Alignment & Stance in High Performance Skiing Ron LeMaster ©Ron LeMaster What I’ve Learned in 10 Years • A lot! • Good alignment is not well defined • Alignment and stance are the subjects of many technical misconceptions – A desire to find geometric simplicity in skiing ©Ron LeMaster What is Alignment? • The positions of the skier’s body segments in relation to each other and to the forces acting on the skier ©Ron LeMaster What is Stance? • The collective effect of various elements of alignment • You can always improve a person’s skiing by improving his or her stance ©Ron LeMaster ©Ron LeMaster ©Ron LeMaster Introduction • Skis do more of the skiing, and the skier does less • Greater forces in the turn • More focus on alignment of the body to balance against forces ©Ron LeMaster ©Ron LeMaster “I don’t ski like that!” • Yes you do! • You balance against the same forces, they’re just not as big (and you’re not as strong) ©Ron LeMaster Alignment is about Balance • Each segment of your body has to be balanced on and supported by the segment below ©Ron LeMaster