Have a Gameplan!

[jbotti]

This time of year brings with it a sense of unbridled excitement, knowing that being on snow is not that far away (and A-Basin is already open, so some of us are already skiing).

I am several weeks away from getting on snow, but I find this to be a great time to read my notes from lessons over the last several seasons. I just read through 3 sets of notes this morning and immediately everything I have been working on came back to me. I also went and re-read several threads in the forum that I know are relevant to what I have been working on. Amazingly helpful.

In years past, I would just go out and ski and start to focus on technique several days into the season. In reality I was re-ingraining movements that I working very hard to undue in the previous season. My goal now is to return to my highest level of skiing from the previous year, as soon as possible in the new year.

For sure there is a getting re-acquainted with snow and skiing which involves the basic checklist of PMTS essentials and checking for them and then noticing that they are in place, and then slowly taking more risk, going for higher edge angles and ultimately returning to the same level of skiing I was capable of at last seasons end. But without reviewing my notes and without a game plan and a checklist to start the season, I am pretty much guaranteed to forget some or even much of what my focus was the year before.

The good news is that it’s super easy to do, especially if you take notes from lessons, camps or from your own video work. I will review my materials 3-4x the month before I get on snow and then again every morning from my first week on snow.

For those that will be starting the season by attending an HSS camp, doing some sort of review from last year will allow you to not have to go back and work on movements that you made progress with last year and you might be capable of taking your skiing to a new level in the first day or two of the camp.

Anyway, everything I am saying is simple and obvious, but it’s amazing how many people neglect to do this, and it makes such a difference!

Here’s to a new ski season, to skiing at higher levels and to the unbridled joy of skiing again!

[tigernbr]

Great advice! For me, I am adding 2 of the videos from HSS I feel cover what I need to work on this season, Balance on the Downhill Ski, and Transfer Balance to the Uphill Ski. I'm also reviewing my videos from past camps and identifying the things that need work.