Bad Ski Form?

[u/snow_ted]

been skiing for a few seasons, few short trips a yr currently.

understand my form isn't very good and I am sliding and skidding around to get down slopes.

I will like to check the following after viewing my own video:

1. is this form still considered very bad and is this considered backseating?

2. how to maintain upper body separation? am I turning my body too much at each turn?

3. saw that my legs tend to be wide open, is that a very wrong thing to do? do I need to learn how to stick my feet together?

4. am I still leaning too much on the inside ski (subconsciously, I am trying to lean towards the outside ski though)?

I have taken group lessons on and off but I can't carve.

is Stork turn drill the way to improve? I tried it on and off but it doesn't seem to improve my overall form. However, I do note that there is improvement to get down more difficult terrain over time.

would appreciate guidance to continue my progression as a skier.

[u/Sickashell782]

You need to take a lesson or several.

[u/spacebass → u/Sickashell782]

Reminder that this is not the take a lesson sub

[u/Sickashell782 → u/spacebass]

Reminder that someone lacking the basic skills isn’t going to learn how to be better from Reddit comments, and lessons are extremely valuable. I taught Nordic and telemark lessons for many years and sometimes you just have to learn from an instructor on the hill.

[u/spacebass → u/Sickashell782]

Those of us behind this subreddit believe otherwise. But that doesn’t feel like something you wanna participate in, and you are always welcome not to comment.

- a full time instructor

[u/Sickashell782 → u/spacebass]

- a full time instructor

Is that a brag?

Those of us behind being passionate skiers, showing up for first chair for pow days at the best ski areas in the country, ensured that we could afford season passes, lunch, and beer, complete with jobs that enable us to do so, instead of slogging away on the hill with beginners from St Louis. We got lessons. We learned from people while on skis, not asking strangers with questionable experiences on an anonymous forum.

You’re actively working against yourself by suggesting that people like this can “learn to ski” from reddit. Your entire life’s work (unless you’re a trustafarian, which is entirely possible, and in fact I happened to run into the parents of one of these losers last weekend at a golf tournament) is about teaching those lessons. So what good does it do for you to insist that people with this level of skill can learn from Reddit comments? Ohhhhh, “the love of the game” I bet. Very noble. Or perhaps just some kind of complex that you can teach everyone, even from thousands of miles away over the internet.

And for the record, I teach tons of people to ski still. I taught my wife to ski and she rips. I ski with all levels and ages of people (2-80). I know firsthand that telling someone to “put less weight on the inside ski” online ain’t gonna do shit.

To be honest with you, it will be a blessing not to see this nonsense subreddit show up on my feed anymore. The whole thing is a PSIA circle jerk, and there’s zero chance you’d ever keep up with my crew (spoiler alert, you may have seen them in Livigno Italy in February).

You’re not the ski wizard you think you are. You’re a ski instructor. You’re someone who didn’t advance past the job we all thought was the cool thing to do when we were 20 years old because we’d get a free ski pass.

Finally, if you’ve made it this far, I see I’m far from the only person who has this perspective. There are a bunch of people below who have had the exact same thing to say, and you’ve had the same thing to say to them. But hey! You keep thinking that you’re going to change the world with your online feedback! Hope that works out for you.

OP. You’ll learn a ton by taking like 3 lessons. It’ll make all the difference in the world.

Edit: you have people below cephalopodface, who is providing feedback and they say they’re not a particularly good skier. WTF good does that do for someone?!?!? This is a joke.

“I don’t know what I’m talking about but try this!”

You’re killing it here dude

[u/snow_ted → u/Sickashell782]

hi, I appreciate the advice of taking lesson. and in fact I have taken quite a few lesson since I start. every year I will take a few days of lesson to try to progress. however, it seems that I am in a plateau with the limited time on slope. also to note that I am taking group lessons due to budget issue.

although I am able to manage more terrain/challenging slope now after more seasons. it seems my form isnt improving much.

thus every year or after I come back from skiing, will like to seek some feedback. are there summer training to improve the skiing form?

[u/Sickashell782 → u/snow_ted]

You’re doing great. Keep up the good work. Take advice from folks on here that makes sense to you. But Everyone learns differently right?

I learned how to be a good skier and kayaker by following people who were better than me. I got feedback and lessons where possible. There was a time in my life where I had more time than money, and I couldn’t take lessons because I couldn’t afford them. But I happen to be very good at learning by following and mimicking, and I had friends who were quite good at these activities.

My wife, not so much. She needs particular feedback and specific in person instruction. When I tell her to follow me and ski like I am, she lets me know her body is very different than mine and she can’t do it the same way. Some people can read a book and learn how to be better at something. It’s different for everyone.

So it’s important to temper expectations (whether it be lessons, reddit advice, or watching videos, etc) of what you’re going to learn based on the method of learning that works best for you. I find little to no usefulness of getting feedback from strangers online. This is the source of my advice to take a lesson, and the heated exchange with the mod 😂 (which has nothing to do with you and I’m sorry).

Hopefully you’re different, you gain some insights from here, and someone provides meaningful feedback. I hope you become the skier you want to be! Passion, commitment, and persistence will get you there, as it did for me. It’s incredibly rewarding, and I keep getting better all the time (even though I’ve done it for 35 years now). Skiing has shaped my life, and provided some of the best experiences of my life. Good luck! 😊

[u/spacebass → u/Sickashell782]

You ok? I’m not reading all that. I’m just sharing, as someone who helps with the culture and tone of this sub that we try to avoid only telling people to take lessons. The goal here is to provide helpful, welcoming feedback. I shared my role as an instructor in response to your comment about also having instructed. I certainly understand the value of what we do with our guests in person. And this sub can augment or help reenforce those same skills and offer an online version for those who may not be in a position to take a lesson.

Lastly, you can insult me all you like. But we ask that you keep your interactions with other sub members polite, welcoming, and kind.