Touching the outside boot (or trying to) is a very important and common drill that you should practice often, for balance on the outside ski and increasing the range of motion for good angulation and separation, via counterbalancing.
It is easier to start this on a green run where you can carve and have a stable platform to move on.
Leave the poles at the top of the run. While stationary, crunch sideways and try to touch the top of the right boot. Then the left. Note how much you can do it without a big strain on your back.
It's a good idea to do some warmup and stretching beforehand.
Start gliding, turning and carving a green run. As you start turning left, crunch your shoulders to the right and touch the right boot on the outside, with the right arm, while lifting the left arm higher than horizontal. Keep touching the boot until you start to release and finish the turn.
Then switch.
Make sure you crunch sideways rather than bend forward at the waist as much as you can. The point of this drill is to develop lateral balance and lateral range of motion.
Notice that as you crunch sideways more, the skis turn faster and stronger - that's because you tipped them on edge more, to stay in balance while trying to reach the boots.
It is not that reaching for the boots and accentuating the counterbalancing caused your skis to tip more, but your focus on reaching the boots made you tip your skis more on edge resulting in a bigger need to counterbalance.
Ok, let's get this show on the road.
Leave the poles at the top of the run. While stationary, crunch sideways and try to touch the top of the right boot. Then the left. Note how much you can do it without a big strain on your back.
It's a good idea to do some warmup and stretching beforehand.
Start gliding, turning and carving a green run. As you start turning left, crunch your shoulders to the right and touch the right boot on the outside, with the right arm while lifting the left arm somewhat horizontal, to help. Keep touching it until you start to release and finish the turn. Then switch.
Make sure you crunch sideways rather than bend forward at the waist as much as you can. The point of this drill is to develop lateral balance and lateral range of motion.
Notice that as you crunch sideways more, the skis turn faster and stronger - that's because you tipped them on edge more, to stay in balance.
As a progression, you can start by touching just the top of the boot and then progressively touch the ankle, then the bottom of the boot, as your balance and range of motion improve.
Often during this drill you will start to carve, as the skis tip on edge enough to grab.
Add Coiling to this drill and explore how coiling makes it easier to reach the outside boot by allowing you to combine crunching sideways with hunching forward.
As you add coiling, make sure it is not all due to the tip lead - that is a big tendency during this drill. Make sure it is more functional coiling, with some actual core tension.
Sessions to hone and refine your angulation:
Other related drills: