Your "Beyond Ski Instruction" Benefits

The previous issue of Ski with passion allowed us to understand how purpose and actions are related. We have demystified the role of gravity and emphasised once again the importance of balance. I have had some feedback and I am glad to hear that those of you who have tried my techniques have experienced enhanced performance. This is great news, it is proof that your awareness is shifting away from your old habits, allowing progress to set in. Thank you again for your willingness to give new ideas a go.

So far the newsletters have addressed the ‘emotional’ aspect of skiing only. Today I will show you what improperly focused thoughts look like.

Enter our first contestant illustrated on photo 1; fished out of the October 1999 issue of the Daily Mail Ski and Board magazine. This young man, the magazine say: "is at the cutting edge, in Europe of the ‘new wave skiing’ that has been sweeping the States for the past couple of years". On this photograph, Pat (the young man) is exactly at the all-important point of edge change in his skiing. In Issue no 2, I said:

If you haven’t experienced progress in your skiing, it is because you do not secure your balance at the all-important point where edge change occurs. This is a crucial moment in skiing; this is where everyone freaks out and gesticulates like mad. Up and down movements, pole plants, torso movements, all are parasite compensations produced by your body to disguise its underlying state of unbalance.
 

Photo 1

Converging edges Poor contact of feet and skis on the ground

Look at Pat’s feet in relation to his body. Pat’s feet should be underneath his torso as the green line suggests. Yet they are not, they have shot ahead of him. He is no longer in control and ends up leaning back.

To be control we have to be balanced. Once balanced you can collect a new form of benefit: Energy benefits!

The yellow line on photo one illustrates the path of energy coming from the ground and into your body. In an ideally balanced situation this line of energy needs to intersect your torso. Through this yellow line flows energy coming from the mountain, if allowed this energy will flow through your skis to bend them into an arc. If allowed to continue to travel this energy will ultimately flow into your body. In order to harness this energy through our body, you have to picture your body as a structure designed to bear mechanical loads.

Photo 2 Not grounded Airborne Where is the energy going?

Can you see the many parasite  contortions in the upper body?

Enter our second candidate, also out of the October Daily Mail magazine, this chap is finishing off his all-important edge change. Let’s take a look at the path of energy flow. The energy should flow through the body, but for this skier it never will. The energy coming from the ground is travelling in the alignment on the yellow arrow only to be wasted into deep space. As long as you are not centred, your skeletal structure remains incapable of harnessing any form of useful power for skiing.

Let’s look at the right way on photo 3.
 

Photo 3.

Notice that the path of energy flow is going right through the body. This skier is harnessing power from the mountain. This is possible because he is balanced at the all-important point of edge change.

The point I want to make today is that skiing is not about movements, it is about Energy Acceptance. If you design your skiing pattern by focusing on collecting and harnessing the energy of gravity into your body, you will be intensely within the experience of skiing and will understand the ethos of this sport. Needless to say, your performance will become outstanding. This is the world of the struggle free skier.

What can you do to reach the ethos of skiing?

• Remove mechanical imbalance from the body with alignment. Call me in Canterbury to organise your appointment. I am using superb American footbeds as the starting point for all alignments. Please do not purchase footbeds for your ski boots, none of them will perform near as well as the Thoren Technology products that I am now using. Even if you not considering alignment these products are the best and come highly recommended.

• Listen to the Ski Wizdom ski motivation programme. This (4 tapes) audiocassette programme is designed to get you to think and act like experts skiers (change of purpose).

• Ski with me for on mountain solutions to the points explained. There you will be videoed on the hill and taken to the Triffolet restaurant for a free drink and immediate playback. During video playback you will see and feel what is happening in your skiing. The emphasis will be on the points that I describe in my newsletters plus many more that you will discover once ready. I will introduce the benefits of alignment by making simple temporary adjustments allowing you to understand more about it. It is in your interest to get the tape programme and listen to it several times before your holiday to get the most out of what I will show you. Your progress rate will be 250% more efficient this way.

We are already in November and the season is just around the corner, booking tuition with Bernard Chesneau is best done now.

• Tel your friends about the newsletter. Just have them send me their e-mail requesting the newsletter.

• Have you had your alignment checked and sorted? You can book an appointment now in the UK or for later once in Val d’Isère.
• Do you have the Ski Wizdom audio tape programme?
• Choosing ski equipment that will work harmoniously with you is a real science; I can help, so feel free to share your thoughts before buying. I will share my knowledge.

Until then, Ski With Passion.

Bernard Chesneau
Alignment Technology Ltd / Mountain Masters / Ski Wizdom