Adjusting technique to match course set

Just how often is the course set to match you particular style of turn shape?  And the technique you use to make it?   Maybe if you are a FIS racer you see more consistency with regards to how courses are set, however most of us are exposed to different styles of courses and sometimes they vary a lot from course setter to course setter.  In order to understand how to modify your technique from a tactical perspective, we need to look at some terms for describing course sets first.  The corridor is the space between the red and blue gates as you look up the course.  The width of the corridor can also be called the "horizontal offset"

 

The width of the corridor above  seems to be very cosistant all the way down, however it is important to note that sometimes the width of the corridor changes as you go down the course, especially if the pitch starts to  flatten out as you descend.  A popular way to deal with this terrain change is to decrease the width of the corridor as the slope starts to flatten out.  This makes it a little easier for racers to carry their speed as they come down onto the flats.  Another term which is also important to understand is a term called vertical offset or sometimes simplified to "offset."  This means how far apart the red and blue gates are as you go down the hill.  The vertical offset can be estimated by using your ski as a measing tool, and sliding down the hill from one gate to the next.  Horizontal offset is usually estimated by "eye,"  from looking up the hill at the width of the corridor. 

The vertical offset can also change as you down the hill.  Now that we have discussed the terms that describe how a course can be set.  We can look at what changes you might have to make to your technique in order to adapt to different course sets.  Here are some examples of ways you can adjust your technique to allow for changes in the width of the corridor. 

Wide corridor              Narrow corridor 

-more inclination          -less inclination

-more pivoting.            -less pivoting.

If your course set has a wide corridor you will have to somehow get your center of mass or body to travel across the hill more in order to be able to turn around the gates.  By either increasing the amount of inclination you use in your turn, or pivoting your feet more in your turn, you will be able to get your body to move across the hill more.  This will allow you to be able to turn around the gates in a wide corridor.  You might even find that you need a combination of both more pivoting and more inclination, depending on how the course is set.  See how both of these changes will affect your turn shape below.

That was really difficult to draw with a computer mouse, however I am trying to show the different between what the turn shapes look like.  Increasing your inclination makes more of a "zig zag" turn, where your body spends less time traveling across the hill.  Increasing the amount of inclination, will make your run faster for this reason.  With pivoting the turns have more of an "S" shape.  In this case your turns will take longer because your body spends more time traveling across the hill, resulting in a slower run.  You might even use a combination of these skills, it depends on how fast you want to travel as you descend the course.  Let's now take a look at how to adjust your technique for changes in vertical offset.  With changes in vertical offset you would adjust as follows.

Longer vertical distance (offset)                                    Shorter vertical distance (offset)

-less pivoting in the early part of the turn                           -more pivoting in the early part of the turn

-less angulation in the early part of the turn.                         -more angulation in the early part of the turn.

These changes are more difficult to explain because changing your technique based on vertical offset has more to do with the time spent in the turn as opposed to the direction which the center of mass is traveling.  I will try to explain it as best as I can.  If you have a longer vertical distance between gates you can spend much more time making your turn.  For example if you are skiing on a 19m radius ski and your gates are set 19m apart you are lucky because you have the option of just riding the arc of your ski.  However if your vertical offset decreases to 15m you aren't going to have enough time to fully ride out the arc of your ski, so you will have to shorten one of the phases of your turn in order to make the gate in time.  The easiest phase to shorten without sacrificing line or speed is phase 1 of the turn.  Instead of carving through phase one of the turn which takes time, you can make a quick pivot to set up for the next phase, or the bottom half of the turn.  The other modification you most likely will have to make is to set up for early angulation.  This is because if you pivot early in your turn, you will enter the angulation phase of the turn right away.  For this reason  you need to be set up for it as soon as possible. 

The next step is figuring out how to modify your technique based on a combination of different horizontal and vertical offsets.  I will use a couple of examples to help describe what you would do in each case.  Let's look at an example.  Let's look at what we would do if we had a narrow corridor with a short vertical offset.  Your approach in this case would be probably to look at using very little inclination with early angulation.  This will feel like your movement will be more vertical than horizontal and your hip will come down right away after you extend off your platform.  Depending on how short the vertical offset is you might even have to shorten the time you spend in your turn and add a very slight pivot at the beginning, in order to make the gate in time.  Another example would be skiing with a wide corridor and a long vertical offset.  In this case you would probably use more inclination and less angulation in the early part of the turn.  If the speed becomes an issue you could using pivoting, however it would have to progress very gradually through all parts of the turn, because you would be spending a lot more time in your turns because of the longer vertical offset.  

 Modifying your technique, to adapt to different course sets is one of the most challenging tasks an alpine ski racer faces.  For this reason they must practice variation in how they make their turn shapes when they are out free skiing.  What to use, and how much of it to use takes experience.  The key is to practice when you are out freeskiing, so it is much easier once you get in course.  

Understanding fore aft balance and movement

If you are an athlete involved in alpine ski racing you have probably heard at one time a coach tell someone to move more forward.  What this means is that the athlete is struggling with their fore aft balance.  In dynamic skiing, there is a shift in pressure that happens along the length of ski as one carves a turn.  As you enter the "carving part" of a turn the pressure is shifted to the front of the skis in order to engage the tips of the skis.  Then as the carve progresses the pressures shifts from the front of the skis to the back of the skis.  This shift in pressure allows the skier to maintain their speed throughout the turn.  To allow this type of pressure shift, the skier must actively adjust their upper body postion with respect to their lower body or feet position.  This can be accomplished in two ways:  shifting the feet back and forward, or moving the upper body forward and backwards.  On very  flat terrain it feels like a rocking motion, especially when exaggerated.  If a coach has ever told you to move forward more, it may mean one of two things:  either you are skiing in the "backseat" with the pressure on the tails of your skis during all phase of the turn, or you aren't allowing the pressure to shift back at the end of the turn.  The difficult part of understanding how to perfect your fore aft balance is to understand when and how you shift the pressure from the front of the skis to the back of the skis.  This is what I will try to explain in detail.  In a carved turn, there are two basic stages:  The "float" stage and the "bite" stage.  The "float" stage of the turn is the part of the turn where there isn't a lot of pressure on the skis with respect to their contact with the snow.  At this stage you feel "light" on your feet and your skis may not even have contact with the snow.  This is also sometimes called the "unweighting" stage.  In dynamic skiing this is also where you would be releasing the pressure from the previous turn, finding your ski platform to set up for the new turn, and pivoting your feet to create a direction change.  The time spent in this stage depends on the type of arc you need to create to maintain a good line.  This stage is also where you might use "drifting" if it is required to maintain a good line.  The second stage of the turn is called the "bite stage." In this stage the skis are in contact with the snow and you are applying pressure to the ski to get the ski to bend and create an arc without pivoting.  In this stage the racer may also be using pressure and impulse to generate speed and accelerate out of the turn.  The time spent in this stage also depends on the type of arc required.  It is important to divide the turn into these two phases to understand how to perfect fore aft balance.  In the carve stage the pressure shifts from the front of the skis to the back of the skis.  So when a skier finishes their turn, the weight or pressure will be on the back or tails of the skis.  During the carve phase however, the pressure needs to be at the front of the skis at the beginning, for this reason the skier must actively shift their weight from the tails of the skis to the front of the skis, and this shift must happen in the "float" stage.  Lets look closely at an example of world cup skiing. 

 Fore aft movement during float phase

Notice in the photo above that the skier makes an abrupt movement to bring their weight forward to engage the tips of the skis in preparation for the carve phase of the turn which is shown in the photo below.  Note that the carve phase is shown at the opposite gate because the camera provided a better angle at the next gate for frame shots.

Pressure shift during "bite" phase

Notice where the snow is coming off the skiis in each frame above.  This gives an indication where the pressure is on the ski with respect to the snow.  In the first frame the snow is coming off the tips where as in the last frame it is coming of the tails of the skis.

Early angulation

Many people have different opinions as to whether you should use early angulation in a GS turn.  If you define angulation as "angle" of the upper body with respect to the lower body then early angulation will probably help you maintain edge pressure during the early stages of a GS turn.  Me personally, I like to use early angulation because I find that I can hold a tighter and faster line than I can without it.  I also find that I benefit from greater stability in a course with early angulation.  Early angulation isn't as critical in free skiing, and I don't tend to focus on it as much if I am just out skiing and not running gates.  Recently a coach from the U.S told me that angulation is created with the spine, so when I think of applying early angulation in a course I think about keeping the upper body as upright as possible with respect to the lower body.  Here are some resources that help foster the understanding of early angulation and how to apply it in a GS turn. 

Frame by frame shots of Carlo Janka in a GS turn (taken from video from:  www.youcanski.com)

I used a basic drawing program to superimpose the lines onto his different body positions, and they aren't perfectly accurate, however the idea is to show the angles of his upper body with respect to his lower body.  This early angulation will allow him to hold a tighter and faster line.  This extreme example of early angulation is not as critical in free skiing, as shown in the next photo below.  In free skiing the angulation can be less dramatic and still create a dynamic GS turn.  The photo below also comes from video on www.youcanski.com

One thing to note about angulation is that it is difficult to create angulation if you do not have a rounded spine.  Note Carlo Janka's body position in the above photo.  His spine is very rounded and this position helps to keep the upper body upright, with respect to the lower body.

If you would like to try applying early angulation, I would consider trying a few free runs where you focus on keeping the upper body as upright as possible throughout all phases of the turn.  In order to do this you will probably have to keep your upper body in a relaxed "piked" position to allow for changes in the spine.  In phase three of the turn it will probably feel like you are bringing the hip "down" instead of  "inside" the turn.  This feeling is ok, you will know whether you are angulating properly if you can maintain edge pressure and create a tight "arc."  You will find the real benefit of early angulation when you step inside a course.  The early angulation will help you maintain a fast and tight line through the course.