Extreme Teaching Tactics & Skills

BY TYLER BARNES PSIA-NW TECHNICAL TEAM

Everything these days is so extreme: the x games, x-terra, xbox, “Extreme Makeover”. Extreme is so extreme that it has become “unextreme.” Let’s tap into the absurdly overused concept to see how we can use it to refine skill development and improve the content of your everyday lesson.

We’ll start with rotary movements from the instructor’s perspective. The visual cues of efficient movement patterns as they relate to rotary skills in skiing include, “legs turn more than upper body, turning movements originate in the feet and legs, the upper body is stable and quiet.” As snowsports instructors, we are acutely aware of the subtle differences in effective and ineffective movements, after all we are trained professionals. However, the average lesson participant does not usually have the same level of acuteness, so by exploring the “extremes”, students can begin to develop their own awareness.

Let’s delve into the “stable and quiet upper body.” As a snowsports instructor, you can present this concept by having students visualize a “quiet body”, akin to sneaking up on a friend or tiptoeing. On the flip side, you may have students visualize having a “loud body” by referring to the cheering at a sporting event.

Now, explore and apply the differences in your lesson, so the concepts are abundantly clear to your students. Make a run with your class with a “loud upper body.” Go crazy. Use your whole upper body to fling yourself into your turns. Try it on the flats, on the groomed, in the steeps – push the envelope of ridiculousness by rotating your shoulders more than your feet and legs, with a full run of variety and enthusiasm being unstable and “loud” with your shoulders, head, torso and arms. Yell if you want.

This will make for a great warm up and engage all your students in the learning process and to participate at their own creative level. I can see the whole group popping, rotating, exploring the ins and outs of radical arm movements, laughing at themselves and others to see who can be the most “extreme” making their way down the hill. You can apply this fun tactic with many different age groups, disciplines and even with a clinic of stuffy snowsports instructors!

OK, now that they’ve experienced some inefficient movements related to rotary skills with a “loud upper body”, let’s have them feel the difference and try “tip toeing” with the quietest, smoothest upper body they can possibly achieve, focusing on all of the turning movements originating in the feet and legs, while keeping the head and shoulders mostly facing downhill. If possible, seek out terrain with a light cover of fresh snow so even the sound of snow sliding is quiet. By introducing the opposite first, the desired “quiet upper body” can be visualized and felt by each student without a lot of feedback from the instructor. The students have now “experienced” the two extremes. What a hoot!

Now, as an instructor applying the teaching model, you can interject some creative comparisons at activity closure. “Wow. That was a lot of fun, but also tiring flinging our bodies around to make turns. We were much quicker and smoother with our turns when we concentrated on sneaking up on the next turn and we didn’t get tired as quickly. When you’re skiing on your own later or with your parents, try to see how silent your turns can be.” This example targets kids, but obviously you can adapt the feedback to any given age group. By reinforcing the “experiential side” of the exercise, comparing the two extremes provides a reminder to the tangible effects of being loud and being quiet.

So, from the instructor’s lesson planning perspective, having provided the experience of the extreme end of inefficient rotary movements allowed your students to “see and feel” the differences as they related to the extreme opposite; desirable or efficient rotary movements. And by doing so, you have created a learning partnership where the student “buys into” the concepts by testing their validity first hand.

Extreme inefficient rotary movements are fairly easy to identify, but when you delve into some of the more subtle skills like edging, where high or dare I say extreme edge angles are viewed as a positive component to good skiing and riding, it takes a bit more effort to find the “sweet spot” between too much edge and not enough.

Consider the efficiencies of edge control movements where, “the tool tips on edge early in a turn and edge release and engagement is one smooth movement.” One may be able to get on edge early in a turn, but how much is appropriate? Release and engagement of the skis’ edges in a smooth movement is possible, especially when we focus as a visual cue on simultaneous as opposed to sequential movements, but what about adding “progressive” between smooth and movement?

Using the method of extremes as they relate to edging is then especially useful. Modern skis and snowboards are carving machines. All you need to do is get them on edge and push. Finding just the right amount of edging through a progressive increase and decrease through the phases of a turn can sometimes be elusive. Using the extreme method can really enhance your kinesthetic awareness of how much is enough or not quite enough. Make a full run with little or no edging where the turns might be closer to a series of linked sideslips. Be sure to explore a variety of terrain and snow conditions while using this technique. On the next run, take a full run to explore “extreme” edge angles that might be appropriate in some terrain, turn shapes and maneuvers, but clearly not appropriate in other terrain, turn shapes or maneuvers.

This can be directly related to teaching even beginners where too much edge inhibits steering and guiding the skis or snowboard between turns. Having explored both ends of the edging skills spectrum will help find that “sweet spot” or an appropriate amount of edging for a given slope, turn shape or maneuver.

In the case of “extreme edging” compared to “loud upper body”, there is a noticeable difference between the two, where the ideal “quiet upper body” is very close to one end of the extreme scale. In the case of edging, there is a range between the “extremes” that will be ideal depending on the circumstances.

Going to “extremes” is a fun and useful way to explore all the different skills and how they relate to efficient and inefficient movements in snowsports. There are numerous exciting and engaging ways to focus on the “extremes” of the other skills that could be applied to a wide variety of proficiency levels and groups. Simply going to the extremes of any given skill will help students experience both ends of the extreme spectrum which can be especially useful when students in a given class are on opposite ends of that spectrum.

So in your next lesson, try taking it to the “extremes”. It will give your otherwise same-old same-old lesson some flare and will enhance your student’s own understanding of the skills they have and how they can improve.