Adequate hip internal rotation is essential for countering. But how much is enough -- how many degrees of internal hip rotation are needed for masters racing and serious skiing generally -- 50? 60? more?
The two standard stretches are either with knees bent at 90 degrees on the floor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awN72pqI_hA&noredirect=1) (I don't do this one exactly -- it's too aggressive; actually I need to lean away from the hip that's being stretched), or with knees slightly bent while standing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EriWNHyrjbw&noredirect=1). The problem is that you can't apply external force to the femur to rotate it without stressing the knee in some way. In particular, the former stretch puts stress on the medial side of my knee, while the latter puts stress on the lateral side. The only alternative is to internally rotate the leg just using your muscles; while this is probably a good exercise, it doesn't feel like it creates much of a stretch on the hip.
A different knee-bent internal rotation stretch can be seen on page 6 of this document: http://www.seniorskiteam.com/doc/John_D ... ssment.pdf
And a broader discussion of the various range of motion requirements for skiers can be found here: http://www.warrensmith-skiacademy.com/t ... nge-tests/
I'd appreciate any insight you'd have on the best approach to take.
Thanks!