gpetrics
New member
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- Oct 25, 2006
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IMHO, the cause is most likely that you are leaning in. From the hip up, I would be willing to bet that your weight is leaning into the turn. This unweights your outside ski, and is likely causing it to feel like it is tracking out.
This is pretty common when someone gets on fat skis for the first time, but more precisely on any ski with less sidecut than you are used to. You expect a certain turning radius to occur... it doesnt come... so you start leaning in to try to "force the turn" with some body english.
It is the natural thing to do (i think the underlying instinct is: "I want to go that way... so I'll lean that way"), but is the worst thing you can do to actually turn the ski. the ski needs weight on it to turn, so you have to lean opposite of the direction you want to turn to keep the ski weighted. on shorter carving skis, you can "Get away" with leaning in, since the ski needs so little pressure to turn (it's made to turn almost automatically for christ's sake), PLUS it feels good, so a lot of skiers lean in without ever knowing it (i've seen MANY a carver dude on short carvers "loving it" so much that they actually lean not only their torso, but their HEAD into the turn). on fat and/or long radius skis however, there is no getting away with it, and your ski will track out if you lean in alot.
if you are working hard to not lean in (either through exaggerated practice, or in difficult terrain) you should feel a pinch in your oblique muscles just above your hip on the side of your body that is "outside" the turn.
try getting a film of yourself doing the bad thing. i bet you'll see that you're leaning in much further than you realized. also if you try to counter your weight to correct it as i describe above, and video that, i bet you'll find that you're just barely vertical... even if you try your hardest to exaggerate countering your weight, it is extremely hard to get your uppper body past vertical.
a good trill is to take your polls, put them together, and hold them horizontally in front of you like a ninja bow. as you ski down the hill, take notice of if the poles are leaning one way or another... if they are tilted, that will basically tell you if you are leaning in or not. to correct it, try your hardest to keep the poles horizontal (by correcting the tilt with your torso... not your arms).
if you want to exaggerate the drill try to keep the pole horizontal AND parallel with your SKIS... this will both correct any tendancy to lean in, AND put extra weight on your outside ski... see if while doing that drill your outside ski doesnt track out
This is pretty common when someone gets on fat skis for the first time, but more precisely on any ski with less sidecut than you are used to. You expect a certain turning radius to occur... it doesnt come... so you start leaning in to try to "force the turn" with some body english.
It is the natural thing to do (i think the underlying instinct is: "I want to go that way... so I'll lean that way"), but is the worst thing you can do to actually turn the ski. the ski needs weight on it to turn, so you have to lean opposite of the direction you want to turn to keep the ski weighted. on shorter carving skis, you can "Get away" with leaning in, since the ski needs so little pressure to turn (it's made to turn almost automatically for christ's sake), PLUS it feels good, so a lot of skiers lean in without ever knowing it (i've seen MANY a carver dude on short carvers "loving it" so much that they actually lean not only their torso, but their HEAD into the turn). on fat and/or long radius skis however, there is no getting away with it, and your ski will track out if you lean in alot.
if you are working hard to not lean in (either through exaggerated practice, or in difficult terrain) you should feel a pinch in your oblique muscles just above your hip on the side of your body that is "outside" the turn.
try getting a film of yourself doing the bad thing. i bet you'll see that you're leaning in much further than you realized. also if you try to counter your weight to correct it as i describe above, and video that, i bet you'll find that you're just barely vertical... even if you try your hardest to exaggerate countering your weight, it is extremely hard to get your uppper body past vertical.
a good trill is to take your polls, put them together, and hold them horizontally in front of you like a ninja bow. as you ski down the hill, take notice of if the poles are leaning one way or another... if they are tilted, that will basically tell you if you are leaning in or not. to correct it, try your hardest to keep the poles horizontal (by correcting the tilt with your torso... not your arms).
if you want to exaggerate the drill try to keep the pole horizontal AND parallel with your SKIS... this will both correct any tendancy to lean in, AND put extra weight on your outside ski... see if while doing that drill your outside ski doesnt track out
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