Motivation

[cosmogirl]

Hey everyone, looking for some help on how to motivate my daughter to get out on the slopes again. She took up boarding this year, went twice and gave up! I know, for fact, that she really wants to learn. But she thinks everyone is watching her (shocker she is 14 lol) and saying how bad she is. Any suggestions, other than blackmail, would be appreciated.

 

[Jilly]

Private lessons??

 

[SueNJ]

Has she had any lessons? Maybe getting her into a group lesson with other beginners would help her to see that she's not the only beginner on the mountain.

I think that's a common reaction for a 14-year-old girl, though!

 

[Pequenita]

Women/teen girl boarding clinic, if your local or nearby slope has something like that. Burton has been doing "Girls Learn to Ride" programs.....

 

[alta_gal83]

Get her some of the women's specific boarding videos, like Roxy's Ro-Sham-Bo. Awesome video full of all female athletes ripping the park and pipe. She'll want to do all of that after she sees it!

 

[cosmogirl]

Thanks everyone,
She's had a private lesson and also joined the school board club that included lessons. Only went twice, rest was hanging out in the chalet. Stagefright, boys who knows. Tough to be a teen these days. I'll check out the video, sounds great! Hopefully can get her in another lesson.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

this might work

A really cute, attentive, younger instructor???

 

[SnowHot]

sounds to me like her lack of desire has nothing to do with the boarding itself.
Maybe some kind of social clash, or lack of feeling a part of the gang in the chalet?

Perhaps she isn't cut out to board?

Some kids(young adults) try it because "everyone is doing it", then find out that skiing is funner. Perhaps see if she's interested in skiing, perhaps twin tips?

when it comes down to it, girls of that age are either really jived about the sport or they're asking "where's the party(boyz)"

 

[atlantiqueen]

Oh boy can I relate! I missed out on a lot of really fun stuff because I was self-conscious. I agree with Snowhot that there may be more to it than just an ability issue.

There is something intimidating about being a beginner in a sport, or any activity, when the people around you make it look so easy. The best-intended comments of "do it this way" or "you'll never get it unless you try" feel like MAJOR criticisms and can make the beginner want to shrink further into her shell.

I work in two key areas - communications and wilderness skills. One thing I wish I could convey to people is that everyone has a different learning style.

Some want to jump right in the kayak (my primary teaching vehicle) and get on the water without any understanding of the technique - they'll figure it out. Some want to see me paddle, ditch and recover so they can see the strokes and how it's supposed to look. Some want to be told how and some want to read how. Some are like me - I wantto understand the mechanics of a sport and the physics before I tackle it. Then I like to methodically work through each stage until I have perfected it. (ooh, ending with prepositions, so much being a communications expert!)

When I began learning downhill, my DH couldn't grasp that I wouldn't just get on the hill and figure it out. "Why not?" I just don't work that way. "Well, I'll ski with you today". NOOOOOO!!!! The last thing I wanted was for him to be there watching me. Why? For any number of reasons.

Perhaps too she falls into the same category I did at her age...She is afraid of embarassing you by how poorly she (in her mind) is doing or that you'll be disapponted, in this case it doesn't matter how much you tell her otherwise, she won't believe you (of course, what 14yo believes ANYTHING her parents say )

And naturally, at age 14, we were all very concerned with what our peer-groups thought of us.

Here's a short wish list of ideas

• Bring one of her friends with you to the hill - one who is also a beginner
• Invest in some lessons - make sure she is a group with at least one other person her age (not everyone can afford this but this is a wish list )
• Realize that she is self-conscious and feeling "stupid" about looking "stupid" (you've already hit this one)
• Don't push
• Let her be there and encourage her to get out but understand that she might want to do this on her own
• Get her some books and videos on the subject

I suspect your daughter may just have a different learning style than you. This is a great link for an introductionhttps://https://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm to learn little more about learning styles.

I know I've gone on for far too long but I am really passionate about my work and helping ppeople to understand their learning styles. If you want to pm me I can give some more details about assessing learning styles and some more tactics for different styles. Heck, I'll even chat with her

AQ

 

[ski now work later]

I wish you and I were local to each other so my 14 yr. old daughter could go out and ride with her. Where do you ski and ride? My daughter's first season (05/06) was a disaster with lots of falls, tears, a few bloody noses, and discouragement. Snowboarding is so hard and 14 is such a self-conscious age!

I agree with the other Divas' private instruction, worth the expense, with another girl, maybe an older teen or young 20s. Avoid super hardpack days (ouch) and offer "incentives" for sticking it out (a new CD, manicure, or whatever your daughter loves that isn't too expensive). I keep telling my daughter that she's going to be a guy-magnet when she's a little older and rips down the mountain (of course her stepdad and her dad shudder at such comments )

Or perhaps she should try skiing? :D

 

[ski chick]

Is there any chance you can take her out of school just for a day? The slopes are a LOT less crowded and she might feel less self-conscious. Plus it would be a great bonding day for the two of you.

 

[SuperMoe]

social event

At this age, most things are social events. They like to hang out with friends, etc. My older daughter has a group of classmates (girls) and they ski (mess around) etc. It's fun for them, they'll ski a bunch of runs, then do a bunch of tree runs. I find that when they go in the chalet, they typically don't sit there and waste too much time...they're in, eating/resting, then they'll go back out.

If I ask my daughter to come to the hill with me, she won't do it/doesn't like it.

My younger daughter doesn't have that same support group and isn't that interested in skiing. But, if she had a buddy, I think she would be.

Tell her to find a friend who would be interested, let them take a few lessons together.

My VB team has been very competitive the last 10 years, but if you ask them what they remember/like most...one of the answers will be hanging with their friends. Similarly, I could learn to ski on my own, etc. but it was more fun to find this board, share ideas with other like me and learn some things.

 

[cosmogirl]

I've left it open to try the lessons again, or switch to skiing so we'll see! We've just moved back to Minnesota about a year now, so she's still adjusting I'm sure. Skiing was hard to do in Indiana for us because of the long drive to the nearest slope. Hopefully next year she'll give it another go.

 

[skiguide]

I'll weigh in with another perspective - but not to discount anything that's been said so far... because some of those things could very well be happening.

Learning to snowboard is HARD and extremely frustrating. It generally takes most people more than 2 days to really "get it".

yes, some people - ie, teenage boys - are faster than others, but 3-5 days is more average. I went for my first lesson when i was 22 w/ my then BF, and he brought along a friend, i brought my sister (then 15) -the guys made it a competition because they didn't care if they ever did it again (and they didn't), and my sis and i just focused on the skills, because we both wanted to do it.

We all fell down - A LOT - but my sister and i kept at it - sporadically though, once or twice a season - for a few years. But I did not successfully learn to snowboard until I committed a few days to it on a trip to VT and then when i moved to UT i started riding with better friends - helped even more. Same thing with my sis, she didn't really learn it until it became the only thing she did.

You just don't gain any confidence in your snowboard skills until you've figured out that if you commit to the turns, you actually fall down less.

It takes a while to commit to the turn because it seems scary to do so. (my husband has a hard time with that now, since he's tried to learn/improve boarding over the last few years, he's just such a good skier he doesn't spend the time on his board).

So basically my suggestion is to give it a couple days within close proximity of each other - over a school vacation or on a long weekend, if it's possible to take a small trip and do it all at once, do it.
the worst thing you can do is space out a day here and a day there over a couple of months or a season - once she 'gets it' - you dont' have to go as frequently. it does come back pretty quick.

 

[rangergrrl]

I've left it open to try the lessons again, or switch to skiing so we'll see! We've just moved back to Minnesota about a year now, so she's still adjusting I'm sure. Skiing was hard to do in Indiana for us because of the long drive to the nearest slope. Hopefully next year she'll give it another go.

Not sure where you are in MN but a few local hills have girls' boarding and skiing. A few have even put together girlz on the hillz days or something like that.