10 Secrets on How to Use the Feet to Ski Well

00:00 Intro, How to Use the Feet to Carve on Skis
00:39 Let the Feet Speak
01:13 Grip a Pencil with your Toes
01:21 Gently Press the 10 Toes Down for Better Connection to the Ski
01:31 Join a Stomp It Ski Camp for Adults
01:38 Awareness Drill 1: Feel How the Pressure is Moving Around Your Feet
01:49 Awareness Drill 2: Smooth Carving vs Skidding
02:24 Awareness Drill 3: Feel the Snow Conditions
03:02 Avoid the Barbarian Boot Tilt
04:41 The Feet Guide the Balance for Better Skiing
04:45 Let the Feet Guide You Side to Side when Carving on Skis
05:30 Bonus Tip: The Tripod Foot and How to Better Edge on Skis
06:12 Let the Feet Guide Your Fore and Aft Balance on Skis
08:12 Feedback
08:27 Level 1: Present Feedback: Feel for the Thing you are Trying to Improve
09:02 Level 2: Sectional Feedback: Watch a Replay in your Mind
09:31 Level 3: Lift Feedback: Video Analysis
09:57 Carv Feedback
10:57 Foot Scissoring: Alternate Foot Pressure for Smooth Basic Short Turns

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[trashhook]

The content us very much appreciated. I'm looking forward to utilizing what I have learned here on the slopes...hopefully next week if my local ski hill gets enough snow.

[jonathanmcnee]

I've been watching your videos for years, Jens - they're just getting better and better! 
Love your work and thanks :)

[markkirwin]

I have been doing this for years, initiate the turn with the big toe/ball of the foot and then transfer your weight along the length of your foot as you complete the turn..
Such a wonderful feeling when you look behind you and see a perfect set of railway tracks behind you.

[davec.]

This is the first time I've seen this video or any of your videos. This is also the first time I have seen an instructional video that even mentioned the big toe (I've been telling people about that little piggy for decades). I just started my 57th year in the Wasatch. I feel you have broken it down to the basics in a way that is very understandable for skiers of any ability. Feel and feedback are the keys (IMHO) to adapting to variable snow and pitch. Very well done, sir!

[AuroraFontana-ds]

I've been watching your videos for years, Jens - they're just getting better and better! 
Love your work and thanks :)

[aidanbanner]

I love that you brought awareness into it we need that In every sport

[GrahamOsborne-xt]

Nice video, gonna take a closer look onto my footwork in the holidays!
Btw. The video quality is really impressive from a filmmaker’s perspective, keep up the good work!

[Thorbenius]

Nice video, gonna take a closer look onto my footwork in the holidays!
Btw. The video quality is really impressive from a filmmaker’s perspective, keep up the good work!

[Kashiwa-no-ha]

I really love the illustration about the pressure, point of the feet, et al. This is much much better than merely talking or showing the results which make people bored or confused easily.

[shanegordon]

I practise being aware of my feet during every day tasks for about 4 weeks before going on a skiing holiday.

[puregsr]

This is good stuff. Last season I learned to carve based on Harb's method and all he talks about is the feet, how the feet starts the chain of movements of the rest of the legs using balance. But you're adding the fine tuning of toes / heels (fore and aft)! So hopefully this season I can master short turns. And with Tom Gellie adding the concept wedging of the pelvis into different part of the foot, I'm really going to take my skiing to a whole different level.
It's weird to say, but since I've been watching your video just 2-3 years ago, you were already an expert skier that I thought was humanly possible with all the jumps, tricks, speed. But now I can see the transition of you all of a sudden becoming a true expert alpine skier! The smoothness, confidence, power; It's really subtle but you're like a completely different skier.

[drdecco]

About 06:20 when you are carving down the hill with the foot pad sensor/pressure graphic…..
it’s lighting up heaviest on the one side regardless of the side of the slope you are on -
should it not alternate to the right and left (foot/big toe graphic) depending on which side you are turning/turning back to?

[thecrazydonut]

Honestly, Carv looks cool. I would be down to spend 3 or 400$ to buy the setup. But the 250$/year mandatory membership is absurdly unreasonable.

[Ainsleydoofdoof]

i love how he just kicks the ski off at 5:31🤣

[russshaber]

I try to stand flat on my skis as much as possible. I use body angulation to shift weight fore to neutral, and knee angulation for turning and controlling the edges. Learning how to relax and minimize effort has been most important as I get older.

[simongrafton]

Whoa whoa whoa

First off, it is easy to find an error in a video, even easier than it is to find an error in a comment. I'm sure there is a point below where I make a mistake. However, I'll offer a different opinion here on how best to use the toes during skiing. I do so with full respect to the creator, who's content I find very good!

I make the case that pressing down on the toes (generally) is not efficient technique.

Why we might lift our toes UP to the top of the boot (much of the time) when skiing:

1) Lifting the toes encourages dorsiflexion (front of the foot lifting up) because it recruits muscles in the same group as the anterior tibialis, the prime muscle of dorsiflexion. Dorsiflexion is optimal in skiing as it pulls the lower leg toward the tongue of the boot, and the skiers body forward. If the foot is in plantar flexion (pushing the toes and foot down) we tend to bend the knee and straighten the hip joint - this can put the skier in the back seat, and will reduce effective pressure control due to the geometry of the hip and knee joint. Dorsiflexion, on the other hand, supports the knee and encourages bending of the hip. The result is an athletic stance with proportionate bending of the ankle, knee and hip.

2) With the ankle actively in dorsiflexion, the skier should feel their weight on the bottom of the boot balanced toward the back of the arch. This is right under the load bearing tibia, and is an efficient position for carrying your weight as the calf muscle does not need to be recruited to support weight as it would if you were balanced on your toes. The less energy you expend carrying your weight, the more you can direct to supporting balance and controlling your skis.

3) Pronation of the outside foot (often referred to as the "downhill" foot) is essential to edge the ski effectively, it rolls the boot and ski to increase edge angle, and aligns the tibia (the load carrying bone of the lower leg) closer to the edge of the ski, which reduces torque on the ankle -for this reason, having a bit of room for this movement in your boots is important. Pronation also creates a gripping action between the foot and boot increasing control (additionally the foot takes up more volume in the boot when the toes lifted adding to this effect.) But most importantly here, dorsiflexion is a component movement of pronation, along with eversion (rolling the foot so the inside of the foot faces down, ) and abduction (twisting the foot so the toes point to the side away from the center line.) You can still achieve pronation with toes pointed or curled, it's just much easier and more effective with the toes lifted.

4) Sensory information, the creator makes a good point that we get a huge amount of information from our feet, but it is not significantly hampered by lifting our toes as they are still in firm contact with the boot and we still experience a good "feel" for the snow. Load bearing and ski inputs can, and should, be done at the head of the 1st and 5th metatarsals (the bases of your 1st and 5th toes) with the toes still in a lifted position. However, It is effective to balance over the heel for most of the turn and it is especially important to do so at the completion of the turn to adequately pressure the tail of the ski. We then to initiate a new turn by redirecting our balance over the front of the ski by, 1) retracting the feet fore aft (to balance forces), and 2) pressing down with the front of the foot (and yes, occasionally the toes as required!) It is less effective to pressure the front of the ski momentarily with the front of the foot already carrying weight as would be the tendency if we were to press our toes down. We would likely be forced to make slower, less coordinated, moves with our upper body.

5) The ankle is more stable in dorsiflexion so it might be beneficial to promote it even if it only reduces the likelihood we end up "opening" the ankle from time to time due to pressing the toes down.

Well, that escalated quickly, I was just going to make a few points. Lastly, if you feel more comfortable pressing your toes down, I strongly suggest spending at least several hours (more if you have skied a lot) skiing with your toes up as you will be working to overcome practiced motor patterns, not an easy feat...no pun intended.

[jsn]

I don't comment very often but I need help
on the pressure point shown on 1:26 I always get an blister and I don't even have an big toe box but I don't know why, I just started skiing so I don't have an good boots but whenever I try different boots its either too big which kind of fixes the blister issue or it fits perfectly but I always have blister

[petercreagh]

You first point about big toe pressure on the base of the boots works for me and as soon as I take it off I end up no longer balanced and sitting back. Checking for any heel lift or foot twist when you turn is important too as that means your boots are too big or packed out.

[bellaroba]

Thank you for the videos. Best regards.

[sebtkach]

I've been using my hands to ski this whole time, can't believe I've been doing it wrong!!