We are now well over halfway through our Ski Technique Lab tour of the UK where we have been helping to educate people on the important link between ski technique, biomechanics and equipment precision.
The tour began up in Inverness, Scotland and has since been working down the country and will end with a handful of events in and around London. This coming weekend will see the return of the National Snow Show in Birmingham. The Academy team will be there delivering our talks but also on hand to talk about our courses and the fast approaching winter season!
Each evening we have been putting attendees through a series of tests to highlight potential limitations in particular ranges of movement.
1. LEG FLEX PATTERN TEST
By taking a measurement of how far each person’s ankle allows them to flex, we can tell early on if the simple mechanics of the sport will work or not. The ideal drop test range for safe skiing is between 15cm and 20cm with equal range on the right and left ankle.
Our previous findings showed the national average was 11cm, with the lowest score being 4cm. Most importantly over 95% of people showed a clear difference between their left and right ankle flex ranges.
2. SKIER SYMMETRY TEST
Symmetry describes how skiers manage their width of stance from the feet up to their hips and maintain a consistently symmetrical position. To test this range, we use our simple 10 second test where attendees try to pull their feet together on a slippery surface in a slow controlled movement without their knees dropping in.
Previous findings showed that over 70% of people had to take 3 attempts to make it last 10 seconds or more. Muscle fatigue was also evident.
3. LEG STEERING RANGE TEST
The ability to steer the legs independently from the hips is one of the most fundamental movements in skiing. This is the ball rotating inside the socket joint of the hip. We measured the range the outside leg is able to rotate inwardly (i.e. left leg steering inwardly towards the right) without the hips following.
The average inward rotation range on our last tour was 45 degrees. 90% of people showed over 20 degrees difference between left and right and only 5% of people tested showed a clear range of 70 degrees in each direction.
To find out more information about our remaining dates of the tour please check out our Eventbrite page here.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/warren-smith-ski-academy-17635690693