How to Coach a Beginner Skier

Written and Contributed by Zach Nipon

The ability for an athlete to DO something is a very different skill than their ability to explain exactly HOW they do it. There are many skiers capable of skiing into short line, but can’t coach a beginner who is trying the course for the first time. As a coach for several years, and a student all my life, I have come up with what I believe are some of the most important things to remember while trying to coach beginners, both in and out of the slalom course.

I find that beginners often respond to coaching advice best when you explain WHY that piece of advice is beneficial. For example, telling somebody to look at the next buoy during his or her turn is good advice. But don’t stop there. Explain that looking at the next buoy will help the ski come around better because your ski follows your head. A simple explanation such as that will give the skier a better understanding of why he or she is doing it. If the skier does not understand why they are doing something, then it is less likely that they will actually do it.

Not only is it important to explain why your piece of advice is significant, it is also important to be as simple as possible. Put everything into as few words as you can. Giving a skier ten things to think about is never beneficial. I believe that nobody should ever be thinking about more than 3 things in a set. And to go even further, I will try my best to make each of those things happen at different parts of the course (e.g. the gate, through the wake, and around the buoy). This way, they are not thinking about more than one thing at any given time in a pass.

Some of what I am saying may seem a bit contradictory. You may be thinking, “how can I keep it concise and simple if I have to further explain why my advice is going to help?” This is the point in a coaching set that is most critical. After giving the skier a few coaching tips, and explaining what those tips are going to do, finish off by summing up the main points in just a couple of words. So for example, if I am explaining to a skier why it will help to pull out wider on the gate, straighten his or her arms through the wake, and look at the next buoy around the ball, it may get a bit lengthy. So after all the explanations are through, make your last words something along the lines of “wide gate, straight arms, and spot the next buoy.” In doing so, everything you just explained is now being repeated in their head in the simplest, most straightforward manner.

With these three tips to coaching beginners, I have full confidence that you can get just about any beginner running the course in no time. So remember, explain why your advice helps, be concise, and end by summing it all up. Happy Coaching!

Ski Journaling  How it can benefit your skiing

Written and Contributed by Dan Warner

 Whether your rush comes from chasing orange balls, hitting the ramp, or flipping and spinning, we are all participants a sport where there are only seconds per pass and a few minutes per day where we are actually training “on the water”.  Many athletes record their performances, both in their practice sessions and their ultimate accomplishments in competition.  Why do they do this?  Some may joke and say that those athletes are just obsessed with their sport, but really there are benefits that you can reap from recording this type of information every time you ski.

 There are as many ways to set up a journal as there are athletes, and you can find what works for you.  There is no right or wrong way to do it.  That being said, as a slalom skier, there are certain details I have found to be the most the useful.  The goals I want to achieve during the season go right in the front.  Each entry then includes the date, time, location, boat, driver, weather conditions, what passes I skied, how they felt, what I was thinking about during that set, and what my coach may have said.  These details provide me with an overview of my skiing allowing me to see trends and keys that will help me ski my best.  As an example, I realized generally I do not ski well before 9am.   Should I get a draw in a tournament where I will be on the water first thing, I know I will need to build in extra time to get my head in the game.

 Recording what you were thinking about, how it felt, what the conditions were or what your coach told is a way to relive in your mind what you just did on the water: the good and the bad.  By doing this, it is like skiing the set over and you can think about what you did well and what you could have done differently.  You can then visualize what you have documented in the past building in your mind the picture of a perfect moment on the water.  These visualizations become a movie which you can replay and will reinforce the key phrases and ideas that you use to remind your body of what it needs to do: stand tall, squeeze your core, etc.  It is a process that allows you to build good mental habits and they will show up the next time you are on the water.

 There are many components that go into becoming a better skier.  The mental piece can be just as important as the physical.  Journaling allows you to exercise the mental part of skiing through recording and reliving what you physically accomplished and then allows you to bring focus to your next set.

Two Midwest Skiers Get Engaged!!

Jimmy Tranchita and Abby Schmitt got engaged this past weekend in Wilmington, IL. They plan to marry in Fall of 2011. Congrats!

Two Midwest Skiers Get Married!!!

Kurtis Threlkeld and Amy Hamilton got married in July 2010 in Kansas! Kurtis skied for Purdue and Amy skied for Kansas. Congrats!

Milwaukee Pro Tour Stop

Written and Contributed by Tristan Hansen, Dolphin Wetsuits

The Malibu Open will be in Milwaukee this summer. The tournament will be Friday, August 6th and Saturday, August 7th. The main events for the tournament are Men’s Jump, Women’s Slalom, Men’s Slalom and Freestyle Jump. Qualifying will run on Friday, main events will run during the day Saturday and finals will be under the lights on Saturday night. There are cash prizes for all 4 events.

We are really excited about this tournament being here in Milwaukee and have recieved a great response from the city and the county parks commission. Milwaukee parks are some of the best in the country and Veterens Memorial park is one of the gems for the system. The lake the event will be on is about 100 yards off the beach of Lake Michigan and is protected from the wind by tree lines. The lake is natural but looks like a man made lake in the heart of the city and is located within walking distance of the downtown business district and is just a few hundred yards from the Calatrava art museum.

 The county has also set up a cancer walk for that Saturday, which walks around the lake and brings in about 5000 people and adding those people to the numbers that the lake front attracts on an average weekend there could be over 10,000 people in the area of the event. In addition to the parks 2 lakefront resturants there will be concession stands with beer and food as well.

 We already have most of the top skiers in the country registered for the event so we will get to watch the best of the best on the water.

 Google satellite map.

milwaukee lakefront - Google Maps 

maps.google.com

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

Picture of the newsletter

Always make sure you have all your equipment before you leave for a tournament. Zach Nipon forgot his Reflex boot for his D3. His only choice was to use an O’brien binding, three sizes too small. Whoops.

Join MCWSA on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MCWSA-Midwest-Collegiate-Water-Ski-Association/109523792401197?v=photos&ref=ts#!/pages/MCWSA-Midwest-Collegiate-Water-Ski-Association/109523792401197?v=wall&ref=ts

Midwest Regionals

Hosted by Waters Edge – come join the fun!

http://www.awsamidwest.com/regionals.php

US Nationals

As many of you know, a Midwest site is holding the AWSA Nationals for the first time in 25 years!! The 68^th Goode Water Ski National Championships will be held at Waters Edge in Wilmington, IL August 8 – 14, 2010. Even you do not plan on skiing, it will be a great event and a ton of fun, not to mention a lot of great skiing!

http://www.usawaterski.org/nationals/index_nationals.html 

-Krisit Overton Johnson