Mobility vs. Flexibility for Skiing

What Matters Most?

If you’ve ever been told to “stretch before ski season,” you’re not alone. Flexibility and mobility get tossed around like interchangeable words, but when it comes to skiing, they’re actually two different things. And understanding the difference can completely change how your body feels on the mountain.

So let’s break it down in a simple, skier-friendly way.

What Flexibility Really Is

Flexibility is your passive range of motion.

That means how far a joint can move when something else is helping you.

Think of folding forward to stretch your hamstrings. Gravity pulls your torso down and you sink into the stretch. Or imagine a physio lifting your leg while you lie on your back. You’re not actively doing anything. The joint is just moving as far as it can with outside help.

That is flexibility.

A few things influence your flexibility on any given day:

• Muscle length

• How “switched on” your muscles are

• Hormones (this affects women a lot month to month)

• Joint structure (your hip socket shape is uniquely yours)

  
  

You might notice some days you feel loose and other days you feel stiff. That’s normal. Your body is constantly shifting and adapting.

What Mobility Really Is

Mobility needs flexibility, but it isn’t the same thing.

Mobility is your ability to move actively and control your joints through a range of motion.

Using the hamstring example:

• Flexibility is lifting your leg with assistance or gravity.

• Mobility is lifting your leg using your own muscles and keeping everything stable.

  
  

Mobility requires strength, control, and neuromuscular coordination. It is your body’s ability to use the range of motion you have, not just “own it” passively.

So Why Do Skiers Need Both?

When you’re carving, gravity pulls you into positions that use your flexibility. Hip flexion, rotation, edging angles, those are all passive elements your body drops into as the forces of skiing help you move.

But how do you get out of the turn? How do you link turns smoothly? How do you stay balanced when the snow changes?

That is mobility.

You need strength and control at end range to:

• Drive out of a turn

• Adjust to variable terrain

• Maintain alignment

• Stay stable under load

• Keep knees and hips tracking the way you want

  
  

Improving flexibility alone will not make you a stronger or more stable skier. But improving mobility improves everything.

What Affects Flexibility vs. Mobility

Flexibility can improve with:

• Repeated stretching over time

• Hormonal changes

• Reduced muscle tension

• Longer muscle fibers (your body literally adds sarcomeres in series)

• Warm-ups and nervous system relaxation

  
  

Mobility improves with:

• Strength training

• Control at end ranges

• Active recruitment in stretched positions

• Slowing down movements instead of “dropping” into them

• Training your nervous system to feel safe in deeper ranges

  
  

This is why I love strength training so much for skiing!

Skiing puts huge forces on your body. Training strength through full range prepares your joints to handle those forces with confidence.

An Important Reminder:

Your passive range will always be greater than your active range. That’s normal. The goal is to increase how much of that passive range you can actually control.

How to Train Mobility (A Simple Example)

Let’s go back to the hamstring.

Passive position:

Foot up on a bench, stretching the hamstrings.

To turn this into mobility work:

1. Push your heel down

   Engage your hamstrings in the stretch. This improves your brain-to-muscle connection at the end range.

2. Try to lift your foot off the bench

   Even if it doesn’t move, your hip flexors are firing at their end range. This helps your body feel more stable and increases usable range.

   
   

This combination of passive stretch + active work is exactly why mobility feels so effective for skiing.

You might also use these same principles for internal and external hip rotation, especially if you feel like your ability to “separate” the upper and lower body is limited. Most skiers need both flexibility and strength through rotation, and mobility drills target exactly that.

So Which Should You Prioritize for Skiing?

Both matter, but mobility is the bigger game changer.

Flexibility helps you get into deeper, more efficient positions.

Mobility helps you get out of them and stay in control.

That’s why our 8 Week Pre-Ski Program always includes mobility finishers at the end of each session, a combo of passive stretching and active recruitment that helps you build real, usable range.

Want to See What You Should Work On First?

Start with our FREE Skier Quiz. It helps you find your superpower on the hill and the one area you can improve to ski stronger this season.

Then check out the 8 Week Pre-Ski Program if you want structured strength, mobility, and ski-specific training to feel your best when the snow hits.