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Does skiing come as naturally to you as other sports?

abc

Banned
I'm not a super expert, but I've achieved a higher level of skill skiing than any other activity I've ever participated in. This makes it that much more special to me.:ski2:
It just occurred to me why I'm not crazy about skiing...

I'm a pretty quick learner when it comes to sports, except when it comes to skiing!

I'm usually able to achieve "above average" level in about a season or two in most sports I tried. Not in skiing. It took about 5 to even be an average intermediate. By then, I've pretty much lost my motivation and moved on to x-c skiing. Not to mentioned by then I also moved away from the snow belt... No skiing of any kind for two years!

In that time, I also had my first, then second knee injury. The first time I had ANY sports related injuries, EVER! That was absolutely scary. :(

It took a ski crazy boyfriend and a couple trips to Europe to got me re-interested in downhill skiing. Though my objective in skiing has changed, from a sport to an excuse to see the world, to places and in seasons others don't travel.

Busting through the "intermediate plateau" was very important. But then the "lift ticket plateur" got in the way. And not having any more ski crazy friends to ski with put an end of my second period of ski enthusiasm...

It took another ski crazy "significant other" to got me going again. Though this time, epic.com was able to sustain it after that the ski-crazy half left... Having the opportunity to visit resorts I never thought of going alone, with local bears as guide, help re-ignite my interest in my "tourist on skis" way of vacationing.

Now I can say I'm a decent skier living up to my own expectation. Still, it's not anything I'm proud of, compared to other sports I can do well with ease. Aslo, unlike most other sports, skiing has many of those "mini" plateau periods in which you can't seem to make any progress for a long while. And having to pay good money to NOT improve just feels so much worse...

Sorry for whinning on a thread that's suppose to be "how skiing empower my life" thread. Let me go get my coat...
 

abc

Banned
Having been involved in sports since I was a kid, I'm always aware of the benefit of having an obvious and objective goals to measure one's progress. That's what makes almost all sporting activities confidence building, a.k.a. "empowering".

Learning a new move on ski or bike, be it a side-slipping down a chute, yo-yoing up the wall of a half pipe, or wheelie over a log, can be mastered in a matter of days or weeks. Perfect short term goals. While zipper-lining a bump field or trackstand with one hand can keep one working for a whole season or two (or more). Great intermediate term goald. All of it eventually led to becoming accomplished skier/bikers when jumping down a cliff become routine.

That's much easier to see than job promotion or buying a house, which takes years to achieve, without much intermediate term milestone to gauge one's progress. To take the sense of "empowerment" I got from sports, I learn to break up real life goals into bite-sized chunks achievable and measurable in short enough time frame. So I won't lose sight of my progress to get too discourage at the lack of achievement in the greuling process.
 

SkiNurse

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've ben involved in sports my whole life also: softball since age 6 (still play), soccer, softball & iceskating as a pre-teen/teen..with of course, biking and hiking spread throughout it all. didn't start skiing til age 19.

I love being active and involved....but I am not a natural at all. I have to work very hard at all my sports, which I think, makes me appreciate them more!:D
 

FLGIRL

Certified Ski Diva
I started skiing at the age of 39 after dreaming of it my whole life! I would have started at 38 with our trip to Whistler but I got pregnant with my daughter just 2 months before! Didn't want to risk it so I just hung out at the resort.

Skiing comes naturally for me because I'm an ice skater. Can do some one rev jumps and all the basic spins but I think it was all the edge work that really made me pick up skiing so easily. Now I'm hooked and we go skiing every year.

I really should be living in CO or something instead of FL because it's just not condusive to ski around here!
 

MaryLou

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Good question. It comes naturally to me because I started when I was 5. If I had started as an adult, I'm sure I'd have lost steam like you mentioned. Considering the cost and effort to participate in the sport, there would have to be some internal/personal goal or incentive to keep going - or a trerrific friend or SO that I'd be experiencing it with. I am always amazed by people that start later in life, because I may be a better skier than them, but they have more drive and patience with the sport than I do. I love it because I'm good, it's fun, I love to be out in the winter, fresh air, yadda yadda...but I could also see how snowshoeing, ice skating, XC, etc... could give me as much satisfaction if I had not started skiing so young.

I feel one with my skis 95% of the time, which means I have absolutely no idea "what" I am doing lol. I cannot teach anyone anything. I cannot describe what I do. I have no idea what any technical terms are. I just pop the skis on, hit the slopes, adjust my stance/balance based on conditions and I'm good. I demo skis to figure out what to buy (since techy terms mean nothing).

In a nutshell, I'm a natural because I learned so young, otherwise I'm not so sure I would be with skiing. I pick up any sport easily, but know if I didn't start skiing until I was 20yo, I'd never be as good as I am now. It's hard. Which is why we made sure our kids started by 5yo.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I started skiing at the age of 39 after dreaming of it my whole life! I would have started at 38 with our trip to Whistler but I got pregnant with my daughter just 2 months before! Didn't want to risk it so I just hung out at the resort.

Skiing comes naturally for me because I'm an ice skater. Can do some one rev jumps and all the basic spins but I think it was all the edge work that really made me pick up skiing so easily. Now I'm hooked and we go skiing every year.

I really should be living in CO or something instead of FL because it's just not condusive to ski around here!


It's interesting because skiing is really my first sport that I fell in love with. I learned in 5th grade and felt pretty natural/comfortable on skis right away. Not that I haven't had a lot of bad habits to correct and things to learn over the years, but I'd also agree that it's the first sport I felt that I really did well at. I played softball as a kid too, and ice skated (no lessons, just skating out on the lake or the rink we built in the backyard). Skiing was the only sport that made me think - I should live somewhere else to be closer to skiing. Or - I should reconsider my career path so I can have more time to ski. And when I met my husband, who thought the same things... it was like WOW - someone who doesn't look at me like I'm completely insane for thinking those things!

Anyway - once I DID make that move and had time to ski more, I not only got better at skiing, but have picked up other sports that I feel the same passion for. I learned to mountain bike, which has really taken over as my #1 sport these days. And now I'm learning to speed skate - and it's only been a few months but I guess I'm really picking that up quickly (at least according to my coach and other skaters at the oval). I'm at the point where I can get a corner right here and there and it just feels amazing - the speed and flow and cornering are just.... fun! Which is funny because those first few weeks I felt like a newborn fawn learning to walk... But I would also attribute that to the other sports I do and the crossover between them (that and good coaching). Sometimes I feel like skating is just like skiing without the knee pain. ;)
 

Swamp Dog

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
yes, good question. I am "naturally mediocre" at all my sports endeavors, and skiing is no different. I was quite the jock as a kid, but just never good enough for varsity level. I played baseball/softball, basketball, and soccer. Did a lot of hiking, swimming, and running. I also skated and skateboarded, so skiing was fairly easy to pick up. Snowboarding, not so much. I thought it would be easier because I skateboarded and surfed. Oh well.

Anyhow, I've learned to embrace my mediocrity, and am happy with all I've been able to accomplish. Five marathons and probably close to a hundred triathlons at different distances, I'm taking a more relaxed approach these days.

:chillpill:
 

SnowHot

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I found Skiing to come to me a lot better than any other sport I have taken on.

As a kid I played softball but totally sucked so that was the end of my athletic pursuits. Later in life I took up volleyball which was fun for me, but it took a long time to get good. I'd say, I'm a good volleyball player, but I'm not great by any means.

Biking and golf have been my summer passions, neither of which have come easily to me. I have to do both a lot to make any progress a lot, and the fact that the two sports compete for my summer time, doesn't help in my progress.

Skiing is my thing. I'm not amazing, but I'd say I progressed faster skiing than any other sport I've pursued.
 

Quiver Queen

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am "naturally mediocre" at all my sports endeavors, and skiing is no different. .................... Anyhow, I've learned to embrace my mediocrity, and am happy with all I've been able to accomplish.


Wow, somebody actually put into words what I've known about myself for decades! I, too, am happy with what I've accomplished thru focus and hard work, and am trying to not beat myself up for the imperfections. Without the imperfections, I guess I wouldn't have anything to improve upon, and that's important in somebody who's as goal-oriented (like abc is) as I.
 

Robyn

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
As someone who learned to ski at about 1 1/2 years old (and spent the winter before in a backpack on mom's back) skiing is in my blood. My dad was a coach, mom loved to ski and was busy being a ski bum in Vail when she got pregnant with me. :smile: I walked away from racing early due to burn out and only skied off and on from then until 4 seasons ago. Every time I came back to the sport though it was almost like I'd never left. That is part of why I'll never be a never-ever instructor, I just don't think I could explain the very beginnings of skiing. Now that I'm back and skiing very regularly I'm working on my skills and they are improving drastically I believe.

As far as other sports, I've always struggled with them. I don't believe I'll ever truly be a competitor for age-class awards with triathlons but I'm confident that I'll continue to improve against myself. I grew up doing basketball, running, tennis and threw in dabbing in softball and ice skating.
 

toughgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm not sure how to respond to this post except that I grew up in a family of couch potatos. I must be the milk mans baby b/c as soon as I got out on my own, i started hiking, biking, kayaking, even tried rock climbing (scary). So I added skiing to the mix (although I did try skiing a bit in my preteen years).

With that said, I'm average in everything but I have a brain that doesn't match. I have a competitive nature and want to be awesome at it all.. but then i get frustrated. I guess I need to just embrace my Averageness
 

Snowflower

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm pretty athletic but skiing was probably the hardest sport to master of any that I have participated in. I think that it has to do with learning as an adult, vs learning as a child. The difference between the comfort level my son has and the level I have is huge. He learned as a child and I learned as a young adult. Even though I've managed to become a pretty decent skier, I'll never have the comfort level he does. It's like his skis are an extension of his feet and he doesn't have to think about what he's doing. It's just natural for him.

I on the other hand plateaued at an advanced intermediate level and completely quit alpine skiing for about 6 years. I snowboarded and then tele'ed during those years. When I finally tried alpine again last season, I found that I was immedieately MUCH better than I had been when I quit. I think those years of snowboarding and tele-ing really made the difference in getting me past that plateau.
 

skimomma24

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I started skiing at the age of 12, and think I picked it up fairly quickly. I don't recall ever feeling frustrated that I couldn't do something. If I couldn't do it the first time, I just kept at it until I could. And now I would say I'm about average, but anyone who skiis with me is always extremely impressed. ???? I am not an athletic person, I play ball in the summer and love it, I enjoy beach volleyball and am average at that, I have tried golf, and think I could like it if I had more practice. I swim sometimes in the summer - we used to have a pool, but don't now. I also enjoy curling in the winter, if you call that a sport. One thing I have just started this year is running on our treadmill. Once I get going, I love it, it's just getting ON it that I find I don't have the motivation for yet. At least not on a regular basis. SO I think I pick sports up quickly, I just don't accel at any others like I do with skiing.
 

Sheena

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I think that skiing is the only sport that I am even moderately good at. I have never really been good at any other sports, with the excpetion of swimming. I think I fell in love with skiing, because it was a sport that I was actually good at.

I have tried mountain biking for summer/spring/fall fitness, but I find that I am muich to cautious to really get into it.

Any other team-type sport, I tend to fail miserably at, I blame that on being a good 4-6 inches or more shorter than everyone else playing. Plus, I am just not that aggressive when it comes to a lot of sports.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
With that said, I'm average in everything but I have a brain that doesn't match. I have a competitive nature and want to be awesome at it all.. but then i get frustrated. I guess I need to just embrace my Averageness

I'm sure this will get taken the wrong way... (And I know you're just repeating what was said above... and I can totally identify with what you're feeling...)

But I think "embracing your averageness" is a really sad statement, because it sounds like "I give up trying to improve".

As much as I can identify with the frustration of wanting (and falling short) at really excelling at all the sports I do, you shouldn't just give up and say - well, I'm average, might as well be happy that way.

To me, the alternative, is finding realistic goals and specializing into areas of the sport that you love and want to do well at. You don't have to be great at everything, but I think you should still keep striving to improve. Learning and improving is a big part of the game. It doesn't have to mean - I'm going to jump a bigger cliff every week this year. You can be improving in your ability to read the snow conditions on the mountain and find pockets of good snow on bad days. You can be improving in your ability to control your thoughts, be in the present, and ski with a clear mind.

So yes - it's helpful to try to come up with goals that are at least somewhat realistic. But that doesn't mean I can't strive to continually improve in whatever areas I decide I want to work on. I don't know my limitations yet, and I'm fairly certain that we all hold ourselves back with our self-limiting beliefs than any of us are held back through some physical reality of what we are truly capable of.

Anyway - I think unachieved goals are better than having no goals at all. Maybe that's just me...
 

MaryLou

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
To me, the alternative, is finding realistic goals and specializing into areas of the sport that you love and want to do well at. You don't have to be great at everything, but I think you should still keep striving to improve. Learning and improving is a big part of the game. It doesn't have to mean - I'm going to jump a bigger cliff every week this year. You can be improving in your ability to read the snow conditions on the mountain and find pockets of good snow on bad days. You can be improving in your ability to control your thoughts, be in the present, and ski with a clear mind.

So yes - it's helpful to try to come up with goals that are at least somewhat realistic. But that doesn't mean I can't strive to continually improve in whatever areas I decide I want to work on. I don't know my limitations yet, and I'm fairly certain that we all hold ourselves back with our self-limiting beliefs than any of us are held back through some physical reality of what we are truly capable of.

Anyway - I think unachieved goals are better than having no goals at all. Maybe that's just me...

I think there is a happy medium. I'm athletic, I can pretty much do anything BUT if it involves hand/eye coordination - forget it. I don't even bother to achieve - I lack those skills (at least compared to other sports). Even so...in Jr. High I tried for 3 years to get onto the softball team (of my small school...so not overly competetitive). I tried, and tried...and waited for the list to come out...and then was severely disappointed every year. Even in 8th grade I'd get overlooked for 6th graders. It really hurt my self-esteem, b/c any other team I tried out for I made. In hindsight - I should have just given it up and focused on something I would have better luck with. It took me many years to figure out I cannot hit or aim! Golf...omg...one afternoon at a driving range told me to NEVER bother with that sport! There are 100 other things I could do in spring/summer, why waste my time/energy/soul on something that I just will never master w/o much heartache, frustration and $. KWIM? I have very limited time (work FT+ with 3 kids, a dog and 2 homes) as it is, so I don't feel as though I'm giving up, but focusing on what will enhance my life. If I was retired, hung out with a bunch of people that golfed, and had nothing else to do, sure I'd try again. But if something like biking, running, hiking, rollerblading was available, I'd choose one of those.

ETA: I think with any sport/activity - if you go out and do it, whether you think you are great, mediocre or just plain suck - it's always good for you. So if someone has to embrace their averageness to get out and do something, it's still good, b/c their body benefits. As I see my kids and their peers grow, it becomes clear how some kids just don't like to move their bodies and feel so out of their element with sports/PE. Nature vs. nurture? I think there is some of each...but ultimately...EVERY body has to move, no matter what.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I think there is a happy medium. I'm athletic, I can pretty much do anything BUT if it involves hand/eye coordination - forget it. I don't even bother to achieve - I lack those skills (at least compared to other sports). Even so...in Jr. High I tried for 3 years to get onto the softball team (of my small school...so not overly competetitive). I tried, and tried...and waited for the list to come out...and then was severely disappointed every year. Even in 8th grade I'd get overlooked for 6th graders. It really hurt my self-esteem, b/c any other team I tried out for I made. In hindsight - I should have just given it up and focused on something I would have better luck with. It took me many years to figure out I cannot hit or aim! Golf...omg...one afternoon at a driving range told me to NEVER bother with that sport! There are 100 other things I could do in spring/summer, why waste my time/energy/soul on something that I just will never master w/o much heartache, frustration and $. KWIM? I have very limited time (work FT+ with 3 kids, a dog and 2 homes) as it is, so I don't feel as though I'm giving up, but focusing on what will enhance my life. If I was retired, hung out with a bunch of people that golfed, and had nothing else to do, sure I'd try again. But if something like biking, running, hiking, rollerblading was available, I'd choose one of those.

Oh - absolutely! I mean, as nice as it would be to be completely well rounded as an athlete... you have to pick and choose somewhere, and it only makes sense to find the things you're good at (and enjoy doing) and use those as a foundation to build from.

No one can have the time to excel at everything - you've decide where to spend your resources of time/energy/money. And as I get older, my "resources" have started to include different things... like the life span of my beat-up knees. So this year I didn't even get a season pass for skiing. I've decided it makes the temptation to ski as much as I can too great and I punish my knees skiing in rough conditions. So instead, I'm putting in a lot of time with speed skating, which seems to help, rather than hurt my knees, and will just be picking days to buy lift tickets and ski when conditions look good. I've decided to shoot for quality over quantity.

I guess to clarify what I was trying to say in the post above is more... encouragement to not fall into thinking you're just doomed to mediocrity. Because it's easy to feel that way - I can start thinking, well, I'm overweight, I have couch potato genetics, I haven't had enough time or training or whatever to really be good... and it affects not only your performance, but your ability to even imagine accomplishing what you want to. I believe that a lot of the 'terminal intermediate' phase is mental and comes from the inner belief that you're not good enough. A lot of jumping out of that intermediate phase in most sports has to do with getting out of the stiff/cautious phase and into a fluid/confident phase. And while you can teach the body position and movement - implementing it is 99.9% mental. I've seen it and felt it myself where you see an elite athlete doing something and think to yourself - if I tried to imitate that body movement, people would laugh at me for trying and thinking I'm good enough to even be thinking about looking like that. (I've ridden with women who won't even attempt something new unless no one, including other women, is looking. ) Whereas most men can look at an elite athlete and have the ego to think - "well I can do that". Even when it's a ridiculous thought. The thing is, believing in yourself - even when it seems impossible, is what really helps bust through those plateaus.

So I guess all I'm trying to say is that while I certainly don't want anyone to be harder on themself for what they haven't achieved (i.e. - there is nothing wrong with being a beginner, being average, etc. - just know you aren't trapped there for eternity!) , I think we are all better off staying positive and open to achieving whatever we put our minds to doing.

So in other words - I totally agree. If you try golfing and realize it's not for you - don't waste your time. Pick the things you have a passion for and really want to learn and then kick the limitations out of your head and allow yourself to believe you can be something other than average. (And remember you can create your own measure for success.)
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The only sport I was ever a natural at was riding/jumping horses. Windsurfing took entire summers just to get the basics and I still can't water start, short board, or high-wind sail. Rollerblading has similarly taken years with no sign of ever being comfortable skating backwards or jumping. Biking has required lots and lots of miles and crashing, getting up, crashing again, getting back up, crashing yet again...... Even now, my headers off the log skinny and Danger TeePee from last year and this spring haunt me. Skiing, too has been years of struggling and so-so skiing, then a brief Ah-Ha moment. 2 years ago I finally realized I'll never be more than an average racer with the occasional flash of brilliance (very occasional :(), not because I don't have the skills, but, instead, because I don't have the mind set to really let it all hang out, consequences be damned. I'd rather finish slowly than not finish at all. So, my goal lately has been to enjoy the racing, be happy with finishing and doing my best, and concentrate on improving my skills in crappy snow conditions and steeper terrain, instead. It's been a fine balance between joy and frustration for years but I think I finally have found the place in my head where the joy and wonder wins out 98% of the time. :smile:
 

MaryLou

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Alta - one thing about skiing and the plateau has to partially be due to the speed/risk factor. You and I both started skiing as wee pups, and maybe can't relate. But crossing to the next level in skiing probably means taking risks that make you leave your comfort zone. I'm petrified of heights and that falling sensation, yet I feel so comfy on skis I don't even put height/falling together with skiing - even on a chairlift. I just go. But if I was intermediate at my ripe age of 40-something, it'd probably be pretty tough to let my body go straight down the fall-line and rely on a metal edge. Whereas, if I was a intermediate golfer, may have to do stuff that's new and different to get to the next level, but I wouldn't be 'scared' and putting my body into danger, kwim? I think that's a big difference between skiing and other sports.
 

MaryLou

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The only sport I was ever a natural at was riding/jumping horses. Windsurfing took entire summers just to get the basics and I still can't water start, short board, or high-wind sail. Rollerblading has similarly taken years with no sign of ever being comfortable skating backwards or jumping. Biking has required lots and lots of miles and crashing, getting up, crashing again, getting back up, crashing yet again...... Even now, my headers off the log skinny and Danger TeePee from last year and this spring haunt me. Skiing, too has been years of struggling and so-so skiing, then a brief Ah-Ha moment. 2 years ago I finally realized I'll never be more than an average racer with the occasional flash of brilliance (very occasional :(), not because I don't have the skills, but, instead, because I don't have the mind set to really let it all hang out, consequences be damned. I'd rather finish slowly than not finish at all. So, my goal lately has been to enjoy the racing, be happy with finishing and doing my best, and concentrate on improving my skills in crappy snow conditions and steeper terrain, instead. It's been a fine balance between joy and frustration for years but I think I finally have found the place in my head where the joy and wonder wins out 98% of the time. :smile:
OMG - racing is so great. I race against myself, noone else. Shaving seconds off is an amazing feeling. Started it last winter, and shaved 10 seconds from begin to end of season. Took me awhile to figure out how to race (and properly ski) parabolic skis, and once I did (thanks to a tip my 7yo DD's instructor gave her lol... "toe to toe") the seconds fell off. As a mother that does everything for everybody else, it was the BEST feeling ever. It's been awhile since I've done anything competitive, and even though I only race against myself, it's so awesome. I can't even express it. Who cares where you wind up in the stats...it's all good.
 

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