precisionchiro wrote:I'd like to start putting together and structuring some training plans. I'm not sure which age group(s) I'll be working with on the team, I'm assuming U10 - U16 mostly.
Max_501 wrote:I don't think I could put together a plan without knowing age and skill level. Kids get bored easily so starting with Page 1 of Book 1 would be a challenge (even though its probably the best place to start in the majority of cases), especially if they are already running gates.
precisionchiro wrote:I've never been to a PMTS camp or event, (hope to make it one day) and I imagine all of Harald's events are structured nicely to model and transfer into a youth race program.
Max_501 wrote:We had about 15 people in the camp. The first day we spent some time skiing together and then Harald and Diana had a pow wow to decide how to split up the group. The lucky folks got to work with Diana. The rest of us got stuck with Harald. Each morning we met at 7:30am in front of the lifts to get our tickets. Then we free skied for 30-60mins while HH and Diana got the course ready. This was great because the snow was perfectly groomed first thing every morning. If you were really lucky Diana chose you to ski a bag or two of salt over to Harald to put on the course. Then we hooked up with our coaches and got serious about improving our skiing. At various times throughout the day someone would be shooting video which we watched shortly after the lifts closed at 1:30pm.
In Harald's group we focused on creating a short radius turn without the use of any steering or rotation. It was ok for the turn to be a brushed carve but not ok for the tails to displace more than the tips.
Typically we were running laps off of the Palmer lift. Our brushy course was setup towards the bottom of that so we?d ride up, work on stuff all the way down to the course and then run the course.
Things we worked on:
Counter (Counter Acting and Counter Balance)
We learned to use progressive counter in our turns and that counter is dynamic and changes as the forces of the turn change (counter is not a position). We learned that you need counter as soon as you come out of the float and begin to tip into the new turn. We did a few different drills that helped create counter. One drill was to touch your outside boot with your outside hand while keeping your inside hand up and forward. I'm sure there was another that I'm spacing...The funniest one was using the hipometer. You take your poles and place them lengthwise so that one is across the front of your pelvis and the other across the back of your pelvis. Then you hook them together with your pole straps. What you end up with is your poles in a rectangle sitting on your hips with the tips and handles pointing out to your left and right sides. Now its easier to see when you counter rotate and counter balance. First drill was to ski in a counter rotated position. The next step was to add in counter balance by pushing down on the outside poles. The advanced version had us all skiing with counter by pushing down and back on the outside of our hipometer with our outside hand while keeping our inside hand in a strong position by lightly resting on inside of our hipometer. There was also one or two of the hoola hoop devices running around. I didn?t try one but I watched Jay doing it and its seems like a great learning tool (plus everyone looks at you like you are nuts and that?s always fun).
Flex, Flex, and More Flex to Release a Turn
We focused on eliminating any sign of an up move during the release. We did this by concentrating on pulling our legs up to our chest (flexing). A drill we used was to make a turn and then flex down to make the new turn (this is done with a big bending of the knees rather than a bending over at the waist). No up movement at all. The ridge is also a great tool for learning how to manage flex. If you can turn back and forth across the ridge without getting any air then you know you are flexing.
Patience During Release and High C Engagement of the Edges
We focused on eliminating the habit of rushing to the new outside edge. This is done by staying flexed longer and actually tipping while still flexed so that you enter the new turn with flexed legs. The drill was to stay in a flexed position while going from turn to turn.
Gradual Extension of the Outside Leg
This is the second part of being patient. Rather than an instant extension of the outside leg we learned to extend it gradually through the top of the turn so that it was extended by 3 o'clock (with 12 o'clock uphill and 6 o'clock downhill). We worked on this by adding gradual outside leg extension to the previous flex drill.
Inside Leg Retraction and Outside Leg Extension for Bigger Angles
To get the bigger angles the inside foot has to be moved up so the outside foot has room to tip into the turn (if you keep your feet too close one boot will bump into the other as you tip). We focused on creating vertical separation. The drill was to start with the feet in a wider stance. We then pointed our skis down and across the hill while extending the outside leg and retracting the inside leg with lots of tipping. The idea is to tip enough so that you end up with the outside and inside legs very close to each other but with plenty of vertical distance between the boots. This bends the outside ski which brings you right back up the hill. As we finished the arc of the turn we relaxed the outside leg and found that it comes right back to the inside leg. The next part of the drill was to link turns by using the flex to release movement.
Pressure Management
The general idea is that you learn to manage the pressure you get from the snow. Where do you feel the pressure? The ball of your foot? The heel? Is it moving throughout the turn? This is a more advanced topic and I'm not sure I can describe it. I'm sure Jay or HH can give us a good run down though.
Short Turns
We applied everything we were working on to shorter and shorter turns. We worked on tightening the radius of the turn without using any steering or rotating into the turn. We worked on very fast edge changes. HH and Diana set up a course of brushies (soft plastic bristles set into a piece of plastic that is placed into the snow so that they bristles point up and out of the snow). The goal was to run the course and make turns around the brushies by using our edges (no steering). I found this to be very challenging. Running a straight line of brushies (called a flush) was so much fun. The first time I just figured there wasn't a chance in heck that I could do it because I've never made such fast edge changes. But our coaches had us all doing it by the end of the camp.
The Line
We spent some time talking about finding and skiing the best line through a slalom course. The idea was to get yourself positioned so that you carved from turn to turn without needing to use any steering. HH and Diana were very good at this.
The End Result
My short turn improved alot. Something I can use all over the mountain! As an example, Jay and I took what we were working on into the bumps. Its amazing how easy it was to ski the bumps after focusing on short turns with a big flex to release. It was just a natural use of what we were already doing.
Coaching by Harald and Diana
Their ability to teach in a straight foward easy to understand manner is truly exceptional. Their ability to analyze movements both on the slopes and later during video analysis sessions is stunning. With each run you get immediate feedback about what you are doing (good and bad). And if you are in need of alignment they are watching that all the time and working with you to correct it.
SkiMoose wrote:I have some perspective coming from the opposite side of things. This year is my first year in ski racing, and one of the main problems with USSA coaching (at least from what I have seen) is having kids ski terrain that is too steep, and run courses that are set too hard without proper fundamentals. Without developing strong tipping, flexing and upperbody movements on the flat, moving onto steeper terrain is useless, and only causes kids to develop worse habits. As a PMTS skier this is incredibly frustrating. In my opinion, setting simple courses with brushes or stubbies on easy terrain, then progressively increasing the difficulty of the courses as the kid's skiing develops is the best option. Good luck, the racers you teach are very lucky!
precisionchiro wrote:You know.... I get this funny feeling that I'm going to get at least 1 or 2 PITA parents, know-it-alls who will be out on the hill (stalking), monopolizing my time at the end of sessions, sending me numerous emails about the progress of their little angel Future World Cup Champion. I already saw a few of them at the first parent's meeting a couple of months ago.
Max_501 wrote:
What level PSIA instructor are you? Do you look like an ex-racer when you ski?
Race parents often want to know the following: What's your direct racing experience? What certifications do you have for instruction? What camps have you attended?
Those are all reasonable questions for a race parent to ask because racing is expensive in terms of time and dollars. If I was in your shoes I'd be working on a mission statement of sorts, something that explains to the kids and parents why you are the right person to help them become better racers. If you don't have previous race coaching experience expect resistance from the parents and kids. Put yourself in their shoes, would you spend your time and money on a "coach" that wasn't certified in the system they are teaching?
precisionchiro wrote:I was referring to the know-it-all parent. The one who doesn't know what they don't know... who teaches their child different and often contradictory/undermining things than the coach does, and expects you to reinforce it and use it in your lessons. Who teaches their child to steer that outside big toe and swing the pole to the ski tip to extend up and get their body forward, and keep their hands way up and way out front for proper balance... because that's what they did it in college, and the Canadian ski instructor on YouTube does it the same way too.
Max_501 wrote:That describes me well, although I was telling my kids to ignore the coaches that told them extend to release, lead with the knees, and other non-PMTS stuff they were being taught as racers. I wasn't popular with the coaches but my kids were improving at a remarkable rate so there were racers and parents asking us about our methods. One thing that worked remarkably well was watching my kids running gates and then sending them a SMIM text to view on the next chair up. It got to a point where'd they'd text me if I didn't send them a SMIM message before they got on the chair.
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