by h.harb » Sat Nov 29, 2003 7:20 pm
?What is too Wide and What is Narrow?
In an effort to define ?What is too Wide and What is Narrow?, and to determine your own most efficient stance width, you must define the extremes. Let?s have a look at Stance width, what is functional and what is philosophy?
My clients and customers come to me with much philosophy about skiing. They picked up these philosophies over a period of time from ski lessons, articles and books. I can only say based on this information, that there is much confusion in the ski teaching world and there are many skiers confused as a result. I?ll list below some of the topics that attract interpretation that might not be accurate. Much of the misinformation about these topics developed and evolved through philosophies, rather than facts. People?s personal opinions have frequently turned into skiing techniques and dogma, rather than developing from the actual facts that govern skiing. Philosophies that create confusion seem to dominate the sport, for ski instructors and skiers alike, some areas of confusion revolve around these skiing topics:
? Stance width (topic of this article)
? Weighting the inside ski
? Edging
? Countering, square or rotating the body
I will present practical information based in fact for all of these topics over the winter and I hope skiers will become involved in expressing their ideas. Stance width is so controversial it is a great place to start. There is a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion amongst skiers, instructors and coaches about the right stance width.
Let?s first look at some facts regarding stance width:
? A skier with a stance wider than their hips has to move the center of the body or center of gravity, also know as the center of mass, farther to move it from one side of the skis to the other, to achieve effective body angles.
? It is more difficult to focus balance on the downhill ski with a wide stance.
? It is easier to lose your balance to the inside ski with a wide stance.
? Unless you are a high speed skier (over thirty miles and hour) it is difficult to use the turn forces to move the body from one turn to the next in a wide stance.
? A wider stance makes the skier more knock kneed "A" framed.
None of these situations improves your skiing ability. Most of my clients are so comforted when they hear from my instructors and coaches that they don?t have to worry about widening their stance at our clinics. They tell us that all they hear when they take ski lessons is ?widen your stance?. I think coaches and instructors have gone overboard with widening skiers? stances and the results are terrible. I think partly instructors are lost and have nothing worthwhile to say or use to improve a skier?s skiing, so they harp on the stance width issue.
I recommend that skiers who have little or no balance, narrow their stance to shift balance more easily. I consider narrow about four to eight inches apart depending on the size or width of the skier?s hips. Many instructors focus incorrectly on a skier?s shoulders to determine stance width. Skiers at different stages in their skiing development may want to narrow their stance and learn movements with their ski boots together or touching. Once they have the ability to move from one ski to the other and balance on the new stance ski to begin turns they can relax the stance width. I rarely see recreational skiers balancing properly and that is mostly due to the width of the stance (too wide), the result is too much weight carried on the inside ski.
Opinions are welcome