Alpine tip by André Heiber
It’s getting to the time of year where we can hope to get some new deep snow in which to play. One of the greatest challenges in powder and crud is getting students to effectively distribute weight between their feet. More than once, I have confidently taken a student into a lovely pitch of fluffy snow only to have them either balance on the outside foot (and cart-wheel their way down) or lean and tip to the inside. What happened to all the good practice we just did lengthening and shortening the legs?
When this happens, I like this simple hand drill to give them the sensations I want in their feet. Acquiring an even-pressured feeling in the far more sensitive and adaptable hands first will pave the way for creating it in their feet.
Hands Can be Feet:
- Stand face-to-face with your student holding hands in front of you and touch the palms of both your hands to theirs with light-medium pressure.
- Tell them that their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to maintain that same level of pressure throughout the drill.
- Shorten and then lengthen your arms together and then independently. Let them explore what they need to do to maintain constant and equal palm pressure.
- Guide them through the thought process of pressure lightens: extend the arm / pressure increases: flex the arm.
- When they are able to do that, have them close their eyes and imagine that their hands are in fact their feet. Run them through the drill again and have them focus on feeling the pressures remain equal on both feet.
- Once they have that new feeling to search for, they’ll be set up to succeed at doing it in a turn.
By using the hands, you’ve turned a previously unavailable sensation into one that is tangible and repeatable.
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