If you've read through any of the pages in the treatments section, you will already have grasped the importance that I place on suppleness. Keeping the muscles supple and at their maximum working length maintains joint mobility and makes the whole body more efficient, makes any training or exercise more effective and prevents injury to the muscles and skeleton. For most people, the only limiting factor in joint mobility is muscle length, and the only way to increase muscle length is by stretching. It's as black and white as that. There are many training methods that emphasise stretching, such as yoga and pilates. Sports like swimming will stretch specific muscle groups by nature of the activity. Training staff at gymnasiums will certainly recommend stretching before training but rarely see this as anything other than an "add on" to other work, yet most professional athletes spend hours with their trainers just stretching. Good effective stretching is certainly a science but it's largely a matter of common sense (though a working knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics certainly helps!). As with my bodywork, my knowledge of ski technique made it very clear that the benefits of effective stretching for skiers were enormous. Not just as way of positively improving your skiing performance, but as means of injury prevention when you ski and when you train to ski. I run Stretch Workshops in London SW4 and SE1. The only difference between these and ski specific workshops will be the explanation of how each movement is relevant to skiing technique. The main emphasis is on increasing muscle length but balance, muscle coordination and specific muscle strengthening is also covered as we go along. I will let you know in advance whether the course you apply for is going to be general or ski specific and give you the option to change dates if you prefer.