When listening to ski commentators or read someone write about skiing, they will often say something like: Ooooh, and Anilik is in the backseat and she is now offline. What is meant by backseat in this context?
Quite simple, it is being off-balance to the rear of the skis. Often times, it happens when one hits an unexpected and unnoticed bump and that bump forces one backwards. Being in the backseat is not a good thing. Why?
- It is never good to be off balance on skis
- The pressure is on the rear of the skis and one drives & steers with the tips of their skis
- Having the weight on the rear of your skis puts one at greater risk for knee injury
Skiers initiate turns by engaging their tip’s edges into the snow. If your body is not in a well-balanced position to work from it will be hard to direct the skis in a proper fashion and it is near impossible to do from the backseat.
Skiers often appear to be in an unbalanced position as their butts are often behind their feet. Note, those skiers are often in a squat position, and their center of mass is in balance, with shins driving into the tongues of their boots; whereas, backseated skiers have their calves engaging their boots (or more likely their boots are driving their calves).
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