 Poster: A snowHead
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I feel like my understanding of skiing and my ability to ski have massively improved in the past year, combination of factors at play - I've focused more (stopped thinking of excuses of why I can't do things and just concentrated on doing as I'm told) lost the fear (I used to shudder at the top of the Chillfactore!) got new skis (skinnier) got new poles (shorter) got a big grin thing going on everytime I ski. So, I want to carry on.
Since getting back from the eosb I've been itching to get back, I'm 20 minutes from the Chillfactore so off I went to an over 50s coaching session (yay for ageing!) and really enjoyed it - I was the only person that showed up but I don't think that's usual at all - I plan to carry on going to these, work shifts permitting. I reckon I could get to one or two a month over summer, so I'd like to be able to go with a goal or specific to work on, for my last few lessons I've been able to start off with a statement of where I left off or to highlight an area I struggled, for instance in group lessons we were doing some turns and slide things and I couldn't do it, thinking about it after I figured out my balance was off so I went into the coaching sessions with this as a starting point.
Now, I'm not good with the vocabulary and technical descriptions and just want to make the most of the sessions without starting every one with 'here, look at me ski, make me better'. Any tips? Is there a skills progression list I should peruse?
To add, I will get another full on Indepth lesson before I go away again, thinking the coaching sessions are a good, cheap way of keeping going & avoiding falling back into bad habits 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| kittya wrote: |
| Is there a skills progression list I should peruse? |
There's no set progression which all skiers should follow, in a particular sequence. To make solid improvement which will set you up to ski all the mountain you need to have strong core skills rather than focusing on one particular aspect of your skiing. Stick with the coaching sessions, and perhaps have a discussion with your instructor about developing your skiing over the summer months rather than just whatever the focus is of that particular coaching session.
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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?
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@rob@rar,  see, I can't even effectively communicate with a ski instructor on the internet!. Skills progression thing, I meant to improve the technical communication - the glossary on here confuses the life out of me. I have been doing the core skills stuff, from a pretty intense bringing everything back to basics and building on it. I'm not altogether sure if it's the same instructor for each session either so that might make a difference?!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@kittya, oops! Sorry for misunderstanding you. If your instructor is using language you don't understand ask him or her to explain it a different way. It's not necessary to use technical language to describe skiing, so unless you want to use that language for a specific reason is there any need to complicate matters?
I'm not sure how the coaching sessions you are going to attend this summer are structured, but if it is not the same instructor each time it will be more tricky to have a development plan which runs over multiple sessions. If you do think you'll get the same instructor I'd recommend you let him or her know that you would like a longer term plan for developing your skiing, rather than trying to cover all the fundamentals in one session If I'm told that by a client it makes a big difference to my approach, knowing that I have more time to get things right rather than rush through a list of things I'd like to cover without making deep improvements in anything.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Continuous time on the slopes is the only way for old folks to get better.
You need a minimum of 2 weeks of continuous daily skiing and coaching.
Even better if you can do a whole season.
Just doing a few hours here and there never works.
The body and muscle memory forget what they learn.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
Continuous time on the slopes is the only way for old folks to get better.
You need a minimum of 2 weeks of continuous daily skiing and coaching. |
The first time I skied for more than a week at a time was when I passed my Level 2 instructor exam. You don't need a minimum of two weeks on snow to get better.
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@Whitegold, not often I disagree with you, you're usually spot on (your comments re: Ruka, when I asked for info, were absolutely correct) but here you are much mistaken. I haven't skied a great deal in the last 18 months - had about 20 hours of coaching/instruction and improved exponentially. I have skied for a long time before, badly, nervously and unsatisfactorily.
@rob@rar, all instructors use language I don't get, many of them* also start telling me to imagine things - cars, tangerines, tea trays, whatever, I end up a confused wreck, I now have confidence enough to ask for direct instruction because I'm not an actor or a child - this is the point when I'm usually asked if I'm a doctor or an engineer?!
I'm really hoping it's the same instructor throughout, got on well with the last one found him really good to work with, our synchronised skiing could do with a bit more finesse though. The sessions don't have a structure as far as I know, it's informal, turn up, say what you want or get what you're given. That's why I want to get an angle on how best to work out what I want from them, something to focus myself on.
@Awdbugga, you're excused, told you I didn't look like myself and my new helmet obviously made me hard to recognise  Trying to wrangle the Rotas for many Monday's off, will let you know, you'll not miss me falling off lifts anyhow...
I admire your ability to crack on with hours of going round and round in there, I haven't got that level of patience or cold tolerance!
*i am not referring to any instructor arranged via snowheads in this, they are a different being altogether.
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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.
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@kittya, ok, how's this for two ideas/outcomes to discuss in non techie language with the instructors and a few goals for summer?
Would you like to be able to ski "almost" straight down the Chillfactore slope with control and without your speed increasing the further you go down the slope?
Would you like to be able to use more of the full width of the Chillfactore slope (when safe) to ski controlled, graceful arcs around the slope?
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@kitenski, reckon I could use those, ta. When I'm asked why (sure I will be) I shall have to explain this thread
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@kittya, excellent, keep the thread updated with your progress!
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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.
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@kittya, watch for the Pre Season Bash buttons. Sign up for the first week, great instructors.
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@kittya, One goal of "coaching" should be to give the trainee a mental model of what they are doing now and of the kind of skills that they could add in the future.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| Continuous time on the slopes is the only way for old folks to get better.... |
My own experience was that there are a minimum number of days needed to become competent, however I generally improved when I spent time away from the slopes. I've noticed the same thing more recently with other sports (eg surfing).
I think it's because the way I learn, which involves understanding of what I'm trying to do. I don't have "muscle memory", but I do have a brain. For people like me, visiting a slope every now and then is an effective way to learn: the cycle of thinking about something and then practicing it is really efficient. I skied on plastic now and then for a few years, and when I finally got to snow I was already "an expert". No "continuous time" was available or required. I'd get bored to death with "continuous time".
The other side of that argument would be the people who spend a week a year skiing and never learn how to do it, claiming that they start worse in season n+1 than they finished in season n. Again, I'd say those people may well also benefit from regular but not continuous practice. Which is what the OP sensibly suggested in the 1st post here.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I might be a slow learner but I rarely managed to do well what the instructor says to me during the lesson, many people mimic the instructor quite well straight on. What happens is that I become aware and insist on practising, eventually, it just works. I read quite a lot about physics of skiing so that helps a lot to know why and how something is meant to be done.
What annoys me more is that end of the season I seem to be doing decently and then when you try to get back takes some good time to regain the previous level.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Whitegold wrote: |
Continuous time on the slopes is the only way for old folks to get better.
You need a minimum of 2 weeks of continuous daily skiing and coaching.
Even better if you can do a whole season.
Just doing a few hours here and there never works.
The body and muscle memory forget what they learn. |
B*llocks...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| skimottaret wrote: |
| Whitegold wrote: |
Continuous time on the slopes is the only way for old folks to get better.
You need a minimum of 2 weeks of continuous daily skiing and coaching.
Even better if you can do a whole season.
Just doing a few hours here and there never works.
The body and muscle memory forget what they learn. |
B*llocks... |
Those who have skied with skimottaret and I will know that sometimes I use more words to reach the same point. I think this illustrates that quite nicely 
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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?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| skimottaret wrote: |
| ...B*llocks... |
I was trying to be polite, but yeah, it's that.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@AL9000,
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I echo the suggestions above to try and arrange a longer term series of coaching sessions with a single instructor/coach you get on with. It will make a huge difference to how they can structure things, and they will get a much better understanding of how you learn and how best to deliver a session for you. If you are meeting someone new each session there will be a lot of time lost on getting each other up to speed on what's what. I know very little about what's on offer at Chillfactore, but if you can't find a setup like Inside Out Skiing, or prefer to use Chillfactore's own coaching sessions for some reason, then it may be worth asking the slope how best you can arrange that. I know at The Snow Centre that we make an effort to get a regular set of coaches on the various coaching sessions so that there's a good chance you'll see them more than once and be able to develop a longer term plan with them rather than just a series of one-off sessions.
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FAQ
