Diva Ski Tips

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...

Depending on the child’s level of development they may move as a unit or be able to move their legs independent from their upper body. Practice getting small and tall while standing still. See if the kids can stay centered as they move. Skiing bumps is like riding a roller coaster. You want to go up and down without getting out of control or tossed around. Let’s start with the warm-up coaster ( no kiddie coasters please). Find some gentle bumps and traverse. Get small as you get to the top and get tall on the way down. Next it’s time for a big coaster , so let’s go over 2-3 bumps and then turn on the top of the next bumps. Don’t forget to say whee? Get ready, it’s eXtreme coaster time. Turn on top of every bump. Look for bigger bumps to go over. When you go on bigger bumps get small and tall in slow motion.

There are as many different ways to ski bumps as there are different bumps. Here are some tactical and technical ideas to use in your bump lessons. Funnel This is a way to work into the bumps and help students transfer effective movements into the bumps.  Start with medium radius turns and progressively reduce the radius of the turn while maintaining good movements.  On the road Here’s another way to work into the bumps, imagine the trail is a four lane highway.  Start off by making turns in one lane, then practice moving from lane to lane. Schmear it 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.  This tactic uses low edge angles, progressive rotary and an emphasis on a tall stance. Castles You can find the complete description of this kids drill here. Wah Wah...

From Divas Megan Harvey and Katie Fry www.skipresstv.com video Skiing the bumps Pressing on the gas pedal A lot of people get the back seat and accelerate in the bumps. To prevent this, as you come over the top of the bump, press your toes down like your pressing on the gas pedals, pick your heels up slightly towards your but and keep your skis in contact with the snow for better control.