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I’m cold and unfeeling

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This is from a series of posts based on my experiences at the The Hartford Ski Spectacular/PSIA-ASSI Adaptive National Academy in Breckenridge, CO.
 
Here’s a common scenario for me that happened at this event.  We do a drill, ski down to the group and the leader asks “How does that feel?”  So the group responds with all kinds of feelings and sensations and I keep quiet because all I felt was my hands on my but because the leader told me to put my hands on my but.

Creating sensations in a skier is a powerful way to help them learn and self-coach long after you’re gone.   I’m not much of a feeler so I need help to develop sensations.  I also know people who feel everything who have a hard time making sense of it. 

Here are some of the things I do with the unfeeling, over feeling and everyone in between.

Start with sensations
Skiing brings in all sorts of sensations, so when I introduce an activity standing still I try to create some feelings that my student can measure against when there moving.  When I do the drill with zones of the foot we start off with zone 1 and feel the weight on our toes, then over the arch and on the heel. Some time exaggeration will be necessary

Focus the feeling
I like to work on a specific part of the body (foot, ankle, hips, waist, shoulders, back, knees, thigh, etc.. ).  The wider the focus the harder or the unfeeling to connect and the easier for the over-feeling to get distracted.  

Open questions = crazy answers
“How did that feel?”  Will result in crickets chirping or a variety of answers that often have nothing to do with what you’re working on.  It could also result in people not telling you what they feel but what they think the right answer is. 

Asking specific questions will get you more answers that are easier for people to answer and for you to work with.  Questions like: “Was your ankle opening or closing?” “Do you feel one leg getting long?” “Where in the turn?”

Validating feeling
Sometimes our feelings lead us astray (insert sigh here). So we need that good friend to help show us the light.  In touchy-feely exercises I like to pair people up to compare their feelings against the outcomes.

Its critical the watcher knows exactly what to look for and what feedback to give.  For example, I ask the watcher to say what zone of the foot they thought the skier was in during the zones of the foot drill.  Without direction the watcher could get overwhelmed  or feel uncomfortable giving feedback.  You could also have or a know-it-all watcher giving feedback that has nothing to do with the drill.
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