BEST PRACTICE
In order to make the most out of snow sport tuition, mutual requirements are necessary. Action competence obviously is required by the instructor, but equally important also by the guest. Action competence can be differentiated in self, methodical, field and social competence.
Self Competence
Thorough, fair self evaluation is easier said than achieved. Emotions, wishful thinking often lead to a false perception of skills which could hinder a sound learning approach. It is also vital to conclude, if the motivation to get into snow sports is based intrinsic or by the desire to please others. Obviously, self motivation is deemed far more promising to succeed. Also, guests need to have sufficient communication skills to state their expectations in a constructive way towards the instructor.
Methodical Competence
Education is universally important in every aspect of life. Everyone had to develop learning strategies to achieve goals or to mentor others in this regard. Those individual learning and teaching experiences need to be implemented also during ski tuition. In today's highly sophisticated world, academia, it is of utter importance to maintain a conscious approach towards the body and uphold logic thinking patterns. Ultimately, every aspect of snow sports is logically consistent, every action causes a reaction. Snow sports can be seen as a prime example of applying and experiencing physics, the physical basic principle of actio / reactio.
Field Competence
Basic sportiness is crucial to make progress in every sport discipline so in skiing. Different kind of sports promote movement experiences and increase performance requirements. Preferably, supporting sports which emphasize on maintaining the dynamic balance and dealing with inertia force (positive, negative acceleration) are best suited. Additionally, mental willingness to perform is necessary to actively and productively participate in ski tuition.
Social Competence
Social competence is ever buzzing and trending – very rarely it has been walking the talk though. Throwing catchy socialistic phrases and acting cool in the process, ain’t it. Ideally, it means to actively listen to the opposite person and engage in an open, transparent dialogue. Trying to walk in others shoes, showing empathy for different opinions and most importantly, not prematurely establishing cozy answers. To demonstrate thoughtfulness, be fully attentive and pay attention to nuances. Not acting for your own advantage nor for the disadvantage of others. Building bridges. That is social competence.
To prepare adequately prior to ski tuition, guests are asked to work on the following topics :
- Develop an idea, how skis are responding on snow
- Which functions skis are able to perform
- What movements of body are available to influence the skis, how can skis be controlled and directed
- Which senses are necessary to perceive and classify the physical forces applying in snow sports
- Often the reason get into snow sports is because rope ways take people up to the mountain top and skiing is being looked as an non-exhausting way to do some sport in winter. This mind set is not helpful to make progress. The superior execution of different skiing forms demands basic sportiness and specifically, sufficient power endurance.
- Neither promising is to attend ski tuition with the idea, getting soothed into a lullaby to miraculously become a good skier. It takes a full hands on approach and active participation by the guest, to make progress in skiing
- Equally, to constantly remain in the comfort zone isn’t goal oriented. During ski tuition, unfamiliar exercises are intentionally introduced to provoke new motion answers. Guests are being encouraged to an open and motivated approach in this regard.
- Going to the gym has become very popular. It certainly can be beneficial to build up specific muscle parts. Though more ideal than to solely doing the gym is to engage in sports with wide range of movement shifts. The constant adjustment of the body’s center of mass is highly useful when it comes to adjust ski positions. Like cycling, mountain biking, gymnastics, ice skating, trail running e.g. to name a few supplementary sports.
- Hiking and e-biking, though popular as well, aren’t ideal as solely supplementary sports to cope with the physical demands of skiing. The circulatory system should be intensively stimulated during supplementary work outs beside snow sports.
Hopefully, this will get you an helpful insight of the physical and mental demands of ski tuition. Looking forward to keep the dialogue going during our lessons.
