CSM's Passive Moves for Great Skiing
Passive Moves™ in skiing are easy to learn and easy to do, once you know how they happen. Simply being aware of Passive Moves™ will put you on the fast track to Thumpless Skiing™. Learn the secrets to CSM Passive Moves™ and your skiing will become more natural, and smoother with less effort. Here are two of the easy ones.
1) The Killy Stance™ with Angulation from the The Kinetic Chain™
Find the Killy stance by standing tall but with a slight flex in your knees. Now bring your arms out naturally as if you were about to walk a tight rope, hands out to the side and just in front of your hips, elbows slightly bent. You’re in a Killy Stance™.
Stand in a Killy Stance across a steep slope on your uphill edges. Now, edge your skis into the hill, with your feet, but don’t fall over. If you are still standing, the Kinetic Chain™ reaction took place. Your knees naturally bent in toward the hill which caused your hips to move inside up the hill. When your hips moved inside, your shoulders tilted and the Kinetic Chain™ created a curve in your whole body called
Great skiers flow with the Kinetic Chain™ allowing it to create Angulation in their body naturally when edging is initiated with their feet. Angulation created by The Kinetic Chain™ will keep you centered on stacked bones making it easy to vary edge angles with intention in all turns. The secret is that the Kinetic Chain creates Passive Angulation only when it’s started with your feet. It is simple, it’s natural, and it’s easy.
Where do people ski? I’ve told you this a thousand times – damn it! They ski in their feet. All we do is teach the feet. It’s that simple!
Cal Cantrell (CM Technical Mentor)
2) Inclination
When speed increases, momentum and other forces increase. Great skiers incline to manage their balance, and to shape their turns as speed increases.
When you first rode a bike WITHOUT training wheels, your body instinctively leaned the bike in the direction of the turn. If you turned the bike without leaning, you’d be thrown.
Great skiers shape their turns and manage forces in the same way. The secret is that when great skiers incline, angulation is always present.
Herman’s so balanced and centered, that he could be hit with a cannon ball
and we’d feel bad for the ball!
As good skiers find balance from sensations in their feet, inclination comes naturally and passively, just like riding a bike.
With speed, Lynda is inclining with angulation. Her muscles are riding on stacked bones. She’s relaxed and smiling in perfect balance.
Inclination without angulation is called Banking.
Leaning without angulation is the first indication that new edge angles are
not starting in the feet.
Skiers who initiate their edge angles from their body by banking may look OK on groomed terrain, but the bumps will chew them up like a German Shepherd on a Big Mac. Skiers who bank their turns in the bumps find themselves skidding, losing control, and fighting to stay on the wild pony.
CSM is full of Passive Moves™ that stack your bones and make your skiing centered and effortless. All you need is to be aware of where and how they take place. Look for our next blog when we shine light on more easy moves like how to Twitch™ to the Love Spot™.
You can Bank on it,
Johnny C
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[…] discussed in our last postcard, CSM defines and teaches Passive Moves™ that make great skiing easy, efficient and powerful. Passive Moves™ and moves like The Twitch […]
John,
Your email blasts are terrific. Love the humor, and you really get your points across!! Kudos to you! Have an awesome 2012.
Love Genia
John: Thanks for the continuing tips. The 5 days of so that Linda and I skied with you changed my skiing forever. We are up at Whistler skiing the thick Pacific NW snow and enjoying it more than ever. We have you to thank for making skiing so much more enjoyable.
Mark
John
Thank You for explaning the angulation aspect of the sport. I was born at Queen of Angles in Los Angeles, and for years have felt that I was leaning in the wrong direction, so now you have given me a basis for further research into why my Cubco’s push me to the edge.
I shall reread your comments daily before starting skiing in Feb after being injured last ski saeson.Used to be an 8 plus with Level One Pro exam passed.
Much obliged for your clarity.
Gratefully,
Cheryl Tennille
wow, I never looked so good, is that really me? I must have had a superb coach!
Is that bike rider leading or shaping the turn with the inside leg.
Great article.
Johnny and I were talking about the word twitch. I like the word and I find it describes that part of my turn well. I find that the twitch usually happens just after the touch, but that it varies some, sometimes being almost simultaneous with the touch and sometimes a little longer after the touch.
I liken the twitch to “making a muscle”, like showing off my bicep. It’s muscular contraction without much if any movement of the joints. I find “the twitch” to be a very useful concept when thinking about my turn initiation.
Thanks JC.
John, This is excellent information and help. I’d never thought of it in this way. I look forward to news on “The Love Spot” & “The Twitch”. Thanks Col.