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Backseat skiing!!

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come_at_me_bro
Posts: 494 - Karma: 19
Hey guys, I find myself skiing and leaning back a TON. Im not sure why, it just feels like when I push my shins into my boots, I lose control. What stance should I be doing to have proper form and good control, and to correct my backseat skiing habit?

+K for help!!
Jan 18 2011 6:50PM
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RoadRash_Skier
Posts: 457 - Karma: 44
hands in front of you, bend your knees
Jan 18 2011 6:53PM
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come_at_me_bro
Posts: 494 - Karma: 19
t how much should they be bent? and what should my back look like?
Jan 18 2011 6:56PM
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whitechocolate
Posts: 582 - Karma: 260
your back should be slightly forward
keep your shins always grazing the front of your boot
Jan 18 2011 7:00PM
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ChrisSkisChronic
Posts: 1128 - Karma: 230
That's why the pole plant was invented. Doing so at the beginning for your turn forces you to keep your weight forward.
Jan 18 2011 7:01PM
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Elston
Posts: 29 - Karma: 37
and flex ankles. Think about staying centered on the ski.
Jan 18 2011 7:01PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
take some lessons or have an instructor give you pointers, their style is usually really on point and skiing somewhere between that and a relaxed afterbang position is ideal for park !
Jan 18 2011 7:03PM
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MAPLE_SYRUP
Posts: 1910 - Karma: 68
Ski switch?
Jan 18 2011 7:12PM
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Skithedeep
Posts: 645 - Karma: 39
you could have someone follow you and smack you with a pole in the back of the legs if youre backseat like my dad used to! haha good times. it works wonders tho
Jan 18 2011 7:15PM
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OGHolliday
Posts: 2390 - Karma: 2,430
You will stop skiing backseat once you get your first bad case of shinbang.
Jan 18 2011 7:15PM
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array.
Posts: 2439 - Karma: 202
the less the you think, the more you do, so if You dont think about skiing in the backseat, and think only about the front seat, you'll correct yourself
Jan 18 2011 7:20PM
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come_at_me_bro
Posts: 494 - Karma: 19
Should i keep my weight on the balls of my feet? or should it be eve throughout the entire foot...
Jan 18 2011 7:20PM
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ace_
Posts: 3189 - Karma: 39
If your a relatively new skier its a hard concept to grasp, especially if your on edge-less park skis. if you are on edge-less park skis then its really hard to grasp because of a lack of bite you have in the snow. You may be skiing backseat because it seems to be unnatural and weird. As someone previously mentioned, take a lesson or two and listen to what your instructor has to say (if he's good) and he can better explain it on the hill. It also helps tons too if you have a ski meant to be skiied with your shins and meant to be a groomer/carving ski opposed to a symmetrical/dull park ski.

shin it to win it.
Jan 18 2011 7:21PM
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Style+eeze
Posts: 6901 - Karma: 551
If you are in an athletic position with your shins compressed against the front of your boot, you will be able to effectively pressure your edges. This is essentially how people "carve," or actively use the sidecut of their skis to turn. It's really easy to ski around leaning back (especially in the park), but it's important to know how to properly turn. As other people have mentioned, go to a couple advanced lessons at your local mountain and ask the instructors some questions. Once you grasp the concept, it all comes with practice.

Good luck man!
Jan 18 2011 7:30PM
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come_at_me_bro
Posts: 494 - Karma: 19
Wow thanks a lot guys!! Everyone got lots of karma :)
Jan 18 2011 8:55PM
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uosdwiSrjewoH
Posts: 4220 - Karma: 122
on a perfectly groomed run, i love leaning back through my turns
Jan 18 2011 8:57PM
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.jersey
Posts: 1925 - Karma: 9
lean foward a good amount, hands foward and just charge it
Jan 18 2011 8:58PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
keep your body in an athletic stance with your weight evenly distributed thoughout your feet, and your shins pressuring the front of your boot, with your knees bent.
Jan 18 2011 11:10PM
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H8CH
Posts: 2709 - Karma: 218
inb4 hornbeck afterbang pic.
Jan 18 2011 11:18PM
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thisisastickup
Posts: 597 - Karma: -24

Maybe you wouldn't ski backseat if you actually learned to ski before you donned your first tall tee.

Lean forward, pressure the front of your boots. It really isn't hard.

Jan 18 2011 11:29PM
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pow314
Posts: 424 - Karma: 111
first, make sure your hands are always in font of you. they should be at about nipple height. and every one who said lean forward this is true, but no one told you how to do that. you dont just lean your shins into your tongues.... a centered ski stance comes from leg extension, ankle extension, a quiet upper body, and a round slightly bent back that never makes any abrupt bends- think of it as trying to individually flex every bone in your spine. you should come out of a turn with you significantly bent, but you CAN NOT keep them bent. when you initiate your next turn you need to extend the ankle, initiating tip pressure and activating the sidecut of your ski, and roll your inside leg inward while straightening the outside leg. this allows you to stay centered and have total control over the ski. watch some world cup racing in MEGA MO. this whole time your upper body should not move. what i did this year is skied a 70 mm under foot race ski for 15 days in every condition imaginable. skiing this ski helped my form so much, and when i got back on my 120 waisted reverse boards on a pow day i skied it ten times better.
Jan 19 2011 12:34AM
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cool_name
Posts: 4295 - Karma: 3,131
whenever you are on a cat track ski with you feet in in the middle of you boots and in a stance like you would if you were on d in a b ball game.

you can also try skiing down a green/ easy blue with your hands on your knees


and just try to keep these stance style when skiing down hills

took a lesson in sliverstar and had your problem these points fixed it in like 3 runs
Jan 19 2011 1:16AM
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Daydreaming
Posts: 1686 - Karma: 48
The way I was taught involved a checklist that is pretty easy to remember.

-Hands out front
-Legs bent so your knees are vertically aligned with your toes
-Back bent forward so your shoulders are vertically aligned with your knees and toes.

Here is a crappy drawing I using Sketchbook Express and a trackpad but I hope it illustrates the point.

Click for larger image
Jan 19 2011 1:21AM
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alexg1687
Posts: 1505 - Karma: 1,581
what people have said here about having your hands out in front is VERY true. its especially true for moguls....because so much is happening at the one time you can forget to keep forward pressure. hands out in front helps.

if you want to know how much pressure you want on the tongues of the boots imagine you have a coin there. you want enough pressure to keep it at the top of the tongue but not so much pressure that it bruises your shin.

there is another thing though...a few years ago i was really confused because i put pressure forwards like my instructor told me to but my tips were overly sensitive. after a while we realised that it was my first pair of centre mounted skis so i didn't need to lean forward a much to initiate the turns. i could afford to be more centred. if, however, you go to full on racing skis like my skiercross rossis then you need a LOT of pressure forward on the boot to turn them...so its just a matter of working out how much you need before the tips become overly sensitive.
Jan 19 2011 6:02AM
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WaterBottle
Posts: 1156 - Karma: 4
Click for larger image
Jan 19 2011 7:09AM
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peyton
Posts: 1475 - Karma: 1,062
beware of shin bang
Jan 19 2011 10:09AM
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KillaSeason
Posts: 3495 - Karma: 1,774
thats the proper stance, study this picture for a solid hour atleast.
Jan 19 2011 10:11AM
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soulskier
Posts: 17806 - Karma: 3,841
you should feel the front of you boots with your shin, a basic athletic stance
Jan 19 2011 10:15AM
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shredables
Posts: 647 - Karma: 19
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41404000/jpg/_41404484_ski.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/75279/how-do-you-ski-new-school-turning-or-old-school/30&usg=__Tyq2FnKAHm7WRXalcbNDWIu6eIA=&h=300&w=416&sz=55&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=RIDaTx8E67VrfM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=172&ei=UAA3TZ_kDYyr8Ab3nIShAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dski%2Bstance%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D677%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=123&vpy=76&dur=573&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=193&ty=71&oei=UAA3TZ_kDYyr8Ab3nIShAw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
Jan 19 2011 10:17AM
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geet
Posts: 2436 - Karma: 6
here you go

Click for larger image
Jan 19 2011 4:26PM
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Mr.LemonPie
Posts: 4100 - Karma: 1,625
My old racing coach used to tape pennies into the heels of our boots if we were skiing backseat...maybe do that if you want to force yourself to change.
Jan 19 2011 4:31PM
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crab_pretzel
Posts: 3919 - Karma: 622
instead of concentrating on just putting your shins to the fronts of your boots, work on moving your shoulders forward, and the rest will follow. while doing this, try to keep your butt not sticking out, as this looks terrible and will give you even worse form and a sore back. and beware of shinbang!!!
Jan 19 2011 4:32PM
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Ski.Ballet
Posts: 2860 - Karma: 200
A lot of good advice in here. Also, think about keeping your upper body perpendicular to the angle of the slope.
Jan 19 2011 4:34PM
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titsLOL
Posts: 7485 - Karma: 396
You want to think about using the tips of your skis and the side cut right behind the tips to initiate your turns.
Jan 19 2011 4:42PM
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Psychonaut
Posts: 19 - Karma: 10
^^^ yeah.
Jan 19 2011 6:39PM
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SkiThe603
Posts: 5376 - Karma: 498
You want your knees over and in front off your boots a small bit, not leaning back but leaning a small bit forward, makes for better control on everything.
Jan 19 2011 6:42PM
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Ski.Ballet
Posts: 2860 - Karma: 200
And keep your head and eyes up! Always look 2-3 turns ahead. A very underrated, yet helpful technique
Jan 19 2011 6:45PM
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pinhead_larry
Posts: 891 - Karma: 20
Good call
Jan 19 2011 6:48PM
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