Once you have your skis flat, the next step is to be sure you are balanced correctly along the length of the ski. It’s called fore-aft balance.
That means your weight is centered on one of two places. Either over the arch of each foot or over the ball of each foot. Either works. (I’ll get into when and why you do one or the other in a bit).
The best and most appropriate way to get your fore-aft balance correct is to bend both ankles so that both shins have contact with the tongues of your boots. When you do this, you can use your shins to drive your boots, and therefore your skis, around the turn. Your shins the become the helpers you need to keep control of the skis. Specifically, you now can control the pressure of the shin-tongue contact to help the tips of the skis take you where you want to go.
Having the proper fore-aft balance is much better—and safer--than being in the back seat trying to get your legs or shoulders to make the turn. I know, I’ve been there, and nothing is worse in skiing than sitting back and losing control of your direction and speed. This is where fear and desperation take over. Then discouragement sets in and you don’t want to ever ski again.
You’ve heard me say this before and I know I’ve blogged about it. The little muscle that powers our ankles forward is the Tibialis Anterior, the ruler sized muscles on the outside of our lower legs. You have to contract both of those in order to accomplish this. Hard to believe such a seemingly insignificant part of our body is so important in skiing, but they provide 95% of our ability to control our fore-aft balance. Use them!
Oh yeah one caveat about fore-aft balance: leaning too far forward is no good either. If you do this, the tails of your skis come off the snow and you skid your turns.
If you follow step 2 with every turn, you’ll always have correct balance and control.
About the ball of the foot versus the arch:
In powder, we want to be as neutral as possible, especially before we get a rhythm going. Having your weight over your arches provides the neutral touch you need throughout the entire turn. When you get a rhythm going, you can shift your weight over the balls of your feet to create more maneuverability.
In a carved turn, I switch back and forth between the ball of my foot and the arch. Getting my weight on the balls of my feet is like stepping on the gas pedal. When I’m at the end of the turn, I go back to neutral to slow down and set myself up to go forward again. But as in powder, starting with your weight over your arches is a good way to build rhythm.
In bumps, for me, it depends on the variable terrain. Over the arches is good for slowing down, and over the balls of the feet helps steer my skis.
On my bad drawing, it’s the blue color that shows you where to check your fore-aft balance. Your skis are still flat, by the way. That’s why the red and blue lines are side-by side.
