Skiing Tips For Beginners: How To Maintain Proper Balance
Learning how to ski can be a formidable task to those that have never tried it before and the learning curve steep. Have a read over this submitted article to learn more about Skiing Tips For Beginners: How To Maintain Proper Balance---------------------------------Sponsored Post---------------------------------
When the weather starts to cool, and the first snow dusts the tops of the mountains, you know that ski season is just around the corner. If you are an absolute beginner, or just getting the hang of skiing, now is a great time to prepare for the season ahead.
Even if you can’t hit the slopes just yet, you can prepare by revisiting one of the fundamentals of skiing–balance. Skiing is all about balance and controlling your weight in subtle ways as you head down the slopes.
With these handy beginner tips, you are sure to make fast progress once you head to the mountains in the coming months.
The Perfect Boot Position
Getting a feel for your boots and your position in them is one of the most important aspects of skiing. So, let’s start with getting your boots out of their bag, that is, if you have a boot bag for your ski boots. Otherwise, just grab them out of the cupboard!
Now, make sure you are wearing your ski socks or long thin socks if you don’t have a specific pair. Why is that? Because you want to avoid overly thick socks that can create hotspots in your boots and cut your ski day short.
Next, stand in your boots and buckle them up until they are comfortably tight. Then, find a clear space in your room, and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
The most important thing about your boots is that you get a feeling for what is the “right” position to ski in, especially as a beginner. You want to lean into your boots enough to feel pressure along your shins, without going overboard.
Ski boots are actually designed to be angled forward to put you in this position, so lean into them and get used to this feeling.
Maintain the Perfect Stance
Whether you are still standing in your bedroom imagining, or actually on the slopes, let’s progress to the perfect ski stance.
Having your knees bent and your shins pressed against the front of your boots is only part of the equation. To maintain your balance while skiing, it is important to think about the other parts of your body, too.
Your thighs will naturally be sloping down, and you should feel like you are starting to sit down in a chair. Your upper body should be bent slightly forwards with your arms outstretched. Don’t bend forward too much. Instead, just maintain a slight angle so that you are just over the front of your boots. And, keep your head up and your eyes looking straight ahead.
Over time, you will get a feeling for that sweet spot in terms of balance. Always come back to this position when you feel you are losing control.
Weighting The Skis
One of the most critical parts of turning while skiing is adjusting your balance so that the weight moves from one ski to another. This constant weight change, along with subtle adjustments to the direction of the skis, is what makes for perfect turns.
So, as a beginner, you want to get used to weighing each ski separately and focusing on the edges as you turn.
One way to do this is to simply stand with your skis and practice lifting each ski off the ground. Although this is not exactly what you will be doing on the slopes, it gives you a sense of how it will feel when you turn.
Another great thing to do is to practice tilting your skis inwards and get a feel for the balance of the boot and the ski together when they are on the inside edge. It is this edge of the outside ski that controls most of the turn. So, being comfortable with this balance and position is also important as you progress as a skier.
Learning Forward With Your Poles
Since they don’t seem particularly useful, poles are often confusing for beginners. Sure, they help you move around on the slopes, but what else are they good for?
Well, once you become more confident, poles are great for initiating turns. But that is for another lesson. For now, what I want you to do is to grab your poles and thrust your arms out in front of you in a straight line. This helps maintain balance while skiing and keep your upper body in the proper position. It might look like you are driving a car, but that is what you want.
Keep your body and arms pointed downhill at all times, or as much as you can, and you are going to have far greater success on the slopes!
Putting It All Together
There are dozens of things you need to think about when you are skiing, but when you are just starting out, the aim is to keep it simple.
Maintain proper balance through the perfect position, keep your shins against the front of your boots, keep your arms out front, and get comfortable angling your skis inwards to help you turn.
Before you know it, you will be on blue or red runs and considering trying that black run that has always scared you to death!
