A revolutionary ski screening programme, that prevents skiers of all abilities from having accidents on the slopes, has been launched.
Combing biomechanics, neuroscience and sports physiology, the innovative WS-I Ski programme has been developed by Harley Street sports medicine specialist clinic, Isokinetic in conjunction with professional freeskier Warren Smith.
It is a completely new approach to screen skiers in advance of hitting the slopes and provides individually tailored training programmes to ensure that they are ‘ski-ready’ for their first run.
Athletes rely on the science of biomechanics to improve their performance daily. Biomechanics, sometimes referred to as the ‘physics of sport’ is the science of analysing human movement. They also rely on sports medicine to maximise their physical potential and to manage past and present injuries.
Many ski injuries are avoidable. For example, many skiers do not realise that they are not symmetrical – that they have one leg stronger than the other or that one ankle rotates more than the other. This can hinder their ability to deal with unexpected jolts that can occur when skiing down a tricky run; the kind of unexpected skiing moment that leads to injury.
The screening programme takes place over two sessions at Isokinetic Harley Street Clinic and includes a consultation with a sports medicine consultant, screening tests to measure strength and endurance, agility and gait, and a full biomechanical evaluation including ankle flex, lateral control and leg steering range. The final part of the screening is a tailored training programme.
Warren Smith, founder of the Warren Smith Ski Academy said: ‘I’ve gotten to know the medical excellence at Isokinetic at first hand over the past few years and it dawned on me that there was a need for skiers that crossed biomechanics and sports medicine that wasn’t being addressed. The WS-I is a completely new screening programme for skiers and one that I’m very excited to be a part of.’
Mike Davison, who heads up Isokinetic’s Harley Street Clinic, says: ‘We take the latest sports science learning from managing elite athletes and make it accessible to recreational skiers. We see it as our job to ensure that everyone can enjoy their sport to the maximum of their ability but also avoid injury.’
The WS-I Ski Screening Programme is expected to retail at around £600.
To find out more about WS-I contact:
Warren Smith Ski Academy
http://www.warrensmith-skiacademy.com/contact-us/
Isokinetic
https://isokinetic.com/en/book_a_consultation/
About Warren Smith
Warren Smith was inspired to spread the word about the importance of biomechanics as a result of his own experience of teaching, and more specifically the mechanical blocks he found repeatedly affecting his students’ performance.
Warren says, “Who hasn’t had their instructor say “finish off your turn!” That’s all good and well but when up to 95% of skiers fail to reach to minimum standard of inner leg rotation needed to finish their turns correctly, there’s no Jedi mind trick that’s going to make your legs do what they can’t”
He continues “Another big problem we often see is people leaning back on their skis, often because of a lack of range of flex at the ankles. Or skiing in an A-frame which is something most people I teach can’t help but do. All of these common faults can be identified and improved upon off the slope, but unless we do exactly that it’s going to be impossible to make the changes on the snow to ski technically correctly”.
http://www.warrensmith-skiacademy.com
About Isokinetic
Isokinetic has built its skiing credentials with over 30 years of looking after elite and recreational skiers along with having clinics close to the slopes in northern Italy. The great Alberto Tomba was treated by Isokinetic and the current Women’s Giant Slalom bronze medallist, Frederica Brignone, is an Isokinetic patient.
