jirac18, sorry, didn't mean to invoke your name so often in the post above!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
and the skier in the animation is permanently in the back seat!
Now I really should be cooking the supper - better get on with it.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
jirac18 wrote:
What is it about this site that will break your skiing?
Where to start! I had a look at their description of how to do a snowplough and disagreed with everything they said. They used a pressure change (and their cartoon character man got in to some very distorted, out of balance positions) to create the turn, whereas I think snowplough should be about rotation. It's a fundamental difference. If that is typical of the rest of the site I believe that trying to follow it will not help you become an effective skier. I repeat, if you want to understand of how skiing works from a biomechanical point of view you could do a lot worse that start with LeMaster's book.
Skiing is a sport where going for it is very important if you want to learn quickly at all, of course what you are going for has to be suitable for your ability, but as long as you take ski lessons this should not be a problem as the instructor will only ask you to do things that you are ready for
I must remember that
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
pam w, Here is a note from the website author:
I am British, although I currently live in Germany. I have a degree in aeronautical engineering, and am a qualified ski and snowboard instructor. I teach skiing and snowboarding in Kitzbühel (Austria) in the winter. Since I was very young I have taken part in many sports where an understanding of mechanics and physics can really help, and over the years have come to understand many sports in ways a lot of people don't think of.
Just goes to show then that one one ski instructor thinks is not necessarily the same as others?
I keep wanting to tell the animation to 'stand up'. There's no mention of using the feet/lower leg to turn the ski, either, it's all about weight transfer.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
jirac18, it's incredibly old-school, as if shaped skis had never happened. It teaches traversing across the hill, stem turns, excessive counter, stylistic stance, and generally a form-based rather than skills-based approach to skiing. It's not just one of any number of valid opinions, it's completely at odds with a modern approach to teaching skiing.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
Just goes to show then that one one ski instructor thinks is not necessarily the same as others?
true, there are no doubt some poor instructors around, but I think you'll find that very few ski instructors would think those illustrations of how to get your weight over your feet (a very central point) are at all helpful. Forward leaning upper body, no ankle movement, etc etc. I'd be shocked if I saw an instructor in that posture (though it's very common amongst ordinary skiers - more than one instructor has spent his/her time trying to stop me skiing like that!)
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
jirac18, where to start- it really is pants, ar#se even (avoiding the back bottom thingy) as rob@rar, says lemasters books or even The all mountain skier R Mark Elling would better than this site and simpler to understand what's really going on. The guy has a petrified posture even in the supposedly correct positions!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
pam w, fair one. I'm not saying I subscribe to it as some kind of bible. I have little to cross reference it with as I've never had any professional tuition at all. I recognise certain things in it as correct and others as not so it was certainly worth seeing what others thought and it got the kind of reaction I thought it might.
I suppose then going back a little more onto the topic and course of the thread, it stands to reason that if people use such sources of learning and apply them to teach their own kids from scratch then they are not necessarily doing the best thing. Hence I have worked a shed load of overtime and am going without any lessons myself so I can afford to get proper lessons for wife and kids.
I am an okay skier and I'm sure I could be pretty good under lessons but at the end of the day I love being able to ski at the level I'm at and trying to teach myself. I'm safe, not overly fast, not overly stylish but I do love it which is the battle really. Incidentally I taught myself to play golf, never ever had a lesson, just picked up bits from others I played with and against and played around with my swing. I got down comfortably to a low single figure handicap (pretty bloody good) but I reckon on a golf equivalent to this SH forum there'd be loads of golf teachers telling me I did it wrong.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
jirac18, guys like you on the golf course really frustrate and depress me , I've had quite a few golf lessons "not loads" but enough, probably read every book worth reading, videos, swing gadgets you name it I've done it, I had one pro say to me on the course "how can someone with a swing that good hit a ball that bad?" Golf lessons can help some people & totally ruin the game for others, the less I practice the better I play, I don't believe this holds true for skiing!
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
jirac18, I think you would be well suited to Ron Lemasters book as mentioned by Rob or possibly the BASI/Ski club DVDs called Skiing skills 'beginners and beyond' and 'Piste performance' Although the first of those is arguably better than the second.
Both are about £24 a pop. Or if you want to go all BASI then you could buy the new 4th edition manual.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sun 6-11-11 18:22; edited 1 time in total
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
gatecrasher wrote:
jirac18, Golf lessons can help some people & totally ruin the game for others, the less I practice the better I play, I don't believe this holds true for skiing!
I believe what happens is the same in both sports. Natural ability and coordination takes you so far then it hits a plateau. We all plateau at different levels. I was lucky enough to plateau a higher level than average at golf without tuition. Same will probably happen with skiing.
However when we then reach for lessons we tend to get worse for a bit until our technique is refined more efficiently. Practice is generally only productive if we practice the correct techniques and moves. I would argue strongly that Tiger Woods in his prime had great natural ability and technique but he also practiced harder and put more work in than virtually every other golfer out there. Same can generally be said of most top sports men and women.
So broadly I think it does hold true for both if not most or all sports, but we just need to practice the right stuff
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
kevindonkleywood, yes I will look into for sure. (£24 a pop is still cheaper than a series of lessons)
(first link works fine. second link says can't find url)
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:
we just need to practice the right stuff
True
Bit of a BASI mantra "practice makes permanant, wheras proper practice makes perfect"
Edit: Fixed the link there was a rogue . at the end sorry
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
jirac18, still not entirely convinced, every ski lesson I've had has always had a positive effect, as previously mentioned golf is so much more in the head, go and have a lesson, let them give you a few swing thoughts, Tigers probably mechanically as good as he ever was but look what a bit of head mixing can do!
In Ski racing I'll agree there's more going on for the head to deal with than free skiing, which would explain why I'm back bottom at that also "loving that autocorrect ar#se thingy" but nowhere near the % headwork vs performance of golf!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Did this start as the meanest snowheads thread ever?
We have sent our kids to ski school / private lessons when too young for groups and then skied with them in the afernoons from about 4-5.
Oldest son got his Etoile d'Or this February- aged 9 and we are wondering if he should carry on in competition or just ski with us? I think that he might find the competition class really very hard - (too fast / difficult and even fewer British kids) what have others found?
I'd also wondered if / when I could try and teach him to telemark- he really wants to- and where I might get some junior tele gear without spending another fortune?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
ed123, The tourist VB route is pretty straightforward, provided he has enough control to be able to stop where your guide demands (I presume you need a guide, otherwise where you demand).
the ski teacher went into this strip without looking and stopped
Just playing devils advocate here
Why should he have looked? after all the rules of the slope are fairly simple?
Sorry just could not help myself
Fair enough.
Yes, of course it is the responsibility of the person coming from above to avoid the person below. I suppose when you are teaching it is hard to also keep any awareness of the slope above when traversing.
However I used to get annoyed by teachers' frequent failure to leave any piste at either edge for other people to pass. Surely this should be a basic bit of slope awareness.
As to the subject of the thread I wouldn't dream of teaching someone else since it is so long since I had a lesson (probably about 1961) that I have no clear intellectual grasp of what my body does. This is ignoring whether what I do would currently be considered correct.
Probably I could ski better if I had had some lessons (after all, a lot has changed in the last 50 years ).
I think the OP was perhaps a little foolhardy posting this on the Bend ze Knees thread which is full of obsessive technique wonks. He would probably have had much more support on the "Piste".
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 6-11-11 19:44; edited 1 time in total
... Bend ze Knees thread which is full of obsessive technique wonks. He would probably have had much more support on the "Piste".
Can you believe it! People interested in ski technique. On a ski forum, of all places. Shocking! Shouldn't be allowed, I tell you!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
snowball, I wonder about instructor behaviour sometimes. A shocking number of years ago when I had snakes following me I was always very careful to pick good stopping spots and keep a careful eye behind me.
Mind you, round here, these are exactly the same individuals who pull out on the motorway without warning. I often wonder why Renault/Citroen fit rear view mirrors.
After all it is free
After all it is free
"obsessive technique wonks"
Really? You think!
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
under a new name,
Nah! It's the kids attitude that's changed , cocky little sh.... "Damn there goes that autocorrect thingy again!"
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
snowball wrote:
However I used to get annoyed by teachers' frequent failure to leave any piste at either edge for other people to pass. Surely this should be a basic bit of slope awareness.
Completely agree. The ski school I skied with always aim to keep the kids within half of the piste width (unless the piste is a cat track and just too narrow to achieve).
I'd just like consideration all around. (Including from me. Believe me, I have patience!)
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
rob@rar wrote:
jirac18, it's incredibly old-school, as if shaped skis had never happened.
+1
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
ed123 wrote:
I'd also wondered if / when I could try and teach him to telemark- he really wants to- and where I might get some junior tele gear without spending another fortune?
He could learn now. There are telemark clubs at both Hemel and Tamworth if you can get there and I know that both would welcome him. I've no idea where you can get junior telemark gear, but try posting on the www.telemarktips.com forum.
I tagged along with a UIGM guide friend who was taking his 8 year old niece down for the first time. Absolutely no problem. He and I had crampons and she just went between us along the arrette. The friend roped her down the first steep section on her bum.
The biggest issue skiing with a child on glaciated terrain is discipline. If the child isn't prepared, willing or able to follow instructions to the letter then don't take them. They have to understand that if a guide tells them not to ski past them then they need to do that, etc.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
Oldest son got his Etoile d'Or this February- aged 9 and we are wondering if he should carry on in competition or just ski with us? I think that he might find the competition class really very hard - (too fast / difficult and even fewer British kids) what have others found?
My Brother and I went with the competition class around that age, improved a lot and really enjoyed it.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
gatecrasher wrote:
"obsessive technique wonks"
Really? You think!
To the extent thast I hardly ever read the Bend the Knees forum. Its mostly gobledegook (sp?) to me
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
snowball, if you're interested in what is being discussed I'm sure a request for a different explanation would get a positive response.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
if you're interested in what is being discussed I'm sure a request for a different explanation would get a positive response
I'd agree with that - I've asked some pretty daft questions in my time, and always had helpful and interesting advice.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
snowball, if you think this is gobledewhatsname, have a good read here.....
I am still reading, but my head is starting to hurt now!
Edit, an extract:
"You also need to lean backwards slightly if the gradient increases, to keep the weight over the middle of the skis"
I think I may stop reading now!...
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
ed123,
Quote:
Oldest son got his Etoile d'Or this February- aged 9 and we are wondering if he should carry on in competition or just ski with us? I think that he might find the competition class really very hard - (too fast / difficult and even fewer British kids) what have others found?
our eldest was like yours but a year or so older. She did 3 weeks of competition . The best was at Peisey/Vallandry when almost all was off piste. She absolutely loved it . Then Courchevel and Tignes. Much more piste and therefore racing biased. She did well on her Classement Nationale or whatever it is called but found the racing not nearly as enjoyable so she has not been back.
She had no English kids in PV class but found that no problem and in an odd way thought it showed the level she was at . The classes were small ( she was one of one in Tignes ) and it did wonders for her ski-ing .She had great fun which is what really matters.
I would also like to say how good the ESF instructors were - young , enthusiastic and first rate teachers . They get maligned on here quite a lot , with justification at times , but most parents I have met with kids at Bronze and above have like us found them very good.
So I would encourage your son to do it - nothing to loose.
And ( I am standing by to be flamed ! ) she has really helped our youngests' technique ( apologies if they ski in fromation or whatever ! ).
I've read the whole thread. Clearly can't answer all individual points and comments. I just wanted to clarify a couple of things:
Clearly some took umbrage on account of me sounding smug. I suppose the problem is that whilst I may have wanted to post dispassionatly the old parenting proudness was always going to creep in. As ansta1 rightly mentioned the thing my daughter skiing past a ski group was not meant as a metaphoriacl two fingers to either that group personally or to people taking ski lessions in general. It was probably one of those you have to be there moments and probably not one I should have mentioned in the context of the subject of discussion. Also when I said "we are a cut above the norm" I simply meant that we were older parents with a lot of experience coming from different cultures in terms of learning to ski. It was meant to imply that we as people were in any way super-parents or somesuch. Or that this meant we were inevitably qualified to self teach our children. I can see how my wording may have been misconstrued by some.
I do value coaching and tuition. I am a qualified volleyball coach. I even charged money to do so one season although most of the time I do it voluntarily for my own club. As I said in earlier post, I have had ski lessons and a private ski lesson, which both served me well. So let's dismiss any idea that I did this and posted the OP to somehow say I don't value private tuition or coaching. I don't know what is going to happen in the future. The children are only 4 & 6. I doubt they'll enrol in a standard group lesson. But some private lessons may well come into play. Nothings ruled in or out at this stage. And certainly if they want to do skiing "seriously" as they get older professional coaching will be required.
Unfortunately it's late so I will have to leave it there. I am glad the thread turned into something more interesting than mud slinging. And thanks to all those who have posted. I may contribute again if time allows.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
This is my "video clip of the year". Who would ever need to take a ski lesson on carving, surely just watch this guy:
smithski, think you've just found the author of that superb website!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
YouTube wrote:
Brad Disabella is from Running Springs, California. He started skiing when he was 4 years old and has been active in the sport ever since.
After all it is free
After all it is free
smithski,
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
FlyingStantoni wrote:
YouTube wrote:
Brad Disabella is from Running Springs, California. He started skiing when he was 4 years old, was taught by his father Layne, and has been active in the sport ever since.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
, I've had quite a few golf lessons "not loads" but enough, probably read every book worth reading, videos, swing gadgets you name it I've done it, I had one pro say to me on the course "how can someone with a swing that good hit a ball that bad?" Golf lessons can help some people & totally ruin the game for others, the less I practice the better I play, I don't believe this holds true for skiing!
