Skip to main content

My beginner lesson - Part 2

This is the beginner progression I wrote to help my new instructor candidates. I welcome feedback on it. Here are my sources and additional resources.

After the boot excercises it's time to put on a ski.  It's up to you to allow guests to choose a ski or tell them which ski to put on.  Given a choice most will choose their dominat foot, so give plently of practice time when you go to the week foot.

One ski
Goal: Help guests become comfortable on a single ski and introduce balancing and rotary movements.
Terrain: Flat
Estimated Time: 10 -15 minutes

Suggested activities:
• The name game – Practice naming the parts of the ski.
• Practice putting the ski on and taking it off
• Gliding on one foot, scooters
• Follow the leader
• Red light/Green light
• Push against the poles - On opposite edges, place one pole near the tip and the other pole near the tail. Then turn the skis to push against the poles. This gives the guests the feeling of creating turning force with the feet and legs.
• Figure 8s
    1. Keep ski on the snow
    2. Change sizes (large to small)
    3. Focus on maintaining contact between shins and boot cuffs

Coaching Points:
• Keep hips centered over the feet.
• Maintain shin contact with the boot tongues.
• The ski should be flat, if the ski is on-edge it will be more difficult to steer.

Comments

  1. Good tips! It also helps to use Lightweight Ski Poles. Read more at http://www.sightseeingreview.com/lightestskipoles.php

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning Styles – Doers, Feelers, Thinkers, Watchers

A learning style is the way a person’s sensory, perceptual, memorial, decision-making, and feedback mechanisms operate. Or more simply, the preferred technique to approach learning. Some students have a dominant style and others are comfortable in more than one. PSIA references different theories on learning styles, this is a classic one. Doers Values active experimentation Pragmatic, practical, functional Good problem solvers, work well with others Constantly active, doesn’t like being idle and gets frustrated with too much talking Learn by experimenting, trial and error Instructor should provide experiences that will guide the child Experiential learning is an effective method for all students

Ages 7 to 12 – CAP

Cognitive I do best with one direction at a time I need to know “why” I’m asked to do certain things I will ask questions I can learn in a variety of ways I like process more than the goals I like to be challenged and successful I can describe and explain I will remember the highlights of my day Characteristics ---  Instructor Responses Can separate reality from imagination > Avoid the use of fantasy; it makes them feel that you are treating them like babies Can understand things they can’t see --- Use hypotheticals (what ifs) to introduce cause and effect and explain why something worked or didn’t work May overestimate their abilities (I can do anything!) --- Keep them reined in to avoid unsafe situations or setbacks Affective I want ownership in my day and can work independently I compare my achievements to those of my peers I want to have fun and like to play games I like to be responsible for my learning I like to know when I’ve...

Getting ready to get into the bumps

I love teaching bumps. I’m a recovering bump-a-phobe. Learning lots of tactics and tricks really helped me love them. I like to think I can help someone make a similar breakthrough. This post has general ideas on teaching bumps. But I’d like to talk about how I develop tactics and skills before I take someone in there. My mom’s family is from New York and they love their bagels with a heaping mass of cream cheese. A cheese knife, spreader or what we call a “schmearer” is a key piece of equipment. The flat blade easily spreads cream cheese or peanut butter. I like to ski bumps like I use a schmearer by standing tall and keeping the edge angle low. This makes it easier for my legs to steer my skis and create nice “C” shaped turns. Standing tall gives us the added bonus of lots of room to flex and extend later. You can pair students up and ask the follower to watch the tips. Are the tips leading the tails? Are the tips pointing across the hill before they change direction? Once...