Slalom

Watch how Olympian Naoki Yuasa of Japan moves forward keeping is core inside the corridor of the racecourse.

Video by Drikepee

Coach’s Tip: To keep your body moving forward between turns, lightly dragging the tip of your inside pole on the snow after your pole plant can be an effective technique, as demonstrated by Mikaela Shiffrin in this image.

Image by Pixell/Alamy

How to Clear Slalom Gates

Coach’s Tip: Focus on your skiing and let your body position determine how you will clear slalom gates.

Clearing Gates with Your Outside Hand

If your body is forward with full pressure against the outside ski, your body will often be inside the ‘corridor’, and the outside hand will clear the gate as demonstrated by Mikaela Shiffrin.

Shiffrin/ J. Makovec/Alamy/ Graphics by ARM

Clearing Gates With your Inside Arm

• If your body is more up right, it will usually be more effective to move the gate out of the way with your inside arm.

• Watch Dave Ryding, clear slalom gates with the inside arm in this video.

Video by Filip Chwistek, Ski World Videos

Focus on Your Skiing — Not Your Hands!

• Racers who have difficulty moving their core down the fall line sometimes focus on hand movements rather than how they ski. They reach across the front of their body to push the gate with their hand, causing the body to twist and release pressure against the outside ski.

• To prevent the body from twisting away from the outside ski, focus on your ski technique and ensure your outside hand does not ‘cross’ in front of your body to clear a gate. A helpful rule is that hands should never cross in front of your jacket zipper.

Strategies for Skiing Combination Gates

• Slalom courses are comprised of Open gates and a combination of Closed Gates including Hair Pins, Flushes, Royal Flushes and Delayed Gates.

• While inspecting a racecourse, develop strategies for entering and exiting the combinations.

• Maintain an athletic stance when skiing through combinations.

• Clearing gates with one hand is often most effective when skiing through flushes, although holding both hands forward and clearing the gates with your alternating inside arms also works.

With an Athletic Stance and one hand clearing gates Mikaela Shiffrin skis through a flush below.

Image by TT News Agency/Alamy

Develop a Plan for Exiting Combination Gates

• The gate after a combination — particularly following a flush — often presents a challenge, as you will be skiing faster due to there being less offset between the gates.

• When inspecting the course, visualize yourself moving your core forward and applying full pressure against your outside ski as you exit the combination and approach the next gate.

Mikaela Shiffrin is skiing fast through a flush in this picture, focusing on executing a clean carve around the red gate after the flush shown in the foreground.

Image by SPP Sport Press/Alamy

Drill to Move Forward

A drill designed to train the body to face down the hill, known as ‘Braquage’ or ‘Pivot Slip’, is demonstrated in this video.

Video by New Zealand Snow Sports Instructors Alliance

Change Your Rhythm

• Slalom courses are comprised of rhythm turns and combinations including Hair Pins and Flushes. When practising short arcing turns out of the race course, change the length of the turns to simulate racing slalom.

An effective drill is the ‘5 Slalom & a Traverse’ reviewed by Mikaela Shiffrin.

Video by Burke Mountain Academy

Slow Motion Video - Shiffrin Skiing Slalom

Watch Mikaela Shiffrin ski slalom in slow motion. Look for her early forward movement, pole plant and how her core moves down the corridor of the course.

Video by Innocent Laurent