Three Simple Techniques You Can Use on Your Next Holiday to Improve Your Skiing

The season is in full flow here in Whistler and as always I’m pumped at the onslaught of winter and getting those skis under my feet.

As one of a handful of Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance Level 4 Examiners, I’ve been fine tuning my own skiing for the last 20 years. I’ve benefitted from world class coaches over the years when developing my career, and now that I’ve reached the highest possible level in the Canadian Ski Instructor Alliance, I’m delighted to be able to share what I’ve learnt with my ALLTRACKS students.

Over the last year or so I’ve started creating a range of ski technique tips with the intention of increasing your understanding of ski technique and enabling you to increase your own personal performance. They should serve as a good example of ways you can begin to get the fundamentals in your skiing right, giving you the skills to go on and tackle more exciting terrain with confidence.

You’ll see for each drill I’ve tried to clearly break them down into each component part before demonstrating the final form. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Ski Technique Drill 1: Short Turns Hockey Stop

This drill is relatively low performance. As many skiers that join us are already strong athletes, it admittedly can seem a step backwards at first.

But don’t worry, this drill will develop a balanced grip when executing short turns down the mountain which is critical if you want to be able to ski crisp, clean, balanced short turns down any slope.

Ski Technique Drill 2: One Legged Roller Blade Turns

The aim of this drill is to fine tune your balance at high speed. It focuses on ankle joint mobility, as the ankle join is the closest part of our body to the snow that can react to any imbalance to comes along.

It demonstrates the necessity for keeping the foot centered, as well as maintaining a solid forward, well-balanced position.

 

Ski Technique Drill 3: The Inside Out Turn

The Inside Out Turn is the most advanced of the techniques in this post. It should be tackled only after first mastering the One Legged Roller Blade Turn. It’s an ideal way to hone your skills in high-speed carving, forcing you to be patient at the start of the turn and allowing you to set up good edge angle towards the end.

Take your time with this drill. Once you get the hang of it, your carving will be transformed!

 

Conclusion

I hope this short series of coaching drills inspires you to push your own skiing performance, wherever you’re heading this winter. They’re exactly the kind of things we cover on our Ski & Snowboard Improvement Courses, so if you’ve enjoyed this post consider getting involved in one of our upcoming programmes.

Let me know which one your favourite was in the comments below. Or if you have some others you particularly like, let me know and I’ll try and post a video showcasing them. Happy skiing!

Comments

Rory Sheard says

Tomaso Daytona

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Tomaso Daytona says

Hahaha I think Andrew Rugless should get this as his b-day present

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Larissa Waddell says

smokin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Troy Partridge says

Nicole Holland

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anmelie says

Tanks! N° 3 is really useful for me! :)

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Paul Beard says

Glad you like it. Guy's about to put out another tip soon, so look out for that. Happy Skiing.

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Robbert Ooms says

Mike Peschke

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Sue Baldwin says

Kevin Baldwin

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Max Coyne says

Rachel Bellchambers

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Kelly Thompson says

Paul Thompson

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Francois Brand says

Jeroen dit ga je nog vaak zien over 2 weken;)

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Tom Pansters says

Ruud Meeuwissen Koen van Neer Yannick Derix

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Sanne Van Willigenburg says

Luka Verhoeven

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Rebecca Armstrong says

Lee Armstrong

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Ties Munsters says

Bart Kronenberg

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Anna Chili says

Lidija Daniloska-Jurukoska
You'll like this U0001f609

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Marc Jansen says

I did practice them last night on a dry slope surface, really great!

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Sarah Dingwall says

Craig Dingwall U0001f44d for feb and March U0001f61cU0001f602U0001f44c

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Craig Dingwall says

I'll practise on the dry slope in AberdeenU0001f61c U0001f602
Is that the sort of stuff you'll be doing?

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Mark van der Meij says

Sanne Breedijk

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Craig Dingwall says

Donald Shewan

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Sarah Dingwall says

Haha Ye I think so. I'll find out today and that haha there's a wee extra for you so you can keep up haha U0001f61c zx

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Andy Fitzgerald says

Luke Hockey Fitzgerald ☺

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Donald Shewan says

Seems easy enough haha

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Craig Dingwall says

After a coupla beers, some rusty nail and a Williams schnapps no problem haha

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Terry Foster says

Hockey stop Laura CroftU0001f60e

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Bethany Jane says

Alice McCarthy

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Kymberley O'Neill says

Didj?

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Didj Mick Hopkins says

Haha..yes Kymberley O'Neill? I get that low...when I fall ;)

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Kymberley O'Neill says

Oh I know ;)

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Chris says

They all look great. I can't wait to get out there and get started !

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Guy Hetherington says

Looking forward to it Chris. Stand by for some more online training!

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Paul says

I have viewed only the 3 short videos, so far but I think that I will benefit from practising not only the related drills but also those in the other videos that I can look at on Facebook.
I am essentially self taught and am looking to get off the intermediate plateau on which I've been for some time - largely because I can'for seem to get balanced in my skis. Also I want to develope my skiing so as to ski off piste. SO - can you recommend any of your facebook videos as likely to be particularly useful for me (I do appreciate that this will not be easy since you have not seen me ski)

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Paul Beard says

HI Paul,

Thanks for your post. We do not have any more technique videos on Facebook, sorry. Please wait out for more technique videos to be released or, even better, come an join us in Whistler.

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