure exactly. It’s possible it just gets to awareness and intention. Could be a movement pattern Scott isn’t aware of while skiing, those are difficult to fix but he can do it. Lots of mileage with intention. To be more specific I would need to get back on snow with Scott. Not every issue requires a major correction elsewhere in the body. Just a thought for consideration
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong thank you for responding. Someone told me that my slight abstem was caused by my ingrained hip rotation. This is of course individual but I was interested if there were generalizations to be made. Sounds like such issues are individual and hip rotation is best done to the right degree at the right time.
Love this video. I have always thought of hips and shoulders being square to fall line. However this square with skis makes sense. Looking at you guys ski though I have noticed that shoulders become slightly square with ski( counter to fall line). Now how about on moguls... may not have enough time. I tend rotate around knees/ankles to smear a bit.
Hi Deb, what are the home exercises we can do to increase the hip mobility and independence from the legs - thanks for another great video lesson
I have seen a ton of videos on the topic of hip mobility. Check those out.
There is a lot of anatomy / kinesiology going on here. The femoroacetabular joints (hips) have 6 ranges of motion. They are ball and socket joints. In your video I don't actually see the true hip joints being referenced but instead there is pointing to the sacroiliac joints. (we always learned in school humans have 4 hips the 2 real ones and the two they call hips which are really the SI joints.) When you are talking about "counter" it's not the hips but instead the thoracic spine. The facet joint angles of the thoracic spine allow trunk rotation. The lumbar facet joints have very little if any rotation capabilities but are great for flexion and extension. Reference to the spine and skiing is very new territory. I have been a Chiropractor for 39 years and the spine is very important to skiiing but very complicated and well beyond discussion here.
I knew someone would be commenting about the anatomy surrounding the hips cuz clearly I don’t know it🤣🤣🤣🤣 what I know from that region of the body is what I experience and feel when I ski. Whatever you say here, if you are accurate, sounds good to me😉
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Get ahold of a human spine model and you will see the facet joint planes of motion and their angles. Then look at the 7 layers of back muscles and you can see how the muscles move those joints. It's really amazing especially when you bring in dynamic movement since everything must integrate with the CNS and PNS.
I think of it not as upper body and lower body but upper, lower and mid body where the hips are a dynamic link between upper and lower. In low effort skiing the hips are more part of the upper body, with high performance skiing there is much more movement in the lower spine so the hips are not as tightly coupled to the upper body.
Deb, I believe the higher and longer the mid turn G load lasts, the more the "hips" match the upper body. In other words, the spine cannot twist or bend much at higher loads and longer durations (like DH). In shorter duration turns (like SL or narrow chutes) the spine can twist and bend more to provide additional counter and angulation vs what the pelvis alone should do relative to the femurs.
based on my observation virtually all world cup ski racers are very strong in the hip and the thigh, and they dont over rotate the hip at any point turning the arc of their turn. the hip is close to the center of mass and the vertical axis of rotation. the hip is for power in the arc. the upper body is for balance and rotational control. while turn shape and steering can be controlled by driving the inside knee, or rotating the outside leg in the socket,
Sounds good
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong the term used by world cup skiers is "stacking the hips" over the outside arcing ski, which is hip angulation, if i understand, correctly.
Deb I love your videos. I’ve been wondering - when do you plan on blessing everyone at Alpental with your presence?
I would LOVE that! Not sure however. Maybe I can make it happen next year
1. When i am initiating a new turn, i need to step on the new outside ski and to transfer my weight on it. I feel that this action is initiated from the pelvis, because the unweighting of the inside ski starts from pelvis. Then i can drive my knee and roll my inside ankle to the pinki toe edge.
2. When my skis start turning, i need to counter the forces, and separate my lower and uper body, so i will allow my hip to go inside of the turn.
3. By driving the inside knee-leg i am transfering the force of gravity and using it to drive the outside ski. In this mechanics pelvis is the lever for transfer of this force. This is my opinion. Apreciate what you are doing.
The interesting thing here is near the beginning: back in the 1960s, we were all taught to counter rotate--shoulders perpendicular to that fall line!--without being told when that was overkill. The adjustment comes naturally through laziness, but it's nice not to feel guilty about it. :)
The new equipment helps
Watching this i realise i am over-rotating my hips towards the slope...the key is the context, as Deb said - when and where to do it. As far as i understand the body straight down to the slope has application for short rhythmic turns?
More so yes
Now I have to find Deb in Taos and play. Movement through feel over suggested technique is more important due to the fact everyone is structurally unique.
My basic instruction is: solar plexus 45 degrees (downhill) to the skis, and head turned a further 45 degrees (downhill). This relaxes the hips, and allows for relaxed crossover and weight shift. In some ways, it’s akin to walking naturally.
I've been trying to duplicate the feeling during my dryland training, BOSU ball and other balance platforms. Now that you know the feeling could you find a way to duplicate it dryland so we can practice repetitive motion that's intuitive on the hill? Such great information, thank you!
I’ll think about it
Your channel is a great destination for ski nerds like myself, who seek the carve!! 🙏
On a different note, as a former Olympian and World Cup racer, what are your thoughts on the alarming number of crashes and injuries to a large number of high level racers this year (men and women)?? Seems to be off the charts this year and becoming difficult to watch. Holdener,Curtoni, Ortleib, St Germain,Fleckenstein, Grenier, Haehlen,Gisin, Suter, Shiffrin(?), Schwartz,Kilde, Pinterault,Kohler… I’m sure I missed some? Condensed schedule due to cancelled races and tech skiers doing more speed?
Is inside ski lead still taught, steering with the inside foot.
No one needs to teach something that “comes for free”. The inside ski leads as the inside knee and hip flex. But maintain ankle flexion! Teaching inside ski lead has lead folks astray and leads to a foot shuffle, not what we want.
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrongthanks for the follow up! Makes 100% sense!
For long and medium turns, hips and shoulders square with the direction of the skis, shoulders level, look past the turn apex. Works for me.
Deb, I think some of your comments were directed at my question. If so, you and Scott have misunderstood what I am saying. Lead and Square hips can coexist, however this changes your ankle flexion and has you asking your inside ski for a different turn than you are asking the outside ski for. If you are standing on a slope perpendicular to the fall line you will have a natural lead of the uphill ski. If you are facing this lead line "countered" your shins will be contacting both boots the same. If you now square the hip the downhill shin presses further forward than the uphill shin. This seems to inactivate the inside leg. I'm currently working on a powerful forward hip movement and am thinking I am actually getting my hips square and it's causing my inside ski to be less involved. Today I tried moving powerfully forward in what I consider an appropriately countered position (very small counter, definitely not overcountered) to get into both boots/skis equally. Preliminarily feels right but jury is still out. Too many other distractions today to get a full feel of what it was doing. As always thanks for all your info!!!
David, you just need to come ski with me!💪👍😉
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong hopefully soon!!
Another thought provoking video Deb. Isn’t this just a way to allow your CM to move along the length of the ski? All the way to the finish of the turn?
Imho the blue jacket suited more for Scott. 😁
How does this move compare/contrast with pulling the feet back? Do you see this as the same or different?
Squaring the hip same or different as pulling the feet back? They are different. They both help with Foreaft balance with the ski yet they are different ways to go about it
anatomically, the hip is a joint, in this case the interface between femur and pelvis. it's hard to develop proprioception while holding an amorphous concept of the body part in question.
if you walk straight ahead, you will recruit rotation in the hip socket, and there will be an accompanying travel in the pelvis ... but 'you' will still be square. (to walk like frankenstein's monster, eliminate rotation in the hip.)
this same hip rotation is involved in what deb calls the tip lead you get for free ... it's what enables the body to adapt to standing on a slope or an edged ski ... it's what enables the body to create angulation, and to move laterally without falling inside. without it, any movements initiating in the feet are greatly inhibited.
to prioritize the orientation of the pelvis to the slope, is to dis-integrate the pelvis from its role of collecting forces that run through the spine.
so the proprioception we're looking for is feeling the energy of the turn transmitted through the spine, and where we feel that is in our feet. when a skier experiences that sensation, and wants to recreate it, then they have a goal which will guide them to bring their pelvis back into an integrated, natural ( HEALTHY !! ) alignment.
unsurprisingly, when energy is being transmitted into the snow effectively ... to the outside observer the pelvis is seen to maintain a stable relationship with the slope.
of course it doesn't help the proprioception challenge that the musculature of the pelvis is opaque to the modern western human. learning to recruit pelvic muscles, including the pelvic floor, in both standing and sitting, will absolutely go miles toward a skier's ability to dynamically maintain their balanced posture throughout a ski turn.
Thank you very much for the contribution here with your comment. Cooper Puckett talks about the pelvic floor in the video that I did with him recently. The Cooper Puckett video.
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong WOW cooper !! love how he's just like ... uh, yeah the hips need to move through the turn, because that's where your power comes from.
between the two of you, it's clear that the hips are their own, independent zone. seriously, go back to the title graphic and extend that middle oval from belly button to mid-thigh !!
i'm left to picture our rotational mobility at every vertebra along the spine. we can't maintain balance in a dynamic environment when locked or braced in any of our joints ... and that principle must absolutely apply to the spine !!
@@shawnphillipsyoga ya!!!
Hello Deb, your videos have consistently inspired me, especially your recent ones.
I find your exploration of hip drive intriguing. You mentioned applying it throughout the turn, but could you please elaborate? Specifically, does the hip drive persist for the entire turn, or does it begin and end at certain points while winding and unwinding occur during the transition?
Ya, like walking or running I view the ski turn as a continuous cycle of motion from one turn to another. A “start and end” or an exchange as the two legs, joints, hip area take on different yet complimentary roles. That exchange generally occurs somewhere through transition of the turn
"That exchange generally occurs somewhere through transition of the turn."
Hip Pedaling.
The hips don't lie! 🕺
Thanks for another great video Deb! Do you think if this hip movement is similar to cross over?
Different things 😉
As a ski pro part of my bread and butter was being able to take lazy east coast teenagers through the Talons Challenge at Beaver Creek before a late lunch. Often, because they're teens and don't want to stand around having a ski lesson inflicted upon them, they'd be right on my tails imitating my body positions and following my line exactly; so I made sure to telegraph near as possible to perfect bio mechanical efficiency while breathing through the nose. Because to ski so much vertical avec' bumps while being a out of shape low-lander, you HAVE to moderate your effort and be efficient, saving your energy for when the hill decides it's time for you to be agile and give a burst of energy.
IMO the hips are a crucial component to get right, in order to ski both efficiently and strong, so I'm really enjoying your deep dive on em'.
Thanks!.
Awesome!
Scott is a leftie, I'd bet. His left footed turns have a lot more shaping and "screlmpth" and his right footed turns have a lot more inside ski activation. There's something to all of us in terms of our "good side", but realizing what the "bad side" is doing can help both turn directions. For me, as a leftie, my left inside knee action is great, but my right inside knee can't quite get the same angulation and feels a bit foreign. This all traverses into our hips and our hip muscle mobility.
Trainers often advise moving up and forward during transitions to shift smoothly to the new outside ski. After watching this video, I believe I can achieve this without the rigid whole-body extension commonly suggested. Instead, maintaining a square alignment with the ski longer in the turn should work.
The phrase "move up and forward in the transition" is overused and often misses the point. Your explanation made it clear that instructors sometimes emphasize isolated leg actions at the expense of integrating them with the upper body. Your transitions and core video with Veth clarifies the frequently misunderstood hip movements.
First thing important to understand is when movement analysis discusses "hips" they general mean the pelvis, not the hip joint. Read the first couple paragraphs on what the "hip" is here -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip. It's can mean the joint or the region. The joint is incorrect with respect to the discussion of a single body part and its position. And the region is incorrect because it refers to anatomy on both sides of the joint. So when we talk about "hip" position, is it upper or lower body? how square to the turn? we're really talking about pelvis. That does sound somewhat awkward so most instructors use the word "hips" to mean the pelvis area.
Fair enough. You know more than I do. The important thing is being clear as to what we’re talking about. I think my photo highlights the region. I hope so
@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong Please, there's no way no how you know more than I do. I love your videos. I'm a part-time LII. You know a gazillion times more than I do. ;-)
A very subtle inside hip movement automatically trims the tips of your skis resulting in a proper inside/outside “lead” relationship. No longer need to think of “pulling the lead foot back under you” which can ruin the flow and smooth connectivity in the turn sequence. 🤔WTF did I just say…🤦🏻♂️🤯🤷♂️😂😂😂🤷♂️
Be careful of the biomechanical principle of proximal stiffness and distal mobility! 😉 Spine motion might not be the best strategy for separation... 🤔
This video is a bit funny as this is exactly what my instructor was talking about this morning!
Maybe your instructor watched my video🤣🤣🤣🤣
So much info thats confusing. Seems to make it up as we go. Holy cow.
Come along for the ride. Lots to learn😉 it’s fun learning and getting better. You may prefer following someone who know their stuff. That’s good too. Have fun out there
I do not agree to many things you say in this video.
It is well accepted by all medical experts that the hips are not part of the upper body. You can check this at any medical dictionary. The upper body refers to your arms, forearms, shoulders, chest and hands. Nothing else!
The issue here is the term of "upper and lower body separation". This term has a wrong name, because what you need is never a separation between the upper and the lower body. Separation should be made between the legs and the whole torso, including the hips also. This is because your legs must turn together with your skis, but your whole torso should turn much less and this requires separated turning movements between your legs and the whole torso.
It is of course possible to torn your shoulders much less or much more than your hips during ski-turns, but these kind of "separation" will make your torso less stable and there will not be a good ski-turn if you turn your shoulders separated from your hips.
The square you talk about happens only at the apex point of your turns. At this point you should have no ski-lead and no separation at all. This means that your torso faces the same direction that your skis are directed to.
Separation means that there is a difference between the direction of your skis and your torso. This difference is highest when you start a carving turn, it is zero during the apex and it increases during the transition.
Please stop scraping the snow of the mountain.
Not following you? Meaning?
The hips are the powerhouse of the body.
You should look into Jiu Jitsu concepts of the hips, spine and shoulder "H" frame/alignment.
The pinning of the hips and/or shortening the legs and restricting movement /power of hips can be applied to skiing too..
All about biomechanics and strength from structure.
As always shoulders and legs should be actively relaxed with the connection being made through a strong core.
Thanks for your videos.. Ski safe
Would like to know how can you have that hole piste for yourself. I mean its the middle of winter and those lines look cool and yet its only you and him on. Whats going on?
Early morning😉