The Bend and Extend Concept: Leg Retraction and Leg Extension

The bend and extend concept is one of my favorite things to perform myself as well as to teach. For one thing, the words rhyme (so cool - this does not happen a whole lot in the skiing world). But what exactly is the bend and extend concept? Oh the suspense...

This is commonly known as leg retraction and leg extension. It applies mostly to more advanced, dynamic skiers at moderate to fast speeds and helps out a ton in starting carving turns. The principle is that through your turn, you want to bend your inside leg/knee and extend your outside leg/knee. If you need a review of what the inside and outside skis are, see the picture below.


So, you bend your inside leg, extend your outside leg, pretty simple right? Well, ya it is pretty simple.

To do this, you want to push down with your outside leg in order to extend it and then simultaneously bend, or retract, your inside leg by bending your knee and lessening that ski's pressure on the snow.

Why do this? While the modern world says, "Everything comes down to money," the physics world says, "Everything comes down to energy." When you extend your outside leg and pressure your ski, the ski builds up mechanical potential energy from the pressure you are applying to make the ski flex. On your inside ski, the retraction (bending) releases the energy and allows for a smooth transition from turn to turn. This will result in a feeling of your skis jumping forward beneath you as all the energy releases.

Martin Heckelman writes in his book, The New Guide to Skiing, "When you retract your leg, you release this energy, causing a rapid and fluid movement of your body downhill across the skis. This enables you to very quickly press onto the new outside ski, which will allow you to carve the ski very early in the turn."

A couple things to keep in mind while practicing these movements:

1.) Make sure you continue to roll and flex your ankles in the direction of your turn.

2.) When extending, make sure you are on the uphill edge of both skis. The outside ski will often be pushed downhill so that your stance opens so wide that little kids think it's a tunnel for them to go through. Monitor this and keep your stance at a constant width throughout the entire turn.

Share this technical tidbit with your friends. They will be impressed that you came with this knowledge out of nowhere. Then refer them to this site...

So, get out on the luxury ski mountain and bend your inside knee, extend your outside knee, and you will be well on your way towards becoming a better, more hip skier than your skiing buddies. And that's what everything really comes down to.

Balance - The Foundation for the Rest

If you have ever been in one of my lessons, you know that I always preach "balance" as the key to skiing. It is the first thing I teach, no matter what level the lesson. This skill is important if you are skiing the small mountains or the luxury ski resorts. Balance incorporates all of our movements in skiing. Without good balance, we are not able to make effective ski movements to control our skiing.

If you play any other sports, many of the movements are the same and will be easy to relate to.

There are a few parts and key things to focus on to maintain a balanced stance throughout your skiing:

1.) Feet width - Ideally, you want to position your feet so that they are shoulder-width apart relative to one another. This is most people's body's natural stance. In women and children, the stance will tend to be slightly wider (feet are further apart) due to the anatomy of the pelvis and femur (upper leg) bones. You can practice this anywhere - at home in front of a mirror, in the lift lines or on the slopes. By giving yourself an appropriately balanced stance with good feet width, you will enable yourself to make better movements in your skiing.

2.) Ankle flexion - This is quite possibly the most overlooked skill in advanced skiers. Ankle flexion is a very important movement in maintaining proper balance during any type of skiing. The movement you want here? Imagine you are taking your foot off the gas peddle in your car (or off the brake if you are a speed demon). Flexing the ankle so that your toes point towards the sky is called dorsiflexion. You want dorsiflexion in both ankles while skiing, especially throughout your turns and especially on your inside ankle. By incorporating the apprpriate ankle flexion into your skiing, you will allow your legs to make more natural and effective movements that will result in smoother and more effortless turns. Conversely, you do not want to push down with your ankles/feet, producing plantar flexion or extension of your ankles. This often happens if your are pushing down or trying to pressure your outside ski during a turn - avoid this!

3.) Knee flexion - While "bending your knees" is probably one of the oldest sayings in the book, right next to "lean forward," proper knee flexion is essential to maintaining good balance in your turns. There are two types of knee flexion you may have: horizontal and vertical. When you bend your knees, and your femurs (thigh bones, as I've heard it said) become parallel to the ground, this is horizontal knee flexion - your upper leg is horizontal, like the picture to the left.

This is bad. When you have horizontal knee flexion, your hips will revert backward and your weight falls instantly backwards. I don't need to tell you this is bad - afterall, you always want to "lean forward!" When you bend your knees and your upper leg is perpendicular to the ground, this is vertical knee flexion - your upper leg is vertical, yet your knees are still bent. The picture on the right shows this. That is what we want. When you have vertical knee flexion, it positions your body in a central stance while still properly flexing your joints.

4.) Eye contact - Make sure you look where you want to go. This means in front of you, not looking down at your skis, not at the tree 20 feet ahead of you. Have you ever been walking in the mall or on the sidewalk, been looking at a window showcase, and before you realize it you start walking in that direction? Same thing applies here. Your body will naturally follow where your eyes steer. Therefore, when skiing, focus your eyes on the apex of your next turn, around the tree, so that your body will go that way. This is something especially important to teach beginner skiers while they are getting comfortable with their new five foot long feet, but it is also something that expert skiers need to revisit every once in a while.

5.) Body alignment - Although it may seem obvious, you always want to make sure you are keeping your hips and upper body aligned and directly above your base of support, your feet. Not to the front, not to the side, not to the back. Many advanced skiers are guilty of violating this rule when they try to get very dynamic and flashy in their skiing. You try to get on a high edge angle by leaning your body to the side. Here's a little test to see if this includes you: Ski on an easy green trail. Try making wide, super G turns now, but going very slow. When you try doing this at a slow speed, you will fall straight over the side of your skis. Now, make sure you get up quickly and brush the snow off to make sure no one saw... We often get away with leaning our body sideways at high speeds because our speed and momentum are able to keep us upright. The lesson: make sure your hips stay on your center axis, your midline. They can move slightly, but should not cross over the vertical planes created by your skis. Also, for fore-aft balance, it is easy to tell if you are off-center in your skiing when either the tip or tail of one of your skis lifts in the air during a turn. Make sure you keep your whole ski in contact with the snow. This will maximize your balance, style, and control on the slopes.


Those are my top 5 balance tips. If you have any more or would like to comment on any material, please do so! Focus on these out on the hill, and you will see yourself in a more balanced position while sking, looking more graceful to the chairlift viewers above, and skiing more in control. Nothing feels better than that.