Skiing Position : Rounding the Back and Shoulders to Ski Well

SR STANCE: ROUNDING THE BACK AND SHOULDERS

“For anyone that wants to ski well…. Its all about “stance”…

…I have been saying this for years !”

The objective of the SR Stance is to set up a state of dynamic tension in the body that extends from the arches of the feet to the shoulders. This engages spinal reflexes that orchestrate muscle activity to maintain skier equilibrium and dissipate shocks from perturbations in GRF from asperities in the snow surface and variations in terrain.

The key elements of the SR Stance in the order of importance are:

A high level of tension in the PA and intrinsic muscles that support the vault of the arches of the feet and render them into a quasi rigid state.
A static preload in the Achilles resulting from the simultaneous peaking of Achilles-PA tension.
A rounding of the back and shoulders that imparts a state of dynamic tension in the upper back and which acts in concert with the core muscles to stabilize the pelvis from above as shown in the graphic below.

While the core muscles in the lower back and abdomen act to stabilize the pelvis, their influence is predominantly localised. No matter how strong the core is, it’s influence cannot be pushed down to the level of the feet. Nor can core stability be pushed up to the level of the shoulders. The synergistic influence on the core of Achilles static preload and rounding of the back and shoulders is required to set up the state of whole body dynamic tension required for the SR Stance.

The major muscles of the core reside in the abdomen and the mid and lower back. They include the erector spinae, rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis, multifidus, internal and external obliques, and the quadratus lumborum. An abundance of information is available in reference texts and online on the ore muscles and exercises with which to develop them.

Although the latissimus dorsi and trapezius are considered minor core muscles, they play a major role in the SR Stance.