Alex Drummond is a director of the Drummond Clinic. Specialising in Sport and Exercise Performance, Injury Treatment and Rehabilitation, he uses the results from a series of Physical and Functional test to alter the way the body responds to the efforts of skiing.
For the body to function at an optimal level balance (proprioception) is the most important factor in skiing. Without it skiing is clumsey and awkward often leading to fatigue and even injury.
Proprioception is the sense of position, posture and movement. Poor proprioception leads to poor balance, limits skiing performance and can lead to a frustrating lack of improvement in ability, in addition poor proprioception can switch muscles off creating joint misalignments and muscular imbalances.
When one of the joints becomes stiff, injured or out of kilter, the nerves inhibit the messages going to the surrounding muscles to avoid further injury. This weakened muscle is disasterous for skiers because a sustained muscle contraction is needed to ski at any level. To accommodate this the bodies alignment must be addressed to allow for better skiing with less effort.
Put a skiers imperfect balance right and they can ski with agility, strength, carving ability and economy of motion.
The use of orthotic foot beds to return the foot into neutral must be considered as an aid to strive for skiing excellence, as the foot works integrally with the knee, hips and low back.
‘When this integrated system fails, other parts of the body are recruited to aid a carved turn. The shoulders rotate, the centre of gravity falls backwards and a skid turn is the result. It might not be due to poor technique but poor alignment, power and balance’
This is where a full assessment would be of great benefit.
What is Involved?
The physical assessment lasts for 60 minutes. We will look at your body’s symmetry, posture, flexibility, co-ordination and proprioception. Based on the findings of the assessment, recommendations will be made by means of a flexibility and postural stability programme. Once these recommendations have been achieved, then core stability and proprioceptive training can be advised upon.