5 Mistakes Most Skiers Are Making | And How To Fix Them

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your progress in skiing suddenly stops increasing but you just can't figure out what's holding you back Well you're not alone Most skiers encounter this problem at some point And when we delved into the carving data we found 5 recurring errors In this video we will tell you about these mistakes why they happen and what you can do to fix them Hello everyone I'm Janel Zley I am a Level 4 ski instructor and a member of the Australian Expedition team I have been skiing for over 40 years and coaching for over 25 My goal is to help you gain a deeper understanding of skiing so you can take control of your own progress And unlock some of the best turns you've ever made because progress is what makes skiing exciting Every breakthrough every tiny improvement every moment when something finally clicks – that's where real satisfaction begins Carve has already registered over a billion turns from skiers around the world Then when I contacted their data analysis team to analyze trends It didn't take me long to identify the five factors by which most skiers fall behind You know what According to Karv data 76% of skiers make this mistake Okay we love carving skis don't we They make skiing easier but also make mistakes easier for skiers The side cut greatly eased the turns on the skis even if you are in a bad position This leads us to the number one common problem when skiers' weight is shifted to their heels throughout the turn If you stand on your heels throughout the turn you may notice If your skis are dragging during turns and your quads are starting to hurt If you realize that during turns you are always pushed by the fifth You can try the exercise of untying your shoes In this exercise we will unfasten the two top buckles of your ski boot and remove its stability We'll make a few turns You will reduce the strength that is in your own ankle-foot joint Almost immediately I feel my foot bones all the muscles and ligaments must tense up To give me a structure to support a good centered stance and balance So this is one of those exercises where I don't need to tell you what to do Your body is a genius Trust yourself and trust that it will understand how to achieve the task And specifically increase the pressure on the sole of your foot But if you are using carving and want to see if this exercise helped you Check your balance metrics in the app to see if these metrics have increased The next problem is very common among skiers who are just learning to ski And also for those who are just learning carving When we asked the guys from Karv they said 76% of skiers lean their entire body in turns So here's what's happening skiers are trying to carve and turn their skis Bending my whole body in the turns The reason this is bad is that we are losing balance on the outside ski So we don't have a good stable platform And our potential for engaging from this position is very limited And if you are checking the readings of your tires You will probably notice that both the edge angle and the edge rise are quite low This indicates that you are carving your skis with your entire body What is preventing you from extending the corners during the turn Then if you understand that you are using your whole body to turn the skis You can use the exercise the match to fix this So what you will do is try to pull the tip and the finger through the snow He who has a fortune teller with long straight arms Okay let's start So Suddenly I feel how much I need to bend and stretch my body So that I can pull this outer rod all the way down from the hill Okay so if you just crushed it and it feels really easy Here is the next step to complicate things You will perform the exercise my dear Exactly the same but at the same time try to lift and take all the weight off the inside ski Keep your joints strong and bent I am getting up And now I will start to take the weight off the back of my inner ski The next common issue is related to how you execute your turns And if you can't handle this you'll never become an experienced skier When people make incorrect turns they either make a zigzag-like pattern or a long loop-like path But when we asked the boys about the treasure they showed that 78% of people make incorrect turns You will realize that your turn is bad if you notice that your edges appear mostly at the end of the turn You will also feel as if you are constantly struggling with speed control But if you are a car user and look at the graph of your turning shape You will notice that your turns are not good round or like a circle So if you realize that you are making these similar zigzag turns or these long winding turns straight to the base of the hill Try this three-way box exercise In this exercise you will imagine skiing along the edges of a three-sided square Then you will ski across the first edge down the slope down four trails Then back through the third side Through the slope Now I am descending the slope and now again through the slope Now go down the slope and then across the slope Down the slope and then across the slope Well you probably felt how much power starts to build up when we go a bit faster because we stay longer on the fall line which is the whole idea of this exercise So let's imagine that the corners of this square are rounded and we're going to ski along the edge of a hockey ramp Okay let's do this Okay so now I'm rounding off my edges a bit I am still going down the slope and across the slope Down the slope and across the slope And now I really feel how some forces are beginning to accumulate during my turns And I really feel as if the turn will squeeze me I get more angle on the edge Turning form is a key skill to perfect that will help you develop control That is why it is one of the skills that stand out in the parallel progress of carving Check if you have improved the level of this skill after working on the three-box exercise As soon as you adjust the turn shape you will feel much more energy and deviation during turns Actually riding this way starts to feel very much like riding a roller coaster This is really fun Now this next common issue is a bit controversial and it is that How we use the ankle and knee movements in our carving turns When shape skis were invented it was truly an exciting time because we could actually make these really fun cool perfectly carved turns Rotating the ankle and knee joints However the current widespread problem is tha at many skiers twist their ankle joint too much at the knee To start your turns The problem is that when we excessively roll our ankles and feet at the start of turns This destabilizes my hip which eventually leads to a feeling of blockage Since I can't continue to increase the angle of the edge during turns You know you're doing it if you're one of those skiers Those who try to get inside their turns but just feel blocked You cannot go any lower But if you are a car user you will notice that your edge enhancement points are probably quite low So if you realize that you are driving too aggressively with your knee at the ankle-foot joint at the start of the turn And this destabilizes your thighs try this thigh thrust exercise To calm the ankle-knee joint at the start of the turn Okay So when I turn as a leader and enter the turn too aggressively with the knee of the ankle-foot joint It seems to me that my inner knee is leading in the turn So what we'll do here is have you perform several rolls along the edge of the hip And you will feel that instead of talking about the bending of the thigh we are not talking about that I would like you to push the leg to the turn It's the feeling as if the thigh is slightly further in on the turn than the inner knee And this looks like that So it's like a balancing exercise only instead of using the knee joint of the lower leg and foo I intentionally try to use my thighs to move them across my legs and in the turn I am literally holding my ankle and knee very very still And you can see that I'm still getting quite a bit of flexion and a lot of rib movement when I move my hip And it's a very pleasant feeling My thighs feel good and stable I am standing on the edges of my feet And this is what we call a hip thrust Here I push this thigh a bit inside the turn to establish a good stable position of the thigh So now we will again introduce this ankle-foot joint movement during the completion of the turn So you will push the hip at the beginning of the turn Then I almost feel like I'm chasing the tibial ankle joint to reduce the turning radius at the end Okay So I just push with my heel keeping the ankle joint completely still Not very productive Okay Now I am going to put the ankle-foot joint into action Hip thrust ankle-foot joint hip thrust hip And now I feel the real dynamics I have many truly interesting turning forces I am moving during the turn Now this latest common problem occurs in 71% of cyclists and is related to the fact tha As we sometimes remain still and static during our turns You know good skiing is always movement When you watch a good skier you can notice that he appears very still and stable But this is actually just an optical illusion created by the fact that we are always moving according to the forces of rotation Users of the Karv who ride statically will see lower scores in terms of edge gains Weight loss metrics in the Carv app These metrics measure how well you can improve your age through dynamic skiing And how you can use the energy or the kick stored in the skis for dynamic turns Now I will lead you through several exercises to help you learn more about the lean before turns Okay hold onto the batons in one hand Make a small turn as you descend the slope Bend inward and let the slope come to you Now this sequence is really interesting and you probably feel the good long and short legs When you tilt this inclined position uphill and feel the hill approaching your hand So now we will take another step up and this time we will use a bit more speed Let's use the stirrup and make a few stirrup pulls This is how it looks Let's go Now long leg short leg thigh in the snow Okay long leg short leg then the thigh Okay so this exercise is about getting used to being much closer to the snow Many people feel that they are getting very close and using a large slope When they are actually several feet away from the spot It is actually falling on the snow and sliding down to the end in a well-controlled environment It helps you feel much more comfortable in these lower positions Okay here are some of the most common problems that skiers encounter From excessive weight on the heels from excessive leaning in turns Improper turning form overly aggressive movements ankle and knee joints Before we stand still during the turns If you think we have missed any issues leave us a note in the comments below And we will meet again next time But until then remember that you need to keep practicing Stay curious and always enjoy the ride