Ask a beginner (especially a child) how they think they might turn on skis and they will usually crank both knees to one side, imitating what they see on TV. Ask them how they might turn in a snowplough and they will crank one knee inwards. Ask them if they can think of any other ways to turn in a plough and they might say “press on one ski more than the other”, or, if prompted, “turn the skis”. It’s always seemed to me that, of the three mechanical ways to cause a ski to turn (edge, pressure, rotation), rotation is the least intuitive to the early stage learner. And yet it is the method of choice for introducing plough turning in most ski teaching systems.

Watch a skilled instructor demonstrating rotation and you will likely find it difficult to see what movements they are actually making, involving as it does a subtle rotation of the femur head in the hip socket on both legs. Perhaps this is partly the reason why the Snowsport England system recommends rotating the outside ski more than the inside ski. The rotation of both skis in a plough at the same time is also difficult to achieve at low speeds on a dry slope due to the amount of friction, which is another reason to push the outside ski round more. The disadvantage of this is that it widens the plough and reduces glide.

A further problem with teaching rotation first is that it can lead to skiers who prefer it over the other techniques of pressure and edging, and end up as “twist and skid” intermediates.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with teaching pressure as the first plough turning technique. The advantage is that it is intuitive, uses simple, obvious movements, and promotes a nice turn shape, particularly in the crucial control phase (CSIA phase 2) of the turn, from initiation through to fall line. Turn shape is something I explore in other articles, and it is proving to be one of the most important focuses in my teaching. Get a good turn shape and everything else follows more easily.

As long as you ensure that the skier doesn’t make a hip movement out over the ski to press on it (thus losing edge angle), pressure is a very effective way to introduce turning and avoid storing up problems for later.