Bag of Tricks -- what are the staples? - Page 3

What's a manual transmission? and what's a clutch?

Just kidding. It is a great analogy,  but think about it! Since I do security work in addition to all the other things I dabble in, one of the jokes among the alarm guys is "Manual Transmission, One of the best Theft prevention devices you can own"

As generations get older, manual transmissions slowly fade into the past. High performance driving now involves paddle shifters and no "clutch" to press on.

And back to our normally scheduled discussion..

Quote:

Originally Posted by skinerd 

For some reason I started writing down drills and exercises that I was using for specific skill development. I think because I thought would it help me retain more of my bag of tricks... The problem is I started inventing things and made up names for them... now I can't even remember what they all are!

 

Tobin’s Tool Box

Stance & Balance	Pivoting	Edging	Pressure Control	Timing & Coordination
Hands on Knees Hops Hop Variations (Tips Down) (Tails Down) (Multi-Hops) Pole Dragging Poles all Over Hands All Over (Behind knees) (Out In Front) (Behind Butt) One Ski Hip Box Double Pole Plants Foot Shuffle (Independent Foot Shuffle) Punch In Gut (Pole) Core Push Ball Kick Foot Push Arc Feelers Boots Undone Jumps & Bumps On Snow 360’s Back Pedal Bumps Hockey Stops Eyes Closed Extreme Exaggerations Side Slips Switch Skiing Inside Tip Down (Up) Phantom Move Telemark Turns Spece Dolphin Turns Boot Skiing Log Flexes Inside/Outside Ski Falling Leaf Pole Punch Dwarf Turns Wheely Turns Rodeo Retractions Line Plant Switch Nollies 2X6 Squats Poles Tied Legs Tied Glove/Ball in Legs Commitment Dives Traverses Boot Ski Toilet Sit Beer Tray Poles Balanced on Wrists Super slinkys vs pops Free tactics	Braquage Nude Neighbors Hockey Stops Poles On Outside Knee Poles Down the Hill Spece Javelyn Turns / Traverses Jaberwalkies Hippy Poles (w/ Hands pushes) Poles Behind Butt & Back Hands on Hips Corridor Backwards Skate Stem Christies Chair/Bar Sits Partner Drag Texas Two Step Clock Face Tuck Turns Up Hill Turns Gorilla Turns Inside Ski Pivot 1000 Turns Children’s Spece Cigarette Butt Pill Bottle John Travolta Turns Cat & Mouse Canoe paddle Super pivots to carve Hockey Stick Point the Knees Norwegian Pole Plants Tip Lead Ski The hump Phantom Turns Telemark Chair Pivots Poles Tied Red Light, Green Phantom Plants Inside Ski Pivots Free tactics Snow Boot Arcs Lay on Back leg turns	Pole Tilts Touch-A- Boot Roller Blade turns (Traverses) Outside/Inside Ski Pole Tilts Hand(s)/Hip Touch Inside Euro-Carves Pole Dragging Side Slip Races Air Plane Turns White Pass Turns Pairs Traverse Partner Drag Hockey Stops Spaghetti Legs Backwards Skate Power Plow 1000 Steps Frog Hops Hop to Higher Track Turns Down Hill Skate Hit, Hit, Hit Edge Set Sounds game Hyper Plow Stops Angulation Shapers Tomato Slice Baby To Lift Push Over/ Pull Over Base Ball Bat Pole Swing Phantom Move Sponsor Turns One Ski Down Hill Reaches Beer Cans Ahoy Knee in Arm Pit Red Light, Green NorwegianGroomerGropers Glove Golf Downhill Ski to Boot One Ski Roller Blades Free Tactics OutsideHand InsideHippies Crossed Knee Poles Reverse a pass turn	Avalement Jumps & Bumps Dwarf Turns Double Hops Touch-A-Bump Limbo Poles Hockey Stops Sound Game Egg Shells No Air/Big Air Side Slips/ Falling Leaf Explodo-Bumps Hops turns Dolphin turns (Dolphin Variations) Backpedal Bumps Ski The Hump/Ridge Counting Turns Braquage Edge Releases Powder Bounces Ceiling Turns Bump Traverses Small Tall Super slinky’s vs pops Free Tactics Follow Wider Deflections	Visualization Drill Pole Walking Poles With Feet Pole Strap Plants Syncro Skiing Follow the Leader Counting Turns Plant a Line Pole on the Hole Spece Texas two Step One Ski Corridor Gate Drills Decision Training Hard First Switch Skiing Ski Juggle Traverses Free tactics

This is certainly a great list broken into skill categories.

I tend to divide my favorite tasks into slightly different categories which reflect the skill blend in a different manner.  These are tasks which develop the ability to:

1) improve stance,

2) improve the ability to balance over the inside edge of the outside ski, and

3) improve the ability to turn the feet below a stable upper body

Certainly, we are talking the same skills yet these three headings, I feel, relate directly to palpable goals.  They connects my mind to my feet.

Vail has that great handbook for drills. How many people actually use this on a regular basis? 

I "organize" my ski drills the same I way I organize everything: dump it into a big pile. My 2 cents are that the labeling does not matter. Teach what you know. If you don't know the drill, the category it is in does not matter. If you do know the drill, then you will put in your own category. I've reached the point where my process for choosing a specific drill for a student is mostly subconscious. There are way too many factors to consider to actually think through the process. We probably need to have some sort of organization to help rookie instructors get up to speed. I'm just suggesting any method of organization should get the job done ok.

In TR's post is the idea of transcending the need for lists. That doesn't happen overnight and is exactly what I was trying to express. Newbies are fed lists and encouraged to use them because they lack the experience and knowledge to do what TR does. Same goes for self help lists, their effectiveness is limited by the student's level of experience and understanding. That's why I mentioned knowing a few drills very well and understanding all the ways we can use them effectively is far superior to a superficial understanding of a lot of drills. Here's 10 drills, (not manuevers BTW) that if you can do well and also understand why they work in the first place should help develop the skills needed to perform any ski maneuver.  

Turning the feet (bowtie tracks in the snow)

Walking in circles

Tilting the boots onto their side edges

Tilting forward and back

Straight runs

J-turns

traverses

garlands

side slips

side steps

It's not only about experience, it's about the way you use and retain information. There are lots of instructors/ coaches at the very highest level in all kinds of sports who use lists or similar prompts. Aslo sharing information will inevitably bring new ideas and new emphsases to everyone if they are open to using them either in their teaching or learning. One of the greatest enemies of vitality in life is staleness. It's always interesting and refreshing to pool ideas.

A list helps less experienced teachers like a road map helps you find a place you've never been to before. if you make that trip often enough, you will eventually lose the need for a map.

There was a book written in the seventies by Timothy Galloway, "The Inner Game of Tennis" then shortly after "The Inner Game of Skiing".  In his skiing book he used a method of experimenting with ranges of motion without judgement but to create an awareness of the possibilities and then decide what works best.  While exercises and tasks are great, employing "experimentations" are very conducive to learning and creating body spacial awareness.

examples:

Flexion/extension - Fully extend the body and give this a #1 then flex through the full range of motion and give this fully flexed position a #5.  Then we can ski a series of turns and discuss how much of this range we use, where on the spectrum we use (ie: 1 - 3, 3-5, 3) and then change the range by saying, "since you felt you only skied in the 3-4 range, let's try this time to get to #1 when our skis are pointing down the slope and perhaps #4 at the finish.  Use the face of a clock as reference as to where in the turn we extend and where we flex, discuss duration, intensity, rate, timing of the motion.

Edge angle - 

fore/aft weight shift -

lateral weight shift - 

light/heavy -

square vs. countered -

weight transfer timing - Draw a diagram in the snow of two turns and reference a clock face then experiment, without any discussion of correct or incorrect, with where in the turns the student feels the weight shift occur.  From this inventory we can vary the D.I.R.T. to find what blend works best.

Arcmeister/Roger Kane used a method he called "fool the habit" where he would have the student exaggerate the bad habit then use the opposite end of the spectrum to help create body awareness of how far to one side of the range they actually were (ie: back seat, tipping in, rotating).

This method of non judgmental experimentation creates a great guided discovery student centered learning experience rather than the normal authoritarian command teaching style.

Nolo, render down a maneuver to it's elemental roots (fundamental skills) and you will see that we can only move the ski three ways. Tip it, turn it, or control the pressure across it's area of contact with the snow. These ten drills (not maneuvers like a pivot slip) isolate a particular skill blend that when combined with one or more of the other drills produces outcomes like pivot slips (a maneuver). Sideslips and turning the feet combined will produce pivot slips (braquage). If it is easier, think about those three skill pools as colors. Red blue and yellow are primary colors, green, orange, and purple are secondary colors. By mixing different amounts of the three primary colors we can create a whole spectrum of colors.

I'm sure most here are tired of me mentioning the advantages of knowing a few drills very well but in the end developing and refining the fundamental skills allows us to produce any skills blend and thus any turn, anywhere, and in any conditions. BTW J turns are simply turning out of the fall line to a stop. Variations include carved and skidded.

Beyond that focus on fundamentals lies the focus on maneuvers. Without understanding the fundamentals involved it's hard to accurately choose a focus for change and even harder to understand how just about any maneuver can have a focus in any of the fundamental skills pools. A lot of level 2 coaches and below are given scripts and lists where the skill focus is predetermined by their ski school training staff. Eventually that coach might study and gain the ability to do that for themself but for those who don't the lists and pre-scripted lesson plans are suggested.

My 2 cents on J turns is that uphill christies works for your intended purpose. For first timers, it's just a straight run to turning out of the fall line (i.e. a sans serif "j" as opposed to serif j) and not necessarily a christie. On any kind of slope it's more obviously an uphill christie.

So JASP, would you concur a "J turn" is a blend of skills rather than a "drill"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolo 

Thanks, Rusty. Not a vote in favor but not a vote against. I still like Bud's organization scheme because it's not so abstract. 

Sorry I just have to ask....are you suggesting that Skinerds grouping of drills into the 5 basic skills is...."abstract"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bud heishman 

So JASP, would you concur a "J turn" is a blend of skills rather than a "drill"?

I would say you need to blend multiple skills to accomplish just about any drill.... or at least my definition of a drill.... or shall I call it an exercise?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolo 

I am saying that the four/five skills are a map. A map is not the territory. Only in rhetoric can one separate one of the skills from the others. The fact that we use a Venn diagram to explain how the skills relate is a signal that it's an abstraction. On the other hand, Bud's scheme is is organized into three technical imperatives of good skiing, which seems more accessible off the bat. Could be it's just me. 

Well, in the CSIA, and most other national bodies I have worked with, the skills are very clearly defined and distinguishable.  No rhetoric required.  This is done, and done deliberately to provide a clear basis for breaking skiing down into component parts.  This is done to not only assist instructors perform their job, but also as a pedagogy tool to "explain skiing" to new instructors.  It is true that as instructors gain in experience and move up through the levels they learn that some of the skills can overlap, and intermix (ie L3 and higher), but by this stage, they are not seeking a "bag of tricks".  New instructors, who I believe you are targeting here, need a clear and consistent framework to evaluate skiing and build their knowledge from.  The 5 skills does that.  Offering this alternative, and that alternative is confusing.  The negative consequences of that are obvious when you read 95% of the posts on this board.

I have never seen a Venn diagram used to explain the 5 skills.

As for Buds ideas being organized into technical imperatives...well ok, they are, but only a subset...the 5 skills are entire sweet of technical imperatives at their most basic and fundamental level, and represent the entire spectrum of technical imperatives from beginner to WC racer to big mountain movie star.  Working at the basic and fundamental level is where real change, skill development and understanding can happen.

Back on topic:

Here is Skidude72's tips for newer instructors to develop their bag of tricks:

Rule 1: DON'T use your bag of tricks.

Rule 2: If you have to use your bag of tricks, ONLY use a small percentage of your bag of tricks.

Rational:

By not using your bag of tricks, you are forced to come up with new ideas and exercises.  This will encourage you to try new things, and by doing so your bag of tricks will grow.

By only using a small percentage of your bag of tricks you will be forced to get creative and see just how much you can do with just 1 or two exercises.  Its amazing how much you can do with pivot slips, or spiess, or 1000 steps, or.....this is particularly valuable in real world ski teaching as it enables you to have a group of multiple students all doing the same exercise, but you can give everyone their own focus for their own particular need.  It enables you to teach a group lesson as multiple private lessons at once.

Handy Hint - dont wait until you in front of your students before trying to figure out what new ideas you are going to try, or figure out all the ways you can use a particular exercies.  Do your homework!  Have a good think about it all before you get there...then give it a go.  You might have to fall back to some old faithfuls, but resist that urge, and keep working with your new ideas...your students will thankyou, and you will become a better pro.

Skidude, I agree that the skills are the most basic of elements of skiing which allow us to break skiing down into it's most basic elements.  However; We all agree that any drill, exercise, task, however focused, involves all the skills.  This is why I like to use the categories I do because they recognize, using nolo's words, the technical imperatives of skiing and give the student a kinesthetic goal they can feel if they are there or not.   We can tell if I have a balanced stance when doing any task.  We can tell if our feet are turning without involving upper body rotation.  We can tell if we are balanced over the inside edge of the outside ski or not.  

I am using the same skills just coming up with the tools and tasks to develop a skiing goal.  No matter how good the skier we can always improve these three areas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bud heishman 

Skidude, I agree that the skills are the most basic of elements of skiing which allow us to break skiing down into it's most basic elements.  However; We all agree that any drill, exercise, task, however focused, involves all the skills.  This is why I like to use the categories I do because they recognize, using nolo's words, the technical imperatives of skiing and give the student a kinesthetic goal they can feel if they are there or not.   We can tell if I have a balanced stance when doing any task.  We can tell if our feet are turning without involving upper body rotation.  We can tell if we are balanced over the inside edge of the outside ski or not.  

 

I am using the same skills just coming up with the tools and tasks to develop a skiing goal.  No matter how good the skier we can always improve these three areas.

I understand.  But you are not exactley what one would call a rookie instructor, looking to develop a bag of tricks.  At the high end of instruction working with high end skiers, I totally agree that it often becomes imperative to develop skills together becuase it is their interdependence (or lack of) that is causing the particular skiers issues.  However, this thread is not about that...at least it doesnt appear so.  Here we are talking about establishing a bag of tricks...which to me seems the target audience is newer instructors.  I would then argue that newer instructors tend to work with beginer to intermediate even to low advanced skiers where being able to identify and isolate the skills in their compenant parts should be the focus. 

As we progress, things do become more "free flow" and the art develops...but to attempt to just jump to the art, without the basics of understanding of the building blocks of skiing etc will never work for developing pros.  One must learn to walk before they can learn to run.  Only after you know the rigid structure back to front is it a good idea to let the lines blur...until then keep it clear and consistent.

Was out so my response is a bit late Bud, Yes J turns are a drill and yes a particular skills blend is used to accomplish the task. Uphill arcs represent one version, christies another but a christie usually involve some skidding and at the beginner level the skidding is even more prevelent. So the uphill skidding part is hard for some.

SD's idea that a list for use by non teachers would also be on target folks who just might be on par with a level 1, or 2, is spot on. Although, It's often best to keep newbies in the shallow end of the pool until they know how to swim on their own. That's why we feed them a few progressions and suggest they follow the well worn path to success. That doesn't mean creativity is a bad thing but if you're inventing stuff it needs to out perform the well worn stuff. If it doesn't and you have exceeded your level of qualifications, you would be held liable in a courtroom if someone got hurt doing your new stuff. So if you're a newbie learning why stuff works in the first place is enough on your plate. Save the inventing for a time when you have developed your skills to the point that you actually know why it works.

OK my list:

side stepping - body position, balance over the inside edge of downhill ski,  (focus on understanding the fall line and head over downhill foot)  step turns, 1000 steps, etc.

traverse - body position, balance over inside edge of downhill ski  (focus on proper counter of pelvis, and parallel body parts ie: feet, knees, pelvis, hands) reverse traverse, one ski traverse

forward side slip - body position, edge control, pressure control  (focus on traverse position and edge control from ankles and fore aft pressure control) reverse side slip, falling leaf

side slip - body position, edge control, pressure control  (focus on edge control movements from ankles rather than hips, countered pelvis) slip/grip, slip to stop

patience turn initiation - body position, edge release, ability to turn the feet below a stable upper body  (focus on patience in changing edges, develop comfort with the release and allowing tips to find the fall line before edge chg)  static initiation, anticipation release, blocking pole plant

pivot slips - ability to turn feet beneath a stable upper body,  (focus on release, braquage)   pivot slips to carved turn progression,  

one ski turning - body position, balance on inside edge of downhill ski, fore/aft pressure control  (focus on balancing on outside ski)  outside to outside, one ski linked, inside to inside, 

leapers - timing and coordination  (focus on accurate crossover, good platform, balance over inside edge of outside ski) daffy leapers, dolphin turns, 

hop turns - ability to turn feet below upper body, body position  (focus on pivot point, platform, flexion/extension)  inside inside outside outside, outside outside, inside inside,

These often used and well worn tasks elicit the basic skill development needed for good skiing.  Any of the above tasks could easily be an all day topic of practice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolo 

 

I think this needs repeating.  

So Nolo where would abstraction fit in something like bloom's taxonomy? Down at the bottom or up near the top? How would that fit with the idea of experienced coaches operating near the top where the need for lists is far less likely? The catch 22 here is those seeking lists are more than likely analogous to new instructors, not experienced pros who would be capable of abstract analysis and synthesis. So while we certainly can offer a list of ten drills that develop fundamental skills, explaining them and offering a grading criteria isn't as easy. It will be interesting ot see how you do that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Bell 

"Travolta turns" are sometimes also known as the "Schlopy Drill":
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2661510569600&set=vb.108374479188634

aka superman turns

The Washington Post used to say "If you get it, you get it!"

Since the purpose is to have drills for self coaching, my suggestion is to have different lists for different levels of skiers: beginner, intermediate, advanced. I'm trying to get drills that hit fundamental elements and are tough enough for the level that many skiers would need to go through easier drills before being able to do them but easy enough for skiers above the level to do no problem.

Ok - I've had this open all day. It's not where I want it, but it gives you a flavor of what I'm thinking.

For advanced my list would include:

-Railroad tracks

-White Pass turns

-Shuffle turns

-Pivot slips

-Bumps without poles

-One footed spine slide with 180 hop to the other foot

For intermediate:

-One footed straight runs (each foot)

-Flat spin 360 in both directions

-Phantom turns (I call them flamingo turns to avoid [ahem...] - maybe we should call them "flaming - go" turns?)

For beginner:

-side step

-backward herringbone

-step turn to a stop

-wedge change ups

-uphill christy

I like it TR. Although the self grading part is still a bit tricky considering how many students I've had who swear they are performing a maneuver / drill correctly but in reality are not anywhere close. Some could be attributed to my presentation skills but I feel far more is attributable to their mental willingness to see past their pre-conceived notions of what works and what would work even better. For example lets consider the common certification task of RRX. A movement error I see quite a lot is excessive pivoting resulting in skidding, even among our cert 3 candidates. Why? I feel it's due to their past success doing skidded turns and a lack of understanding that the maneuver includes a strong focus on edging with a second and IMO just as important focus on minimizing steering inputs. Especially through the turn entry / crossover. Is the corrective solution to have them edge more, add more pressure, or stop pivotting the skis so strongly. Without actually seeing them perform the maneuver it's hard to offer meaningful advice. It's even harder to list most of the common errors and how to correct them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRusty 

The Washington Post used to say "If you get it, you get it!"

 

 

 

 

Since the purpose is to have drills for self coaching, my suggestion is to have different lists for different levels of skiers: beginner, intermediate, advanced. I'm trying to get drills that hit fundamental elements and are tough enough for the level that many skiers would need to go through easier drills before being able to do them but easy enough for skiers above the level to do no problem.

 

Ok - I've had this open all day. It's not where I want it, but it gives you a flavor of what I'm thinking.

 

For advanced my list would include:

-Railroad tracks

-White Pass turns

-Shuffle turns

-Pivot slips

-Bumps without poles

-One footed spine slide with 180 hop to the other foot

 

For intermediate:

-One footed straight runs (each foot)

-Flat spin 360 in both directions

-Phantom turns (I call them flamingo turns to avoid [ahem...] - maybe we should call them "flaming - go" turns?)

 

For beginner:

-side step

-backward herringbone

-step turn to a stop

-wedge change ups

-uphill christy

Rusty, could you explain what these two are:

-one footed spine slide with 180 hop to the other foot

-backward herringbone -- going uphill backwards?  downhill?