Unstumped By The Bumps, Step Five
Instruction
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Keeping your hips in position helps you stay centered.Keep Your Hips Up And Forward
Keeping your hips in position helps you stay centered.
As you get better-and faster-you will have less snow-ski contact, but you must stay centered. Make sure your feet are beneath you and your hips come forward. In a tall natural stance, your hips should be above your feet and your knees should be flexed. This is “home base.” Never wander far from home base.
A. Before you take off, make sure your hips are forward and you can feel the tongues of your boots against your shins. Absorb by pulling your feet and knees up underneath your hips.
B. Push your hips up and forward. When you extend, your feet should be under you and may even feel as though they are behind you. This positioning keeps your skis parallel to the angle of the hill. Use momentum to take you to the next mogul. Don’t push your feet ahead to get you there because if your feet are out in front of you, you will be thrown way back and off balance.
C. When you slam into bumps, expect to lose your balance. But quickly get back to home base! In absorption and extension, your feet constantly move beneath you-much like a piston-but the fore-aft relationship should not change that much. Lean too far forward and you’re in trouble. Let your hips get too far back and your feet will rocket ahead.
D. When you feel out of control, you need to:
1) check your speed by going across the hill,
2) press your hips forward and
3) pull your feet back under you. Now you’re back in the driver’s seat-keep going!
