[Mary]

So, I was lucky enough to get 3 more days on the snow in at Mammoth last week, this being my big comeback year to the sport of skiing after an extended hiatus. (30+years YIKES.... and yet it can be done!). I took some lessons and I'm progressing much faster than I ever expected, the gear is so much better and the skiing easier than I remember.

After just 7 days I can ski all the blue runs and I'm getting a lot of coaching (both solicited and otherwise!) but I have this reoccurring problem: I tend to get wobbly when I am turning to the left. This happens late in the turn, before I initiate the next turn to my right. The result: Three falls last week, and one was a full-on yard sale, necessitating an extra long soak in the hot tub.

I am going to take another lesson next time I get up there. In the meantime, any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong would be very welcome.

Thanks! P.S. Still in Bondage working towards tele!

Mary B.

[Starik]

Hi Mary!! Congrats on determination to get back into downhill skiing!!

I have been making and loosing progress toward same basic goal and with some of same advantages re better ski equipment, but, alas, not a better bod than long ago.

MAYBE following will be some comfort, maybe even slightly useful.

I am confronted with one basic condition -- my body parts have lost just about all memory of what they gotta do so I can ski downhill decently. SO, I find myself doing "mental" skiing 100% of time -- that means my old brain has gotta simultaneously control 10 toes, two feet, two ankles, two sets of calf muscles, two knees, two sets of quads, two sets of hip muscles, two slightly different stances, etc. etc. Only those body parts essential to balance seem to have any memory of things long past. And, of course, left and right parts are far from consistent mirror images of each other and, alas, they all gotta cooperate on every turn -- therein appears to lie the most demanding mental tasks.

SO, yep, my turns to right generally are nicer, smoother, more solid than those to left. This means old brain has gotta watch out for different undesirable movements on every other turn. I am sure this additional mental activity will help keep Alzhimers away, that is, if it is not already the underlying cause.

Yes, I get some, sorta useful, clues via attempted comparisons of what different body parts are doing on turns to right vs turns to left -- and it is working, sometimes. Happy, smoothly carved turns are too often followed by lurching changing in direction.

I can only claim that I am doing better than you by almost never falling. In part, adversion to "yard sale" falls is reinforced by expectation that recovery will require more than long hot soak.

I do envy your progression to ALL blue runs!! Keep it up!!

Starik the Careful Wimp.

[QuiverQueen]

Hi Mary, and welcome to the Forum! Good to be skiing again?

To answer your question, many if not most of us have one "strong" side and one weaker or less comfortable side. It's natural but can be compounded by accident or injury to one limb, and it takes lots of time and effort to help that side understand that it, too, can do what its mate can.

I have found that extra work with balance on the weaker side can be tremendously helpful. I use inflatable balance discs and do lunges, one-legged squats, and balancing for several minutes. This activates all those little muscles that aid in strength and balance.

In fact, after the lousy way I skied in yesterday's spring slush, I need to go do some exercises now.
_________________
A humble student at Fryingpan University.

[Whiteout]

What they said, Mary. Kudos & encouragement.

Not as afflicted but know the feeling. First ski last week at a point on the age/skill line where there is an increasing penalty for days off snow!

I tele but have mostly been reading up on parallel and did that primarily last week.

One big difference right away is how much more the parallel is a one-leg turn. So it certainly couldn't hurt to work on strengthening your right leg.

I'm also weaker turning left, but for me feel it is an angulation/separation thing. Turning right, I feel cool & smooth having my upper body go one way and lower the other. Carve city. Not so turning left. I think this results in more skidded turns that way and they are way more tiring. No magic answer, but repetition, core flexibility work are what I'm aiming for.

Oh yeah, once you've gotten falls on easy slopes behind you, skiing without poles is powerful in making you feel and correct separate body movements.

[vdrifter11]

Mary, make sure you FEEL pressure
on BOTH shins
through the turn(s) ..
It sounds like you are
just skiing with one
ski weighted , hence the
"wobble" factor..
_________________
Speak and remove all doubt..
No one cares that you CAN'T tele!

[robrox]

Makes me think of Proud Mary...the Tina Turner version...

Welcome back Sister!

Lessons and practice will help, of course, but I'm going with a recommendation for signing up with a good personal trainer for core strength and bilateral equalization training.

I'm guessing you have a lateral dominance issue as much as anything else. Deal with that, and core strength, in the off-season and you may see the problem gone next season.

Just an idea...
_________________
"Moderate is not the new Low" - Chris Joosen, USFS Lead Snow Ranger (Tuckerman Ravine, White Mountains National Forest)

[Oldpinner]

Mary,

I rejoined the world of downhill (tele) skiing last year, after a hiatus of about 20 years. My telemarking muscle memory had gone, my equipment was obsolete and my joints and muscles just ain't what they used to be.

This board gave me lots of good advice on choosing equipment, I've been working on exercises for my core strength and, next season, I will start taking lessons.

Muscle memory is a strange thing, IMHO. I have trouble weighting both skis because I was an alpine skier since childhood. I learned telemark skiing when I was in my mid-30s, and whenever I stop concentrating on what I'm doing, voila--I find myself parallel skiing again.

Anyway, welcome back and keep on skiing!

Best,

--Joe
_________________
Never too old!

[wayne]

Way to go Mary! Back to skiing after 30 years!

Why did you stop skiing when you were only six years old?
_________________
Dog is my co-pilot.

[Pat-n-the-hat]

Lot's of good advice here Mary B., including vdrifter's observation that you might need to focus on edging both skis throughout the turn.

The need for core strength cannot be overemphasized, particularly to a beginner IMO, it makes everything so much easier, steepening the learning curve significantly.

Some up and coming new intermediates find that simply cutting out that last unstable part of their turn works wonders. Lots of folks at this stage tend to draw out the turn too long, losing the dynamics that make skiing easier and fun, and yes, getting all wobbly as you describe. Try keeping a little more speed, initiating the new turn before coming so far across the fall line, also focusing on making positive edge changes of both skis, and you'll likely see your skiing smooth out and become stronger.

Welcome back to the sport of the ages!

[X-Man]

I think most balance problems like you are having can be quickly corrected with attention to stance. While skiing, stand tall, bend at the knees, not at the waist, look up, hands forward.

Repeat this mantra 10 times before going to sleep each night: stand tall, bend at the knees, not at the waist, look up, hands forward.

Do not let yourself get in the backseat and do not hunch forward either. In a solid stance, your balance will be there.

As for "core strength," yeah okay, whatever, but I see plenty of out of shape fixed-heel-ers at resorts skiing reasonably well, it's almost like golf , good technique will take any reasonably fit person a long way. To tele well just takes more of both.

[robrox]

[X-Man]

[Cyrus]

[Starik]

[X-Man]