Why the ski "Tip" lift is important, for all skiing levels?

The biggest change in the body while skiing and making turns happens during the transition from one set of edges to the other.

Why is the lifting of the tip so prevalent with expert skiers? Were they taught to do it this way. In most cases no.They evolve this movement because it's more efficient, they discover it works and they keep using it. 

                                           What does lifting the tip do?

Simply, it engages a different and correct set of muscles that activates a stable hip transition. Most skiers don't recognize that there is a profound hip transition as well as a ski edge change and a CG transition for every turn. The hips slide over from one side to the other in transition to align the body for the forces coming up in the new turn. This involves setting up the proper counter acting and counter balancing movements. Some will ask what are counter acting and counter balancing movements? They are explained in my book, "The Essentials of Skiing".  Books and DVDs about these topics are available on my web site; www.Harbski.com
The tip lifting movement,  also stops the skis from shooting forward, critical for all junior racers who end up in the back seat. the movement comes from the tibialis anterior muscle on the front of the shin. and engages several other key mid body and torso muscles that hold the upper body over the skis during transition. This happen through the engagement of the kinetic chain.

 But "How" is this accomplished? And why is the "tip lift"  part of this             important phase of skiing?

Shiffrin

Top swiss slalom skier. Counter acting and lifting the tip.

Lifting the old stance ski has been around as long as great skiing have been around. 

In this photo you see Harald Harb's old outside or stance ski being lifted at the tip, while the tail of the ski is still on the snow.  2013 video!

Marcel Hirscher best skier in the world for the last 6 years lifts the ski tip to release the stance ski.

Ozz National demo Team one of the best skiing teams in the world,  releasing the old stance ski by retraction and tip lifting.

Stefano  Gross, italian National Team, one of the best slalom skiers in the world ski tip lifted to enter the turn.

Gross balance transfer by retraction and tip lift.

                                                    After the tip lift?

After the tips lift and the skis are coming to the new edges the skiers will convert this into a tip down ski tail up or level ski relationship. This demonstrates a profound ability that only a few of the very top skiers have. This is called foot pull back in PMTS, we have been teaching and coaching this for decades. We knew early on that extending was slow and extending the hips forward was not what was happening with the top ski racers. They pull the feet or a foot back, causing the tip to lift.. The tip lifting starts this process and prepares everything above the ankles,  in the kinetic chain to prepare for achieving  fore/aft balance properly and quickly.

Harald Harb tip lift to release in a 2013 video.


The expert skier has a releasing process with three distinct steps: bending, flexing relaxing and or retracting the old stance or outside ski leg, is step one. This causes a weight or balance transfer to the uphill or little toe edged ski. With an expert skier this begins the crossing of the body toward angles for the new turn. With an intermediate skier, because they generate less forces due to smaller or lesser angles, tipping the newly released ski (toward its little toe edge) is an important additional movement. Even in world cup skiing the skiers are trying to tip the newly released ski onto it's little toe edge, before the outside ski comes to the edge. This is accompanied by pulling and tipping that ski in closer to the newly developed stance ski. This gives the skier a more focused concentrated body alignment over the outside ski as they develop the increasing drop into the arc with their body.

If you are watching world cup skiing on TV, it is very easy to see who will be fast,  and it is not from more aggression like the commentators like to endlessly tell us. It's who is the best ski bender of the group. How do you become the best ski bender? Two ways, feet closer when developing the new angles above the gate and developing bigger angles faster. Faster angles are developed by faster retraction (flexing or bending) of the old stance leg. The faster the angles are developed the sooner the release out of the arc is accomplished. A real speed killer is pushing on the ski. Pushing on the ski either at the end of the arc or during the arc, stops the tipping movement that increase angles. This is where it gets to be all about timing the point of most pressure. If your pressure comes too early you have to release and set again. or commonly known as double edge set or late edge set.

This is why it's very frustrating to listen to the TV commentary, they have it backward, the skiers are "NOT"  trying to get early pressure, they are trying to get early angles, so they can time when they get the most pressure to the exact right point in the arc.