ESSENTIAL # 6 - How To Master Your Fore / Aft Balance

Today, we'll cover:

1. The Value Of Fore Aft
2. What Is Fore / Aft Balance?
3. How To Maximize Your Fore / Aft
4. Fore / Aft Balance Exercises

OK, let's get started:

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The Value Of Fore / Aft
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The difference between a mere mortal skier and Harald Harb is that Harald has amazing fore / aft balance that is rarely threatened.

The only time his fore / aft balance is in question is day one, run one of the season.
After that, his fore / aft balance runs via his ‘World Cup Fore / Aft Autopilot Skiing Management’ system.

Harald skiing in full flight is pure poetry because he demonstrates world class fore / aft balance, before he makes any other skiing movement!For everyone else…

It’s been my experience that when skiers turn up to ski camp - only one in 20 demonstrated ideal fore / aft balance. And that’s being generous!

And here is the ‘insane part’…

If your fore / aft balance is off even by an inch or a few centimeters skiing becomes 2, 5, 10 times harder than it needs to be.

Here is what I mean…

You can quickly and easily turn any run into a much steeper run that burns your thighs and limits your skiing performance.

Simply ski down any hill in the back seat. By the back seat I mean…

Have you feet in front of your hips.I’ll explain skiing fore / aft positions in just a few moments, but right now…

The good news is…Fore / aft is easy to master – and it only takes a few sessions.

Plus… If you are and inch or even up to five inches out, that means you don’t have to move things too far or a lot of distance to fix things and have you skiing with ideal fore / aft and maximizing your performance and time on the slope.

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What Is Fore / Aft Balance?
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Your fore / aft position is dictated by the relationship between your feet and your hips.

I coach the relationship this way…

When standing on the flat your feet are under your hips.

I call this neutral.

If you pull your heels back so your feet are behind your hips,

I call this skiing in the front quadrant.

Hips ahead of your feet – AS A RESULT OF YOU PULLING THEM BACK.

This distinction is extremely important.If you push your feet forward in front of your hips, I call this skiing in the back quadrant. Skiing in the back seat.

And is the curse of most skiers wondering why their legs hurt so much at the end of the day, this is a major reason why!

What you may or may not surprise you is that very few skies EVER get to experience the power, joy and excitement of carving their ski turns by skiing in the front quadrant. Especially starting their turns this way on the groomed.

As most skiers bounce between skiing in neutral and in the back quadrant.Why?Fear.So because it’s fearful and unfamiliar, our brain sets up a back seat / skiing back quadrant comfort zone for us to burn up our thighs through!

It’s our brain’s way of trying to help, but skiing in the back quadrant in most conditions is very inefficient and tiring, especially if trying to ski the High C part of the turn on groomed terrain – which I’ll explain why next.

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How To Maximize Your Fore / Aft
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So what is ideal fore / aft balance?

Standing in the lift queue…

It’s easy standing stationery on the flat. The ideal fore / aft position is when your feet are below your hips.Starting a turn…

On groomed terrain, I start every turn with my feet back behind my hips.

Skiing the front quadrant.Middle of the turn…Feet under my hips. Neutral.

End of the turn…Feet under my hips. Neutral

This way I never get as tired, as I would if I let my feet get ahead of my hips.

Note: I wouldn’t and don’t recommend skiing with your feet behind your hips at the start of the turn in some variable conditions like chopped up powder or crud, as you need a ‘buffer’ just incase you feet suddenly decelerate.

Otherwise you’ll go over the handlebars.

If you want to see an action photo of this at the end of the turn in the race course, visit http://www.peak-performance-coaching.com.au/about.html and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

My feet are under me at the end of the turn and my next move will be pulling my feet back behind my hips and inch or two, possibly three to begin the next turn.Plus check out my chicken legs, so I can’t afford to ski any other way but neutral or from the front quadrant, which is even more crucial at this podium setting speed!

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Fore / Aft Balance Exercises
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All the fore / aft exercises in Harlad’s book “The Essentials Of Skiing” are excellent.Once you have gone through these and to get used to sensation of skiing with your feet behind your hips.

Try making complete turns on green terrain while skiing only on the front half of the ski.

This means the back part of the skis are in the air for the whole turn.

Make sure you achieve this by pulling your feet back and not any other type of movement.

Caution: Pick ideal consistent snow conditions for this exercise. Otherwise you may lose your balance forward – over the handlebars! Ouch!!

Remember you may only need to adjust you natural comfort fore / aft balance zone by less than a few inches and the results and instant feedback you’ll get will be amazing.

So go for it and let me know how you go!

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Latest Non Skiing Coaching Offer
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Article brought to you by ex-ski coach now peak performance life coach Peter Stone from http://www.peak-performance-coaching.com.au/. Visit us for free resources on how to live a rich and fulfilling life with all the energy, time and money you need to do what you want!