Skier particularity

Joel is making a great impression on Instagram through out the insane tricks he brings out. But that's not it! He also is a tremendous jumper and slalomer. Getting himself the new overall record recently. One of Joel's particularity other than his super relax attitude on the ski is that he does not have the same foot forward for tricks and slalom. Which is pretty unique. People tend to keep the same foot forward in every discipline and even every sport. Especially such at a high level. So why does Joel is different. I asked him about it.

" I’m severely dyslexia & as a young kid I never knew my lefts from my rights. I used to change feet every set without knowing. Sometimes I’d crash and come out of my ski and put the wrong foot it. But eventually we decided to stay left foot forward. Years later when I discover trick skiing on the cable, it was easier to go right foot forward because of the sharp corners. I don’t think anyone noticed for a few months because by the time they did, i could already ride the ski pretty well. Around the 500 point mark I met my coach John Battleday who attempted to change me to a left footed tricker. But it was no use. I was a fairly stubborn kid and did everything I could to stay right foot forward. I think I thought it was cool…

Years down the line around the time I was running 12 m/ 35off. I tried right foot forward slalom. Initially I could barely run the corse, but I dedicated 2 weeks of skiing to see how far I could get and ended up running 14 m/ 28off. I also tried my hand at tricking last year and managed a few flips and some terrible wake spins, a few edges too!!

I don’t believe it has held me back in anyway. If anything it’s helped me. Many people said it would hold me back and it was my mission to prove them wrong.

A theory I have developed is - I spend the majority of the time backwards. Almost every trick starts or finishes backwards. Therefore, my left foot is my front foot. - It’s definitely not a great theory. But it’s the only theory I have.