by dan.boisvert » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:28 pm
Hi Jim,
I'm really impressed with the energy you're putting into your son's skiing. I spent most of this season skiing at Waterville Valley and watching their academy kids rip it up. Many of those youngsters have amazing quality in their skiing, and I was fortunate to ski a bunch with a PMTS coach who spends most of his time working with them. After seeing enough 10 year olds who looked like short WC racers, I started asking about how they get those kids to ski like that. Amongst the points he made was that, when they're of pre-academy age, one of the most important things he does is work on mom or dad's skiing, because kids learn like sponges and are incredible mimics. Until they're in an a structured program, the person they're skiing with most is mom or dad, and as you've noticed with your son, they'll do what they see you doing, even if you tell them to do something else.
In that vein, there are coaches who use that approach out there, and they definitely work with kids of pre-academy age who show the potential to be very good skiers. I don't know anything about your area, but if there are ski academies around, Harald might know somebody who you could work with on a more frequent basis to supplement camps and book/video instruction.
The Essentials book is great, and I find myself using it a lot. It's one of those books you can repeatedly re-read and notice a word or two you didn't notice last time that answers a question you've been thinking about. The DVD's are the way to go for learning the drills by yourself, though; there's no substitute for seeing them performed correctly. Lastly and as you'd expect, in-person coaching helps tons, and everything you learn is stuff you can use to help your son, so you might want to look at options for yourself for camps and such, as well.
Cheers,
Dan