Feet first. A look at the feet and ankles in skiing.

 

Our feet have a huge role in providing support and balance to the rest of our body. It's a big job. Especially given how relatively small they are in comparison to bones elsewhere in the body. We stand on a small base and support a large frame way above. If we ever tried to construct a building in the same way it would never work. Picture an upside down Eiffel Tower. It would fall over the minute there was a gentle breeze! Yet us humans can balance even on one foot quite easily. 

 

Our feet also deal with a lot of pressure and load especially in a sport like skiing. Up to 3 G's for a ski racer all coming up through the feet first. There are considerably large forces from the ground up when we land a jump. How we move in the foot and ankle will ultimately have a  knock on effect through the rest of the joints as to whether this force is spread evenly or whether it causes excess stress and strain on certain parts. So I myself have found it very useful to gain a better understanding of the movements and construction of the feet and ankles so I can gain the most out of their function whilst skiing. Let's take a closer look and see if I can help you walk away with a greater appreciation for your feet and their role in skiing.

 

Starting at the base you can look at the foot as having three distinct arches. A long strong medial arch, a lateral arch and and transverse arch. Together they make up a tripod which is quite a stable structure without being too heavy. It's why camera people use a tripod for getting a stable shot. Where each arch meets creates a contact point with the ground. Stand up and get a feel for how well you stand on your tripods! Is it different from one foot to the other? Is there a springiness to the arches to help spread load?

 

A tripod is stable as long as all the three corners are in contact with the ground. So my first piece of advice for skiing is to try and feel for all three points contacting the bottom of your boot. Why all three points? As an experiment try standing on one leg and taking away contact with one of the corners. E.g. The ball of the little toe. Things start to get wobbly. Be mindful that this a may be something you do in your skiing without knowing. If one leg feels more unstable to stand on perhaps start out by checking your tripod contact points. 

Next lets look at the ankle joint itself. This joint is where we get the majority of our fore and aft range of motion in the foot. When a coach tells you to get your weight more forward, flexing at the ankle joint is the first place you would want to check you are moving to achieve this. So here are some things to explore when using your ankle joint in skiing:

First: When you flex the ankle to get forward, we don't want to lose our tripod contact points talked about above. Remember without a tripod we become less stable. So try and maintain the three points of contact as you work on using the ankle joint more. Do you feel your heel lifting as you get to end range of ankle flexion? Does the heel lift earlier on one foot compared to the other? The heel lifting is you taking away one of the corners of the tripod. 

   

 

The second relates to what I'm feeling for: There are two places I feel for my muscles loading as I flex forward in my ankles. Feeling loading means I'm controlling the range of motion my ankle joint goes through. One area is the back of my calves as these muscles decelerate my shin going forward. Therefore these are the main muscles controlling the amount my shin moves forward over my foot. The other area is feeling the arch of the foot load up from the front two points of the tripod to the heel point. A very important note: The arch loading comes from my body weight being centred and moving over the whole foot not by me actively contracting muscles. Why is it important to load up the sole of the foot? The tension created gives our tripods strength and the ability to store energy we can use later in the turn. Free energy yes please!

 

Finally: I want to allow the ankle joint to bend effortlessly. Gravity can help us here as all we need to do is put our weight forward enough that it starts to make the ankles bend. If I feel I'm tensioning the front of my shin I know it's probably because my weight is too far back and my shin muscles are trying to pull me forward. Not very efficient to pull ourselves forward using the small shin muscles. Let gravity help flex your ankles. 

 

What I've tried to do in this article is distil a few key points I have found helpful on my journey to become a better skier. Most of these points are based around body awareness. Playing with these points off snow before the season starts or even in the mornings before you hit the slopes can be very beneficial. Also beneficial is spending some quality time on snow moving slowly and mindfully with your point of focus in a drill. E.g. The tripod contact points. Think of it as waking up your body's senses. All athletes warm up and prepare their body and mind before they get into their sport. Afterwards let yourself get away from focusing internally and see what your body has absorbed and is starting to use naturally. The end goal being effortless skiing without too much thought. 

So to wrap this all up here are the main points again. 

1- get to know your feet and ankles more intimately. 

2- feel for the tripod for stability. 

3- load up the muscles and tendons of the calf and sole of the foot together.

4- aim for effortlessness and be friends with gravity. 

5- Spend time focused on body awareness. Then spend time just skiing. Don't get  stuck on one. 

Thanks for reading and I look forward to making some turns or footsteps with you.

Tom Gellie

Owner of Functional Body and Ski Instructor Trainer.