by Erik » Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:16 am
I was fortunate enough to have Geoff as a Coach in the last part of the Blue/Dark Blue Camp this week. The skiing that Geoff posted in this thread does not do full justice to his overall skiing. The videos that are taken in the PMTS camps are almost always done not as "free skiing" but to demonstrate a particular focus area that the skier has been working on. Geoff fit right in when he was skiing alongside Jay and Bob at full speed with the unique rhythm, grace, and style of PMTS skiing.
Geoff has everything it takes to be a great PMTS coach. He had a tough act to follow because Diana was our coach for the first part of camp, but he was up to the task and did a fantastic job. The skiers in our group were very diverse in PMTS experience and SMIM, so I had a chance to see his versatility and range of coaching skills. Geoff was very interactive with each skier and laid out a series of drills that the entire group executed, but tailored for the particular needs of each camper. He gave clear demonstrations of each of these unique tailored drills for each camper, with immediate feedback for improvement. Geoff not only has a keen eye for the video MA, as we have seen on the forum, he can do it in real time at full speed. The group had the opportunity to enjoy Geoff's great explanations on the impact of various movements (good and bad) on ski performance, and he always had specific directions for the skier to take the next step for their individual focus area. Geoff's passion for skiing is clear, but he also did a great job in supporting each skier as we had our own roadblocks and individual failures in executing the program. Geoff helped each skier find alternate ways of achieving improvements in their SMIM if they were running into frustration or confusion.
While it is fun to watch expert PMTS skiers develop great angles in full, dynamic turns, I was just as impressed with seeing how expertly Geoff executed the drills and demonstrations on very flat terrain, including variations of these drills. It was obvious that Geoff has invested a lot of time in performing and perfecting these movements on the flats. In every case where I had problems with balance or saw a difference in my turns to the right or left on the flat terrain, those differences correlated exactly with my performance on steeper pitches. Every skier in my group benefitted from the time we spent on gentle slopes this week. The camp this week has renewed my dedication to use the flatter terrain for focused practice on the elements I want to work on while skiing on steeper slopes.
Thanks for a great camp, Geoff! I got a lot out of it and I know that many future PMTS skiers will enjoy your illustrious career as a PMTS coach.
Erik