Ski Sizing For Junior Skiers has been much more open-ended as limited availability forced some students to ski on shaped skis the some length as their conventional skis. Results showed that children performed well on shaped skis of lengths over head height, however, skis of chin to head height provided the most dramatic results. Rotary Movements did not disappear from the skill blend. While children's shaped skis provide excellent potential to explore edging awareness, children continue to incorporate pivoting, steering, and skidding in their turns. Instructors still had to guide their students toward lower-extremity movements that would allow shaped skis to exhibit their edging capabilities.
Inefficient Movements are still possible on shaped skis.
Simply putting children on shaped skis won't necessarily modify their movement patterns. However, shaped skis are an excellent tool to help instructors guide their junior students to new movement awareness. Children On Shaped Skis experience markedly different sensations than their peers on conventional skis. Many students on conventional skis have never experienced the sensations produced by an edged ski. Since children thrive on sensory awareness in any learning environment, skiing on shaped skis allows them to experience the feeling of riding an edged ski versus the more familiar feeling of guiding a flat or skidding ski.