J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by piste2powder

Hey Ian

I'm afraid I have to disagree, for people who are having trouble and have fear problems private lessons are definately the way to do. the lesson can go at their pace and the instructor can concentrate on the elements that the student needs to work on. And if the student is not doing so well being in a group can make them feel self concious and stop them from trying.

I really don't like teaching groups that much as I fell that I can't really teach properly. you have to tell people what they have to do to ski, as opposed to telling some what what they need to do to become a skier. As everyone is different, everybody needs different pointers and that can only be given in a private.

I do have to agree with you though Ian, a lot of instructors do think an hours lesson is easy money, and most of them will follow the old european way, bend zee knees and follow me. on the other hand I find a one hour lesson one of the hardist things to do, as you have to try to get the client feeling something new in one hour, now that is hard. and I would say that most of the time a one hour private is a waste of money for that fact. If you can find a good instructor who cares then several two hour privates are the way to go.

Don't forget the come on 4 ski, as well as a snowboard test there is also a ski test with all the major manufactures being represented. Also the resort will be open until the 1st November.

Hi Tony and others

You have to remember its not about speed, you may be in you car skidding on ice at only 10mph and feel completly out of control, however you would on the other hand you would feel quite comfortable doing 80+mph on a motorway on a dry clear day, someone will only start to go that bit faster when they feel they are in control and that with most will only come with the correct technique and understanding, remember the brain will always tell us to do the opposite to what we need to do. for instance if you are on a steeper run and you are nervous you will enter the turn slowly not wanting to speed up. this whole process will make you go faster re-confirming you are not in control and you enter a vicious circle. every turn you do you end up going fasteer again re-confirming that you are not in control and so therefore making you enter the next turn slow again, and agan you go fast. once you can start to explain and demonstrate that by entering a turn fast you will be able to go much slower, then you can start to change the physcology of the "patient"and get them feeling like they are in control (of course the sre many other elements that need to be put in place as well)but lots of little pointers like the one above will help. although that technique is not what the brain will tell you to do. once those elements have been put into place the skier will naturally start to go a little faster.

Dave that would be a good thing to try, i would be interested to see the results, just as long as you don't get the adults to plough like the kids!!!!

Hey Ryanh1418

I am a Basi level 4 instructor and I started teaching skiing 20 years ago, I have also written papers on fear in skiing.

I feel for you man, I know exactly how you are feeling, but I have to say one of the worst things you can do is push them. one of the best things you can do is try to understand why.

In the case of skiing we have to realise that there are two different types of fear that need to be looked at. The first is the obvious the fear of falling, we all have it and its natural, it keeps us alive. But then there is the other type of fear that comes into play, esspecially when we are learning something new.
The fear of failure.

Most of the time the first fear comes first, we feel tense not quite sure what is going to happen and we don't like the feel of not being completly in control. now at this point if we are able to get the feeling of control through technique we can conquer the fear and move on. But if our technique is not quite right then we don't get the feeling of control and so therefore we don't overcome the fear. now at this point the secon fear starts to come into play The fear of failure.

Now nobody wants to be a failure so what we do is we just stop trying because if we don't try and fail that's ok, we only failed because we did not try, not because we are failures, this makes it ok in our heads.

Now this point is very hard to come back from. And this is one thing that I specialise in. I have found that most of the problems come from how they have learned to snowplough (the very first lesson) if we learn this correctly we can get the feeling of control straight away. And a lot of the time I will take people back to this point so I can build them back up again with strong foundations under them, not weak wobbly ones.

Now once someone starts to feel control from the basics everything else will follow. Now unfortunately I don't know that many people who teach snowplough properly. Any mention of turning the feet in, push the heels out or bend the knees can result in loss of control and create the fear. So watch out for those.

Now I am in the process of putting together a website
piste2powder.com, on there will be a no. Of videos explaining the basics of skiing with the new techniques I have put together. All of which is designed to get the basics right and encourage confidence. This will all be free and hopefully live by early November, just in time for the new ski season.

So just remember not to push them into doing it as they don't want to fail they will just stop trying, if they get the correct technique they will start to overcome the fear and be able to move on. This is what I beleive is they best bet to keep them skiing.

I hope that has helped a little and when the videos come out you will be to see how to start to correct.

Has anyone used the European Ski School in Les 2 Alpes. If so what didi you think of them?

I get the feeling people are starting to loose track of the origional post :x

hey vladiator. holidaylettings.co.uk are good i think they deal direct with the apt owners and from what I know can be cheaper than most. but importantly they can be trusted. I know lots of people who have used them many times.