Hip-drag Carving

First, a hard truth: hip-to-snow does not mean “sitting” on the snow… I honestly think that hip-drag carving sometimes involves a BIG misconception. A lot of avid skiers think that in order to achieve hip-to-snow carving turns you have to widen the stance width, and “crouch” down until you sit onto the snow surface. And that’s a big “NO, NO”. Making any carved turn with our balance mainly on the inside ski and/or with the hip striking down onto the snow is definitely not good skiing at all, and has no value whatsoever. So, a lot of skiers try to hip drag because it “looks cool”, but they do it by crouching down and balancing over the inside ski, which is technically incorrect and lacks of all control.

What I mean is that we should look for making a correct carving turn with the highest edge angle possible. With “correct” I mean balancing entirely over the outside ski. Balancing mainly on the outside ski is the more stable and efficient way to turn. So, in this very high-performance carving turn, the inside hip barely rubbing the snow is just a consequence (and never a main goal) of the legs getting almost horizontal and parallel with the terrain. That is, when we achieve the highest edge angle possible. So, we should never force the hip drag; it happens naturally when we turn with the highest achievable edge angle. And why would we want that? Not only because it looks amazing, but also because we’re trying to carve the tightest turn possible with the skis we have on our feet. The turn radius achieved depends on the ski’s deformation in the curve, which mainly relates to the amount of edge angle the skier can generate.
The goal is: achieving the highest edge angle possible but always balancing over the outside ski throughout the whole arc.

Turn setup

MOMENTUM: It’s very important to note that achieving a very high-edge angle turn is quite difficult within the first few turns of a run. To build the necessary momentum, especially across the hill, it’s essential to progressively increase the edge angle with each turn until the needed momentum is reached and our angle out to the side enough, that he can start making these types of high-performance turns.

THE ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER: Extend the top of the turn (in length and time) in order to be able to do 2 main things:

• A) Move the skis out and away from you at initiation, as if guiding them toward the slope’s edge. In other words, allow the skis to move outward and away from your body. Creating this space is essential for both legs to achieve a horizontal position later in the turn. Letting the skis cross under your body and “shoot away” during the transition is crucial for setting up the upcoming layover effectively. Completing the previous turn — finishing the full “C” shape — is equally important. Having momentum going across the hill, prior initiating a new turn, is another key factor. This ensures that when we transition and allow our body to cross over the skis in the direction gravity pulls us (straight down the valley), it becomes easier to create distance between our center of mass and the skis. If we don’t properly finish the previous turn with the skis traveling across the hill, and they end up pointing diagonally down the slope, it becomes significantly more difficult to move the skis away from our body. It is important to mention that a low transition (AKA flexed transition or “Cross-under”) helps us move the skis out away from our body at initiation. For more info about the types of transitions, click here. 

   

• B) Extend the new outside leg to actively push ourselves toward the inside of the turn as gravity pulls us down. This creates a strong inclination at the top of the turn. To achieve huge edge angles, we must deliberately push into the turn — there’s no other way to make it happen.
  As Ted Ligety said, “Through the transition find the feeling of your new edge, then send your COM/upper body down the hill toward the apex of the turn. Some upper body/shoulder inclination is good in the early phase of the turn as it gives your legs space for angulation. ” And, “You need the weight over the outside at the apex, but incline at the top is good if you can level out in the middle.”

Step-by-step plan & drills:

0) Extend the top of the turn (in length and in time) to be able to…

1) Move the skis out and away from your body, in direction to the slope’s edge. As it was already pointed out, you need to “make room” for both legs to be able to get horizontal later in the turn. It is important to mention that a low transition (AKA flexed transition or “Cross-under”) helps us move the skis out away from our body at initiation.

2) Strong inclination of our body into the turn by pushing/extending the new outside leg (“long” leg). The “Inside Hand Dragging Drill”, performed first on a J-hook type of turn, is a very good drill to exaggerate inclination at the first part of the turn. Another very interesting drill to train inclination at the top of the turn is the “Whitepass drill“.

3) As our body moves inside the turn and we are “falling in”, we should concomitantly angulate the upper body out to keep our balance mainly over the outside ski. Keeping balance over the outside ski without upper body angulation is almost impossible.

Frame-by-frame analysis: an action photo sequence

Stillframe 1: I’m still finishing the previous turn, retracting my old support leg (the previous outside leg — the right one in this case) while stepping over the old inside leg (the future outside leg or support), which is still on the “old” set of edges. I’m performing a “flexed” or cross-under type of transition. At this moment, I always focus on letting the skis continue to turn and carve away from me, following the direction they were already traveling (toward the side of the slope) as the turn finishes.I need to create enough space for my legs to reach a horizontal position when I arrive at the fall line (or apex) of the next turn.

Stillframe 2: I have already switched edges and am now starting to extend my new outside leg (the left leg in this case) to push myself into the new turn, all while continuing to follow the pull down of gravity. Since I’m back in the transition phase (a flexed transition), I’m also pulling my feet back to position myself at the front of the boot and ski tips at the start of the turn. This ensures I arrive “centered” at the apex of the upcoming turn. Contrary to common belief, being back in transition is not a mistake. It’s a natural result of finishing the previous turn by pressing on the ski tails. Remember, we use the entire length of the ski during a turn, and our balance naturally shifts from front to back — both on the sole of the foot and the corresponding part of the ski.

Stillframe 3: As I fall down and into the turn, my upper body consistently seeks angulation toward the outside of the turn to maintain balance over the outside ski. Remember, if we lose the outside ski and our balance shifts to the inside one, our chances of achieving a high-performance carving turn are lost.

Stillframe 4:  At the turn apex — also known as the fall line or the middle of the turn — a very high edge angle is achieved, resulting in a hip drag. At this point, balance should be predominantly over the outside ski, which is evident by its greater deflection compared to the inside ski — exactly as it should be.

A note on upper body angulation: the challenging compensating movement

From my experience as an instructor and coach, “leaning in” with the upper body (or, in other words, the lack of upper-body angulation) is what prevents the vast majority of intermediate skiers from progressing to the advanced level. This issue is common even among skiers who can already carve a turn. They may perform an advanced technique like carving but still balance incorrectly on the inside ski because they lean their entire body into the turn. Upper-body angulation is definitely not a natural or intuitive movement, yet it is absolutely crucial for shortening the inside leg and balancing 100% over the outside ski — which is what real skiing is all about.
So, focus on performing — and even exaggerating — upper-body angulation. There’s no such thing as overdoing it, there’s never too much. More often than not, we think we’re angulating a lot, but when we watch a video of our skiing, we realize we’re not — and that we actually need even more range in this challenging movement. I have to point out that the amount of recreational skiers I see every day on the slopes still skiing over the inside ski, with of course zero upper-body angulation, is more less 8 out of 10 at least, for example here in Europe.

That being said, World Cup athletes on some Giant Slalom turns (or in speed disciplines as well) can really “lean in” or “bank” with the upper body while maintaining balance on the outside ski. But here the key is the amount of speed they are carrying while making that turns. Going that fast generates a huge amount of “centrifugal force” (actually, it is tangential inertia) that puts balance over the outside ski, even if they don’t upper body angulate out. I only mention this for academic purposes, but for us mere mortals, upper body angulation is key (and mandatory) in all type of free skiing turns.

A note on the stance width

Stance width in skiing refers to the horizontal distance between a skier’s feet while in a skiing position. In high-performance carving turns, the stance should be relatively narrow — never wide. As with most types of ski turns, a hip-width stance is generally recommended. The apparent separation of the feet seen in images of high-edge-angle turns is actually vertical separation, not horizontal. Notice how, in this purposely 90-degree rotated picture, the inside ski boot is almost in contact with the outside knee. This demonstrates how close are the legs of the skier. 

Keep ripping some arcs!