Warren Smith Ski Academy (WSSA) has announced the return of the Academy’s SKI TECHNIQUE LAB TOUR in partnership with MDV SPORTS and Helly Hansen.

  • Academy tour planned with venues set up across the UK
  • Contingency plans in place if Covid-19 restrictions close any venues down
  • Skiers can attend events or watch live from their homes
  • Tour runs from October 15-29

For this year’s tour, the academy will be taking into consideration all Covid safe regulations and delivering the sessions accordingly.

Now in its 5th year, the workshops include a lecture and explain the 3 Way Lineage (Ski Technique/Ski Biomechanics/Ski Equipment Precision) and why it’s vital for ski technique development and unlocking classic blocks in skier movement patterns.

The ‘6 Way Foundation’ tests will give participants a chance to be assessed by the team and identify their specific movement ranges and what they need to do to either balance out differences between the right and left side of the body or to generally improve range. They will then have enough information to build their own technique development program off the snow and dramatically change their skiing before the winter season starts.

Founder and Director of WSSA, Warren Smith, said:

It’s great news that we can launch the UK Ski Technique Lab Tour and take it across the country like we normally would. We’ve planned it out so whatever happens with local lockdowns, we can still run the events and stream them live to our audiences. We’ve been busy over the summer with our online sessions, building some great audiences and helping people stay tuned into their skiing under the lockdown and beyond. Whatever happens we will stick to the regulations in place wherever we are, but we hope to see people attending the events in person too.

Ski Technique Lab – UK Tour dates October 2020

Sessions run for approximately 1.5 hours

Oct 15: Altimus Outdoor – London Kensington High Street- 7pm (Sold out)
Oct 16: Finches Emporium – London – 7pm
Oct 19: Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports – Bristol – 7pm
Oct 20: Solutions 4 Feet – Bicester – 7pm
Oct 21: Ski Bartlett – London – 7pm
Oct 22: Snowfit Revolutionz – Norwich – 7pm
Oct 26: Rivington Alpine – Bolton – 7pm
Oct 27: Glide & Slide – Otley – 7pm
Oct 28: Snowlab – Eastbourne – 7pm
Oct 29: Silksworth Sports Complex and Ski Centre – Sunderland – 7pm

The cost of the ‘3 Way Lineage’ lecture and ‘6 Way Foundation’ testing system, where participants will be provided with the tools to build their own development program, is £25 per person for the evening.

Bookings can be made online.

Full refunds will be delivered on evenings that may be cancelled and WSSA will run replacement sessions on the same evening remotely over its social channels if this is the case.

More About The Foundation Tests

1. LEG FLEX PATTERN TEST
By taking a measurement of how far each person’s ankle allows them to flex, we can tell early on if the simple mechanics of the sport will work or not. The ideal range for safe skiing on the drop test is between 15cm and 20cm with the same flex range on the right and left ankle.
Our previous findings showed the national average was 11cm, with the lowest score being 4cm. Most importantly over 95% of people showed a clear difference between left and right ankle flex.

2. SKIER SYMMETRY TEST
Symmetry describes how skiers manage their width of stance from the feet up to their hips and maintain a consistently symmetrical position. To test this range, we used our simple 10 second test, where attendees try to pull their feet together on a slippery surface in a slow controlled movement without the knees dropping in.
Previous findings showed that over 70% of people had to take 3 attempts to make it last 10 seconds or more. Muscle fatigue was also evident.

3. LEG STEERING RANGE TEST
The ability to steer the legs independently from the hips is one of the most fundamental movements in skiing. This is the ball rotating inside the socket joint of the hip. We measured the range the outside leg is able to rotate inwardly (i.e. left leg steering inwardly towards the right) without the hips following.
The average inward rotation range on our last tour was 45 degrees. 90% of people showed over 20 degrees difference between left and right and only 5% of people tested showed a clear range of 70 degrees in each direction.

4. BODY ANGULATION TEST
Learning how to move laterally and create angles in the body. This is a key factor in skiing and a movement range that many people struggle with especially on one side of the body. Our exercise will help identify and improve the range.

5. LEG EXTENSION TEST
Learning the correct action and understanding how to activate the outside leg to achieve edge grip and pressure during your turns. We’ll show a great exercise to try at home or in the gym.

6. CORE STABILITY TEST
Becoming aware of core strength and how to keep it activated whilst skiing. This helps deal with the pressure that skiing puts through the middle of your body. We’ll give you some practical ski-specific exercises to try.

The simple fact remains, that for skiing, specific movement ranges are required. Our findings demonstrate that the majority of skiers go to the mountains without these required ranges. If the range isn’t there off the snow, it won’t be there when you get to the snow. DRY LAND TRAINING gets you to these desired ranges on average within 3 weeks.

At the Ski Technique Lab we hope to educate people to go away and build these ranges but also encourage people to log the scores and keep in touch with the Academy so we can monitor your progress!

Previous Releases

Warren Smith Ski Academy Courses Go-Ahead In The Italian Resort Of Cervinia [Archived]
Warren Smith Ski Academy Runs Summer Courses On Swiss Snow [Archived]
Warren Smith Ski Academy Launches Remote Coaching Program [Archived]
Warren Smith Ski Academy Launches 2019 Ski Technique Lab Tour [Archived]