Ski Training Video from Guy Hetherington
Here’s another ski training video from Guy Hetherington of ALLTRACKS covering more advanced ski coaching. The One Legged Roller Blade Turn drill might be a bit of a mouthful, but it is ideal for helping intermediate to advanced skiers fine tune their balance. I hope that you find the drill useful for your ski training.
Video Transcript
Guy Hetherington >> Guy Hetherington here again on Blackcomb mountain with another performance ski tip for Alltracks Academy.
When you feel ready to start fine tuning your balance at high speeds, it is important to gain an understanding about how the ankle joint works in the ski boot. The ankle joint being the closest part of our body to the snow that can respond the quickest to any imbalance along the way. It is imperative that we use this joint functionally for all our ski turns, especially at high speeds. A great drill for developing an awareness for ankle mobility is called The One Legged Roller Blade Turn.
Take a look at this demonstration and then I’ll break it down for a more detailed explanation. When we take a closer look at this drill, you will find that it is actually quite simple and involves only two main parts. The first part can be done without skis on and involves standing on one leg and just rocking the ski boot from side to side through use of the ankle joint.
The next step to this drill is gliding on one ski in a straight line. When you are doing this, be sure to drag your poles on the snow, keep your arms out in front and keep the tip of the lifted ski just touching the surface of the snow. This will keep you in a forward and well balanced position. So now that we’ve practiced rolling our ankle left and right in our ski boot and balancing on one ski in a straight line, all we need to do is combine them together and we will have our final form, one legged roller blade turn. It should look just like this.
When you are practicing this drill in final form, so sure that the movement being used is a rolling of the ankle from side to side. Avoid the temptation to twist the leg or push the ski away from you. Just think about keeping the boot underneath the body and weaving it back and forward.
Now that we have mastered the The One Legged Roller Blade Turn on flat terrain, challenge yourself to do the following variations of this drill. Once you can do that, bring this move into your skiing. Remember if you want to stay balanced in your skiing at high speed, you’ve got to use the ankle joint.
Have a great season out there and we’ll see you back here real soon.
If you found this drill useful but are looking for more advanced ski coaching, why not join one of the ALLTRACKS training courses, check out our range of ski courses or contact the team here: Contact Alltracks