Analysis of the biomechanical characteristics of different swinging techniques in alpine skiing

Abstract

As a consequence of the increase in popularity of skiing as a leisure sport, ski teaching has become an important pedagogic and economic issue. Unfortunately, most ski teaching curricula lack a thorough evaluation of the most important swinging techniques. Therefore, this study analyses the biomechanical characteristics of swinging techniques in alpine skiing. The data were collected using biodynamic, kinematic and electromyographic methods, employing 21 test skiers, all of whom were state‐certified Austrian ski instructors. For all techniques, the individual turns were divided into a steering phase and an initiation phase. In the main, the fundamental differences between the single techniques became apparent in the initiation phase. There it seemed useful to distinguish between turns with ‘up‐unweighting’ and turns with ‘down‐unweighting’. It was found that turns with up‐unweighting were initiated either from the downhill ski only or from both skis. Turns with down‐unweighting were used primarily on mogul pistes and in deep powder snow. Finally, some conclusions for training methodology are given.

Keywords:

• Alpine skiing
• biomechanics
• swinging techniques