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   "SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT":
 Conventional Skiing Wisdoms (CSW's) 

by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478), Level III
How To Reserve Private Ski Lessons with Bill Jones

 CSW #11: "Skiing faster is the way to learn to ski."

Certainly it is true that excessively slow skiing does not work well in getting performance from skis, but speed greatly beyond what one can manage is not effective, either.

If you have ridden a bicycle you know that you are more tippy when you go very slowly, but that with more momentum you are more stable. It is the same on skis.

How can a kayak maneuver in white water if going at the same speed as the water? The kayaker must go faster to change position relative to the moving water. This is an assertive approach

How can a bird--or an airplane--fly without enough speed to create the venturi upward draft on its wings?

But when we go too fast for our fear tolerance, our minds often "lock up" and cause our bodies to do the same so that we no longer make the movements we must--and disaster or some milder vrersion of it may loom.

Find the right balance between your comfort level and the benefits you get from more speed. It is said that we have a comfort zone. It is not productive when learning to ski (or perhaps anything) to operate below or even at the bottom of our comfort level, nor is it productive to operate beyond the top of our comfort level. Instead we should strive to operate just at the upper end of our comfort level, which may require a bit of extra commitment for some. See also "Fear and Skiing."

Another factor for modern shaped skis (depending on their design) that favors some speed is that these skis can carve turns when tilted parallel onto thier sides because tehe speed produces a bend in the skis and the arc produced makes them turn.

main CSW contents
prior CSW #10: "Beginning skiers can learn from their skiing friends"
next CSW #12: "Practice makes perfect"

"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT"--a skiing web manual:   Skiing Web Manual Contents   Why Read This Skiing Web Manual  That First Skiing Lesson  A Little Skiing History   Motion in Skiing  CONVENTIONAL SKIING WISDOMS  Skier Excuses   Fear in Skiing  Conditioning for Skiing  Equipment and Technique  Skiing Equipment  How Skis Work   How to Develop Balance on Skis  A Skiing Turn Simplified  The Final Skiing Skill: pressure management  Tactics for Terrains and Snow Textures and Racing  Skiing Tips and Tales--a potpourri    Exercises for Developing Skiing Skills  Children and Skiing  Age and Skiing  Gender & Skiing  Culture & Skiing Skiing Ethics and Survival  Slope Safety   Skiing Environment  Glossary Acknowledgements SkiMyBest Website Contents  

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