Tips for lessons

[Iwannaski]

Great point... and I was chuckling to myself because I always tell my clients and students: don’t ask what they want...determine what they need. So it was really perfection.

 

[Djburrito]

Nice! Glad it went well. I would have echoed @MissySki to be mentally prepared not to be anywhere near bumps for most of the lesson, but it sounds like you went out there early. Mediocre fundamentals fall apart when we’re on my challenging terrain, so until the mediocrity is drilled out, there’s no use practicing or reinforcing them on challenging terrain. Skilled instructors can tell by how we ski groomers how we’ll fare on bumps, so sometimes they don’t really need to see you ski a bump run to know where you’re going to have problems.

I was fully prepared to be on groomers most of the time working on fundamentals so I was shocked to be in the bumps on the second run. I really liked the way he guided me though. A few bumps here, over to the groomed section of the trail to work on issues he saw in the bumps. A few bumps there, back to the groomer and so on. UNTIL the last run which was full bumps and I thought my legs were going to fall off lol

 

[liquidfeet]

@Djburrito, are you ready to go into the bumps now on your own and work on the things he had you working on?

Can you describe what you worked on?
--Was it where to aim your skis, between the bumps, on top of the next bump, on the shoulder of a bump, or wherever?
--Was it how to start a turn, doing something with the new inside ski or leg, or the new outside ski or leg, or both skis/legs?
--Was it doing pivot slips up and over the bumps?
--Was it going across the bumps, absorbing them, then turning, then coming back across the bumps absorbing them, then turning, repeating that kind of line?
--Of was it something else he had you focus on?

I'm curious. I think it's important to know what is the single most important thing to work on from a lesson. Sometimes I think aiming broadly, working on "skiing better," leaves a skier confused.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Great point... and I was chuckling to myself because I always tell my clients and students: don’t ask what they want...determine what they need. So it was really perfection.

Hi there!
Your post is so spot on.

I think most ski instructors still always ask new students what they want to learn or their reasons for taking a lesson.

Not doing so means we could have an epic fail hour, half day, day session Unlike school teachers with a set curriculum, our guests come for many reasons, and spend ridiculous amounts.

When I was still new to ski instructing, I had a guest stop my teaching and confess he did not want any lessoning, just company, as he could not keep up with his friends who left him. Had an older gal tell me she just wanted to learn carving, then tell me what I should not tell her what to change as others already had . It turns out she really needed a confidence boostanf some compassion and had the best lesson ever.

We know what the guest needs technically, but if we fail to find out what they actually want, and fail to touch on it, they end up thinking that their expensive lesson sucked. Most don't have a preset focus though.

Many group lessons have 5 different goals for 5 different students and we try to give each student their individualized time while tying it back to everyone's needs. Not easy, but important for them and their satisfaction at the end of the day.

As long as safety is addressed there truly is no singular end goal we are teaching to, like there would likely be for a flight instructor, scuba dive master with tests at the end of each class segment.

 

[Djburrito]

@Djburrito, are you ready to go into the bumps now on your own and work on the things he had you working on?

Can you describe what you worked on?
--Was it where to aim your skis, between the bumps, on top of the next bump, on the shoulder of a bump, or wherever?
--Was it how to start a turn, doing something with the new inside ski or leg, or the new outside ski or leg, or both skis/legs?
--Was it doing pivot slips up and over the bumps?
--Was it going across the bumps, absorbing them, then turning, then coming back across the bumps absorbing them, then turning, repeating that kind of line?
--Of was it something else he had you focus on?

I'm curious. I think it's important to know what is the single most important thing to work on from a lesson. Sometimes I think aiming broadly, working on "skiing better," leaves a skier confused.

Great questions! It was really all of the above.
- Initially, we worked on slowing my turns down. I tend to really rip down the groomers which is obviously not great for bumps, so he wanted me to focus on my patience, which I have none of, and breathing while making shorter, more controlled turns.
- After that, we went to a bumps section of a trail and we talked about how to approach the bump and where to plant my poles, but he said that he wanted me to aim wherever felt most comfortable for that turn as linking bumps wasn't a priority. As we got further into the lesson, we worked more on aiming the skis between the bumps and on the shoulders and then using them to slow down/stop.
- We worked on pedaling the legs around the bumps because my downhill leg was always completely straight which put me in the backseat and caused a lot of balance issues. We also worked a lot on keeping my trunk parallel to my shins and shoulders facing downhill while in the bumps.
- We did the pivot slips on groomers
- Yes, that was exactly how he had me going through the bumps. Absorbing them was a problem because of my stiff downhill leg. Not sure why I'm doing that!
- The only other thing he wanted me to focus on was loosening up. I tend to get really stiff when I'm nervous/trying something new, but I think that'll come with more practice.

I know what you mean, as he was giving me pointers I was thinking of all of the things I had to do for each turn and felt like my head was swimming. He made a point to mention that the one thing I really need to focus on is shoulders staying pointed downhill and keeping my weight in the tongues of my boots.

After the lesson I did a couple more runs in the bumps by myself and I'm going out again this afternoon so hopefully I have the same confidence I had on Monday!

 

[brooksnow]

Thank you for the great detailed report, @Djburrito. Sounds like a very successful lesson.

 

[liquidfeet]

^^ What @brooksnow said!

 

[liquidfeet]

One thing we can do with a student is direct their attention to their SMIM ... their personal Single Most Important Movement to learn. That focus will be different for each student, and it changes for that student as their skiing improves.

Ski instructors realize real quick that a student can consciously focus only on one thing at a time.

But sometimes that one thing needs the support of other movements that tend to disappear under duress. So then the student has two focusssses to pay attention to. In my personal skiing I usually have three. But like everyone else, I can only focus on one, consciously, at a time. So I rotate through.

It sounds like you, @Djburrito (great user name!), have a few to rotate through, and that your instructor identified them for you in that very good lesson.

 

[MissySki]

One thing we can do with a student is direct their attention to their SMIM ... their personal Single Most Important Movement to learn. That focus will be different for each student, and it changes for that student as their skiing improves.

Ski instructors realize real quick that a student can consciously focus only on one thing at a time.

But sometimes that one thing needs the support of other movements that tend to disappear under duress. So then the student has two focusssses to pay attention to. In my personal skiing I usually have three. But like everyone else, I can only focus on one, consciously, at a time. So I rotate through.

It sounds like you, @Djburrito (great user name!), have a few to rotate through, and that your instructor identified them for you in that very good lesson.

That's what I try and do as well. I have several things I know I'm supposed to be working on in bumps this season, but it is so darn hard to focus on all of them at any given time. So when I'm on my own I try to pick one to work on and will rotate through if that's going well. Sometimes one thing just is not happening on a certain run and then I'm stop to regroup and decide if one of my other focuses is a better one for where I am. A big one for me has been to look ahead several turns. I 100% have been told this for years, but it's starting to actually click more this season and I notice a difference. I'm still not really good at it, but I'm able to incorporate it more and more and it is indeed incredibly helpful. When I'm working on something in my skiing in the bumps though it's harder to also focus on my planned path.

This weekend there is a "Moderate" stumps and bumps group in my program. I'm planning to likely do that to get some more focused attention in moderate terrain as I've been in the "All Mountain" group that goes mostly to the hardest ungroomed terrain available for the last few weeks. That's been great and I've been enjoying it, but now that there is a middle ground bumps option I know I could benefit from that for sure. I'll be able to discuss with the instructor and see where he thinks I'd benefit from most with the options this week ahead of time as he did the all mountain a couple of weeks ago that I was in.

@Djburrito I second the username compliment, love it!

 

[snoWYmonkey]

@Djburrito Any chance you were taught long leg short leg in your carved turns? I only wonder because you are asking why that outside leg is so braced.

While short leg, long leg, conceptually works wonders for some skiers, I can attest first hand to ending up with catastrophic results in my overall skiing when I try to apply it (only one colleague ever suggested it, so it may not have been something I needed, but figured why not try it since so many students have been taught it). Personally, the leg gets longer naturally because of the terrain, but even so, I think of having some knee flex on the outside ski going into the new turn as it will soon become the shorter more flexed knee/leg anyway.

For hip on the snow carved turns, I think more about really flexing my inside knee, so that I am sure to have some flex on the outside ski leg throughout the turn.

Just one though among many.

 

[liquidfeet]

^^ Yes! I second all that stuff up there. I envy your terrain options, @snoWYmonkey. Nice photo with your user name.

For carved turns, I use these two mantras. My hip is yet to touch the snow, however.
--Knee to armpit.
--Short leg, shorter leg.

 

[Djburrito]

@Djburrito Any chance you were taught long leg short leg in your carved turns? I only wonder because you are asking why that outside leg is so braced.

While short leg, long leg, conceptually works wonders for some skiers, I can attest first hand to ending up with catastrophic results in my overall skiing when I try to apply it (only one colleague ever suggested it, so it may not have been something I needed, but figured why not try it since so many students have been taught it). Personally, the leg gets longer naturally because of the terrain, but even so, I think of having some knee flex on the outside ski going into the new turn as it will soon become the shorter more flexed knee/leg anyway.

For hip on the snow carved turns, I think more about really flexing my inside knee, so that I am sure to have some flex on the outside ski leg throughout the turn.

Just one though among many.

Yes that's exactly what I was taught, like pedaling a bike.
@liquidfeet short leg, shorter leg makes a lot of sense, even when thinking about pedaling a bike. Unless I'm resting my legs I never full straighten the leg so why am I when I ski the bumps?? Seems like I never fully straighten on groomers but that movement is more natural to me now.

@liquidfeet @MissySki thanks for the username shoutout! It's a childhood nickname that still makes me giggle when I see it lol

 

[Iwannaski]

Sometimes I think aiming broadly, working on "skiing better," leaves a skier confused.

YES!!! As a learner, I need 1-3 things to think about.

Any more, and it all feels broken. And that’s not fun! And isn’t the point: FUN!!!!?

 

[Pequenita]

Hi, my name is Pequenita, and I brace an outside leg.

Only one leg/turn, and it drives. Me. Nuts. And throws me so far in the back seat on challenging terrain that I am going to injure myself if I can’t sort this out. I can’t figure out whether I’m bracing because of something not happening early enough in the turn or if it’s merely a bad habit I learned and can’t get rid of. Anyway, if you want to form a Bracers Anon group, sign me up.

 

[seastraight]

I like that idea of keeping notes on your phone. I have always taken notes after a class 'back at the lodge', but over the years they have gotten filed somewhere or more likely lost. If they were on my phone, I could review them on a break from the slopes, go out and practice, and get a review lesson for free!

 

[Djburrito]

Hi, my name is Pequenita, and I brace an outside leg.

Only one leg/turn, and it drives. Me. Nuts. And throws me so far in the back seat on challenging terrain that I am going to injure myself if I can’t sort this out. I can’t figure out whether I’m bracing because of something not happening early enough in the turn or if it’s merely a bad habit I learned and can’t get rid of. Anyway, if you want to form a Bracers Anon group, sign me up.

I'm in! Now that I've had a couple weeks practicing bumps I'm noticing that my outer left calf is killing me and I'm wondering what the heck is going on. I've had a few pretty bad high ankle sprains and strains on that leg in the last 3 years thanks to trail running and I can't tell if this is a boot bruising situation or something that's aggravating that tendon/muscle.