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Body alignment and mobility for improved skiing

By Tom Gellie

 

The way you balance each segment of your body on top of the next differentiates efficient skiing from inefficient skiing. Most people would agree this is good ski technique. The road to efficient skiing usually involves lessons on technique, choosing the right equipment, perhaps custom ski boots, and then spending plenty of time on snow practicing. If after all this you find your skiing does not stack up against what you had hoped, perhaps you should take a look at your body alignment. Whether you are an avid intermediate or a seasoned ski instructor, if your skiing has plateaued or, even worse, your body hurts after skiing, take a look at how you hold yourself in everyday life to uncover some answers.

What potential does your body aligment and mobility hold?

Most of us do not have the leisure to ski every day of the year. In fact most keen skiers spend a week or two maximum on the snow. The truth is that a lot of our time is spent at either work or school. Ask your self a few questions about this time. Does it involve a seated position? If so, how good is your posture? Where does your head sit in relation to your shoulders? How much time do you spend moving the joints in your body to make up for the time you are not moving? How aware are you of your body and its posture?

 

Look around at the general population and you will find rounded spines, forward-thrust heads, pelvises tucked under, and shoulders rolled forward. Not great training for when you need to balance your body’s segments while flying down a mogul field!

 

If you are serious about skiing well into your future it is worth your time to assess your body’s alignment and posture in everyday life, and to see what patterns are carried over into your skiing.

 

Here is just one simple test you can do to check how your body is stacked up.

 

Consider your feet. Stand with bare feet on a hard surface with your feet hip-width apart. Try to duplicate the same width as your skiing stance. Now point your second toes straight ahead, parallel to each other. Put equal weight on both soles of the feet and notice how it feels. If this is how you normally stand when you are waiting at the supermarket checkout or when your friends are talking to you, then it will probably feel fine. However, if this position feels awkward, puts a little torque on your knees, or puts weight mostly on the outsides of your feet then it is a sign of imbalance and immobility.

The picture on the left is this individual’s natural stance (most comfortable). The picture in the middle is feet straight. When asked “how straight feet felt?” the individual reported that her knees felt twisted and weight was mostly on the outsides of her feet. The last picture on the right shows how the knees track with feet straight as she flexes down. Notice that the tendency for her right foot to turn out creeps in even starting with feet straight.

Next, test how this position feels when you move up and down. Remember to keep both feet pointing straight ahead and directly underneath the middle of your buttocks. How do your knees track when you flex into a lower position? Stand in front of a mirror or get someone to video you to check. Ideally, your knees should track straight ahead with ease. You can even check how your hips move when flexing down and standing up. Get someone to video you from the back, as this is the most obvious spot to see how your hips move. Do they move up and down simultaneously, or is there any zigzag motion?

Your basic position on skis requires that both of your feet point straight ahead. Otherwise you end up with a slight V or A position on your skis. Certain boots can compensate for naturally turned-out feet, and custom foot beds can compensate for misalignments of the foot. In fact turned-our feet do not stop most people from skiing parallel. But if you naturally stand with your feet pointing out (or in), then when you strive to point them straight ahead, then perform a few squats or simply move up and down the body must compensate for this elsewhere. To keep your feet straight ahead, perhaps you need to hold more with the muscles that control your legs as they turn. This is not ideal if you want your legs to be mobile and free to rotate.

 

Paying attention to how your feet support you in everyday life provides just a glimpse at how your body is stacked up. We are not built like cars and the complex arrangement of our muscles, bones, and everything else can line up in infinite ways. Understanding your body and being aware of your own movement patterns is the first step in discovering your body’s ideal alignment. Perhaps it may uncover why your lower back gets sore or why your knees hurt!

Okay, so my feet don’t naturally like to point straight ahead. What can I do to change this? The body is an amazing organism, and most of the time it has the ability to adapt and change its structure – just like it has already adapted to your current stance. The tissue responsible for the way we hold ourselves is broadly termed “fascia.” Fascia can be likened to an architecture that supports and holds together bones, encompasses the muscles, tendons and ligaments, and organizes the organs into where they reside. In fact, if you took everything else away and simply left the fascia you would look almost the same! Its permeating coverage creates a three-dimensional support system for the body.

 

One of the characteristics of fascia is that it is very strong and will slowly change to support how a segment of the body is held. For instance, if your job requires you to sit at a desk with your head craned forward, fascial tissue around the neck will adapt. It will align itself so that your head can be supported in this way, much like a leather strap holding your head up from behind. The problem arises when you go to perform activities that don’t require a craned neck. In this case, the Fascia is slow to respond and inhibits movement. Fascia “remembers” and prefers to return to how you hold it habitually. This then becomes the “normal,” and you don’t know any different. The only problem is that now your body must compensate for an unbalanced head position and chronically tight muscles. Exactly the same principles apply to your legs and feet. Hopefully, this gives you the idea that time spent in a certain position dictates how your body aligns itself.

The good news is that fascia and human structure can change. In fact just moving your body continuously over time will change your alignment. It is a slow process, but putting consistent demands on the fascial tissue to change will work.

 

If you don’t have time or are eager to get your body on the path of improvement quickly, then here are some options:

 

  • Seek out a professional specializing in fascia. Structural Integration or Rolfing are manual therapies that aim to affect the fascial layers of the body and help bring about the body’s most ideal alignment and mobility. Practitioners of Structural Integration look at the whole body – not just at the obvious areas of pain or imbalance. They can not only loosen areas of tightness, they can also help educate you so your body can function more efficiently.
     

  • Get self mobilizing. There are many great methods out there to help mobilize and stretch your body. Read Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett, or check out “Melt Method.” Most of the time, all you need are some squishy rubber balls, a foam roller, and an elasticized band. While these methods have their limitations, they can be a great starting point and maintenance method.Move it or Lose it.
     

  • Simply get moving! Challenging the body’s joints and using full ranges of motion will start to increase your body’s mobility. Take it slowly and build up. Often people hit the gym in preparation for ski season. Start out by targeting your mobility and flexibility before adding resistance. A supple, mobile body will perform far better than a stiff, muscle-bound one. Functional fitness is the trend right now, and with good cause.



​Skiing is a complex and demanding sport that requires your body to be in top shape. If you are looking to take your skiing to another level, I highly recommend delving into your body’s alignment and taking a global look at how you are stacked up. Go beyond compensations, step aside from strength training, and see if you can’t find a more functional and efficient way to perform!

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