The SkiA Ski Trainer is a lightweight and portable ski training device that helps you to improve your centred balance. It’s targeted at all levels of skier – from complete beginner to expert and racer level. Snow.Guide Ski Editor and BASI level 3 instructor Rob Stewart, has been using the trainer over the course of a year and reviews it here.
I’ve been using the trainer for some time now, which is important in regards to a review, because improving your skiing with the trainer isn’t something that happens during the first session. In fact, it’s most effective over time, with short sessions on a regular basis creating the best results.
To fully understand what the SkiA Ski Trainer is all about, you first have to have some basic understanding of centred balance. Many skiers, especially when they first learn, are told to ‘lean forward’. This command can sometimes be misunderstood and is often the result of an instructor trying to ensure their pupil doesn’t lean back. But leaning too far forward can cause problems as well.
As we become better skiers, we learn to be centred on our skis, in a natural position, able to react to the rapidly changing terrain and forces that are constantly pulling at us. Good skiers flow, they look natural and their bodies seem to float across anything, whether it’s sheet ice or knee deep powder snow.
This is because their central nervous system is programmed to understand how to ski – this is known commonly as muscle memory.
Programming your nervous system to plug into the sport of skiing can only be achieved over time. There are no shortcuts unfortunately – but what the SkiA Trainer can do is allow you to specifically work on the correct muscle memory in your own time, off the slopes, wherever you are and whatever time of the year – that’s the theory anyway.
All you need in able to use the trainer is a pair of ski boots, any size works from kids to adults. First, attach the trainer to the underside of the boots with the straps – it’s very easy to do but the crucial part is to line up the centre mark on the trainer with the centre mark on the ski boot. This ensures you’re standing in the correct position over the ski boots and ultimately, if you had skis on too, over the skis.
There are four sizes of balance blocks that are interchangeable and fit underneath the trainer – green, blue, red and black, matching the standard ski run colour and following the same principle. Green being the easiest and black the hardest.
The difference between the blocks is their width and whilst the green blocks are relatively wide, by time you get down to the blacks, they are very narrow.
I started on the green blocks and this is recommended, even for expert skiers. They help you to get used to the trainer and because they are wide, they are fairly easy to balance on. We tried some exercises, flexing up and down, rolling the knees over and pivoting on the blocks – if you ever lose the centred balance position then you instantly feel it, as you completely lose your balance.
Once I felt comfortable on the green blocks we moved up to the blue. They feel completely different and already much harder to balance on. Suddenly it’s a challenge and remaining in balance on them is hard, especially at first – going through the same exercises also produces very different results.
But there’s no rush and no reason to jump on the red blocks for some time. I used the blue blocks over a number of months, dipping in and out to try the reds and the blacks, but focusing on getting really good on the blues.
One exercise I tried on snow was to ski the same slope several times, then stop and spend five minutes at the top of that slope on the trainer, then ski the slope again. There was an immediate feeling of control over my turns and an improved confidence of edge grip. This wasn’t some kind of vague notion, it felt genuinely good.
Using the red blocks well is something that takes time to develop, but even for high-level skiers, being able to master being in balance over this small a platform takes some work. For intermediates looking to improve and who ski maybe one or two weeks every year, it’s got to be an essential tool in the collection.
Progressing to the blacks. Well let’s just say I’m working on that – I can use them, but I am very wobbly on my feet and can’t stay balanced for more than five or six seconds.
Downsides?
You have to work at it, there’s no getting away from that. You won’t improve your centred balance with the trainer staying in its box and it requires dedication to put on a pair of ski boots two or three times a week in front of the TV (and in fact I’d recommend not to use them in front of the TV because you have to look at it which doesn’t reflect what happens when you ski).
You have to pay for them – (RRP £48), but at the same time, if you try and mimic what this device does, it’s very hard, plus you could be doing more damage than good. The trainer was developed by highly experienced skiers and a doctor, precisely to match how you should be standing on your skis.
Review Summary
The more you practice, the better you get and that process starts immediately and you’ll notice results fast. But work on it often, it doesn’t have to be for long periods and you will start to really feel the effect when you’re on the snow.
I’ll finish on a quote from Jaz Lamb, Director of BASS (British Alpine Ski Schools) Morzine who says:
“Great skiing depends upon great balance, yet most skiers are unaware of how to balance accurately. The BASS Network has been involved in the development and trialling of the SkiA Sweetspot Trainer. This has given us great opportunities to use them with clients and we have seen some fantastic results. It has been quite amazing to watch skiers with a habitual, unbalanced style coming off the slopes, stepping onto the Sweetspot Trainer and changing almost instantly. The trainer is a fantastic tool in developing the natural, coordinated movements necessary for skilful skiing and directing them through specific balance targets.”