Diva Ski Tips

By Diva and Diva2 (Debbie and Kerry) Movement analysis is a process, and not something we can cover in one blog post. In fact, it’s not something you can learn from reading or watching videos either. Both of those should be part of your learning—you need to understand the fundamental movements and what they look like before you can start to identify them on snow. But to get you started on what you should be looking for, here are some questions to ask when you are looking at a skier:  What are the skis doing? Do the skis leave a round arc in the snow?   Is the pivot point under foot, at tip, or at tail of ski? Do the skis stay same distance apart? Do the skis grip snow or slip across snow? (Carved or skidded?) Are the skis on snow or off? (Catching air?) Do the skis move simultaneously or sequentially? Where is the snow spray coming from, front of ski, boot, or back of ski? Where in the turn do you see snow sprayed Are the edges engag...

UPDATE: October, 2015: This has been updated with new links, programs, and information. Please let us know if you have other references, we promise to update again before 2020! - Kerry (Diva2) Last year when I was preparing for my L3 Part 1 Skiing exam, the Dev Team Diva turned me on to these great task descriptions developed by Bob Barnes for the PSIA Rocky Mountain Division (the Pocket Summaries listed under "Skiing" below). (Kerry's edit: Those pocket summaries are not on the PSIA-RM site anymore. But I think what you're looking for is in the Skiing IDP linked below.) In my search for them online, I discovered lots of other valuable ski teaching resources tucked away on various PSIA divisional Web sites. So I printed them out, organized them into categories, and stuck them in a binder. The binder became an invaluable resource in discussions with my good friend and ski coach as I helped him to prepare for his Dev Team tryout and he coached me to success in my ski...

I'm not a feeler. So what.  I said this for a long time myself.   And I didn't get much better at skiing. I'm not a feeler, but I seek intrinsic feedback and sensation to ski (hopefully) better. Just because they are hard to gather, doesn't mean we should leave sensations alone.   What makes a turn "feel" good? I've spent some time asking instructors and students what they feel this year. I believe that we all feel, but to effectively coach (and self-coach), it's essential to identify where our primary sensations arise and train ourselves to recognize those and other sensations. Foot feelings: where weight is on the foot along the sole and notice lateral pressure.  sense changes in where the pressure is throughout the turn.  notice when footbeds are old or socks thicker than usual. Leg feelings:  getting to the 'corner of the boot' and actually know what it means. lighter and firmer pressure against the tongue of the boot.  no...

Intermountain My thanks to the folks at the Intermountain division for these resources. Also, thanks for a killer steeps clinic at Jackson Hole last year. Professional Knowledge and Glossary This is 55 pages of good stuff from teaching concepts to a technical glossary. Level I Workbook This workbook and study guide helps provide a framework for your level I prep and quizzes to check progress. Rocky Mountain Teaching the Aging Population Managing Splits & the Family Private “How” to Communicate with Success Women are Different Alpine Instructor Training Course Another workbook for new instructors and aspiring level 1s Level 3 Exam Teaching Tips 3-6 Year Old Educator’s Endorsement Workbook Theory of Multiple Intelligences Sensory and Motor Development Kids Accreditation Workbook Central Level 1 Study Guide A bit dated, but still some good information Level 2 Study Guide A bit dated, but still some good information Level 3 Study Guide A bit d...

During a lesson I noticed a student’s boots were unbuckled and suggested she might want to fix them. She replied, “my instructor told me to ski like this.” I quickly remedied that situation, but it serves as a constant reminder to always bring my lessons back to regular skiing. By the way, they were rear-entry boots. Every lesson has time constraints and we need to come up with a lesson plan that works within those constraints that includes enough time practice and integration into regular skiing. Let’s say we are working on drills involving lifting the inside ski. As we near the end of the lesson I’ll ask my student to start out lifting the inside ski and then start to do the same turns with both skis on the ground. Then we should take the same feeling and movements into our regular skiing. If the movement starts to break down, don’t hesitate to go back to the drill and work your way into regular skiing. At the end of the lesson, I like to wrap up by reminding my students why...

According to PSIA people learn 10% of what they hear, 40% of what they see and 80% of what they do. So why do instructors spend so much time doing something that doesn’t really stick? Instructors complain frequently about trainers talking too much and then we turn around talk too much to our students. The cycle of too much yakking must cease! I don’t need to know the when, why, how, where and what of the whole lesson at the beginning. Only tell me what I need to know right now. “Try this” is one of the best ways to start a lesson. Then add in the why, pepper in some how and keep the show moving with when. Keep tweaking your script to make it tighter and punchier, especially when you’re teaching something new. If you spend less time rambling, you can spend more time practicing. If you spend less time explaining, you’ll have can spend time giving individual coaching. You can have a more lasting and beneficial effect on your students and give way better customer service. You wil...

Weems wrote a book called "Brilliant Skiing, Everyday" that is free online and very worth a read. In it he provides a boat load of teaching pointers and lays out the Sports Diamond. The parts of the diamond are: Power - Technical, mechanical, technique, movements Purpose - Tactics, results, intentions Touch - Physical, mental and spiritual Will - Commitment, action and choice We tend to focus most on power, but a complete skier needs to be balanced in each corner to succeed.  If you find you're getting stuck in a lesson or in your skiing it's time to move to a different corner of the diamond. I can't describe it as well as Weems, guess you're gonna have to read it for yourself.

This weekend I was doing training with some coaches and we started talking about fear. One of them said they couldn’t imagine anything scaring me. Oh, they were so wrong. I’m recovering bumpaphobe and not ashamed to admit I’ve cried and been near hyperventilating in some nasty steep stuff. This book helped a lot. In The Yikes! Zone: What Skiing Can Teach Us About Surrender and Trust (Hardcover) Knowing a skier of Mermer’s abilty gets scared makes me feel better and it’s why I’m open about my freak outs. Her strategies for working through fear have helped me and my students. I've been lucky enough to ski with some amazing teachers and skiers. Mermer has the best eye of anyone I've ever seen. I’ve modeled my teaching style after her custom approach for each skier. I’ve also got some great NSFW stories about her, just ask me some time.

There are lots of different styles of teaching that can appeal to different learner’s needs and add variety to the lesson. Using one teaching style can become tedious, mix it up. Command You are the main focus of the group while explaining and demonstrating the skill to students for the first time. You explain, demonstrate, execute and evaluate. Benefits Works well with children since setting safety boundaries and controlling the group is important. Works well when introducing a skill for the first time. Task You step back and watch the students performing the activity. You are free to provide feedback and make the sure the students are performing the task correctly. With children boundaries are very important, set clear starting and stopping points. Benefits Stepping back allows you time to watch and give feedback. Effective when developing new skills or working on very specfic movements. Reciprocal You pair students up, with one student as the performer and one as the...

Student centered Outcome based Experiential Learning partnership based Guest service driven From the heart

by Mermer Blakeslee PSIA-E Alpine Exam Guide (Oct. 2009)   Introduction (Goal Setting) Introduce yourself. Open a dialogue with your student so that you create the feeling that learning is easy and fun. Ask questions so you learn about your student and what (s)he wants from you. Watch your student so you can discern his/her skill level (and what (s)he needs the most). Plan what to do to reach an achievable goal, one that satisfies what your student wants and what you can offer.   Body (The Progression) Speak concisely in simple language. Ask, “Am I being clear?” Show clearly what to do. Make sure your student can see you. Point out parts of the body they should look at. Ask, “Could you see that?” Let the student do it. Give necessary logistics (follow you? follow another student? where to stop, etc.). Give Feedback Be specific. Check for reaction. End on a positive note. Repeat or progress to the next step based on your student’s performance and attitude. ...

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

With all teaching styles variety is the key to keeping the lesson interesting Command Instructor takes control of the group and sets boundaries and is the center of attention, providing direction and feedback. The instructor explains, demonstrates, executes pratice and evaluates Works well with children since setting safety boundaries and controlling the group is important Examples Have students ski down one at a time and give feedback Tell students to follow you in a line staying in your tracks Task Similar to command style but allows student to do task on their own Instructor provides the focus or task and sets up practice boundaries With children boundaries are very important, set clear starting and stopping points Examples Ski down to the blue sign and practice you wedge turns all the way Ski down to the orange sign, counting to give during every time Reciprocal Instructor pairs students so they can learn from each other The partners assume the roles of observe...

One of the most common complaints I head from instructors is that they didn’t get any feedback from their trainer. If instructors want feedback, it’s not a stretch to say that students are looking for feedback too. Feedback helps Reinforce positive actions Redirect ineffective movements Keep your student emotionally invested Feedback shouldn’t be judgmental it is imprecise and be taken personally. Get the words good, bad, right and wrong out of your vocabulary. Focus on what you see and how it relates to the student’s intentions. For example: Judgmental feedback: “Those turns looked bad,” “You’re in the backseat” Objective feedback: “Do you feel how your hips drift back during the finish of the turn. It puts you in a difficult position to start the next turn,” “That last turn washed out because you looked uphill” Make sure your feedback is welcome Create an atmosphere of trust by showing respect and empathy Students will be more likely to receive feedback if you ask for p...

A big source of confusion is the difference between tactics and technique. Any good athlete has to have strong technique and the ability to change their tactics to succeed. Technique is spending hours working on your jump shot, golf swing or backhand. It is breaking down the swing in to different movements of the body and perfecting it. If you are doing a drill of focusing on a particular movement of the body, you’re teaching technique. Tactics is making changes on the fly. What club should I use? Should I do a chip shot? What play do we run? In skiing terrain (bumps, steeps), conditions (ice, powder) and tasks (gates, halfpipe) require us to make adjustments to be effective. If you are in the bumps and having students do schmeary/skidded turns, you’re teaching tactics. You can change up your tactics by using DIRT Duration length of time you do something Intensity power or force of the movements Rate speed of the movement itself Timing when you make the movement

Visual learners These students learn best by watching and imitating others. The following guidelines are helpful when teaching visual learners. • Ski well-executed demonstrations that illustrate the point. Be careful not to exaggerate and destroy the picture of good skiing. • Target the students’ attention to a certain part of your body or to particular movements.

• Emotional learning can be a powerful component in creating long-term memory of an event • Each new experience is given value and meaning based on previous experiences • Learning is almost impossible for someone who is scared

Chapter 4: Discovering your Students From Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors PSIA , © 2001 An individual’s learning style is determined by how she or he receives, processes and absorbs information. Learning Process ( figure 2.2, pg. 13) • Readiness – The circumstances surrounding the learning situation (physical, environmental, social, emotional) • Reception – the preferred sensory input mode for the individual learner • Processing – the method of digesting and absorbing information (brain hemisphere dominance) • Reaction – what the individual does with the information Kolb – Perception and Processing Perception • The way a person collects the information to be learned • Big picture learners (“feelers”) > Parts learners (“thinkers”) Processing • How we mentally manipulate information to help us learn it • “Refective observers” (watchers) > “active experimenters” (doers) Type 1 – Innovative Learners – Why? • See the whole first and then the parts ...

Chapter 4: Discovering your Students From Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors PSIA , © 2001 How the Brain Works • Learning begins when specialized nerve cells, called neurons, make connections with other neurons in response to a movement or sensory input • Groups of neurons build pathways that form a sort of map for the body to access information • When we first learn something it goes slowly, as nerve cells are simulated again and again myelin is laid down and it goes more quickly – “practice makes perfect”

Concentric contraction – muscles perform by getting shorter Eccentric contraction – muscles perform while getting longer Isometric contraction – muscles performs while staying the same length (tense up to stabilize)