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Kids: from Straight to Turning

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Terry
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Give him targets to turn around. If they have cones set them up. I use orange cat food cups. (After the cat is done with them.). A course will give him something fun to focus on. It provides the motivation to turn.

Use simple commands. Come here, go there, and point. Make up games. At the bottom play tag on skis. Anything to get directional movement going. Play, play, play.
 

crgildart

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Back in the day with a group of kids we did :nono: :geek: Human Slalom in lessons:doh:

Not surprised that is now frowned upon... kinda like spraying your friend... Seems fun, is fun, until it suddenly becomes tragic..
 

James

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Back in the day with a group of kids we did :nono: :geek: Human Slalom in lessons:doh:

Not surprised that is now frowned upon... kinda like spraying your friend... Seems fun, is fun, until it suddenly becomes tragic..
Depends how reliable the participants are.
Spraying - well that depends too.
Teach them to do a drive by spray so if they fail, they don't run into anyone.

One season, I had a regular 8 yr old, who looked more like 6. Brother and sister were in the class too. The 8 yr old was a good skier, but always randomly doing something bizarre that caused him to need to be fished out of something.
So, his first time at Nastar, he goes last after the group. I'm right behind. I watch in disbelief as he blows through the finish, goes full speed into the b net, double ejects, and does a front flip to face plant onto the snow. He seems ok.

I'm thinking, oh god, I didn't tell him to stop after the finish! Wait, did I really need to? (Still unclear)
Turns out, he claims he was trying to spray the group and something went wrong. Maybe. I'm still doubtful as there was zero slow down or sideways movement. Since he was fine, it was hilarious. And very public. Pays to be tiny.
 

rustypouch

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At that age and stage of skiing, the kid most likely is fully capable of turning and managing speed, but doesn't feel the need or understand why. They need a reason, be it a game, obstacles, terrain, whatever.
 

Ozan

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Take him to steep slope. He will have to make turns to keep speed under control. Thats what i did for my 5 yo
 

Mike-AT

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^ I hope no one takes that post seriously. @Ozan, you are kidding, right?
This is a 4.5 year old child we are talking about. He is learning to ski. Sink or swim seems a bit out of place.
Yeah well, I guess the question is how steep? Steep as per this forum's standards or just steeper than the bunny track? I fully agree no fear should be involved, but of course gently pushing the limits does help.
 

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I fully agree with @LiquidFeet. Do not go to steeper terrain. I’ve seen parents over terrain kids too many times. It reinforces bad technique; back seat, death wedges, and, worse of all, fear.

Kids want to have fun. That’s why I stress play, play, play. Stay on comfortable terrain. (That Bunny Hill looks like Mt. Everest to little ones.) Make up games to get them going. Enjoy the ride. They grow up fast. Pretty soon those kids will be out skiing you.
 

Chris V.

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Take him to steep slope. He will have to make turns to keep speed under control. Thats what i did for my 5 yo
We are trying to prevent wedging. Tease out some good turns on gentle slopes, then incrementally amp it up. But I respect a variety of opinions being expressed.
 

karlo

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He seems to like speed

make it all fun ad games.

sprinkle sprigs to make a slalom course. How fast can you ski the course?

stand a little up of a chair tower or tree.
Can you ski around it as back up to tag me? If you can, then I'm it and I have to tag you next

Ski in the trees

If you can find one, a Nastar course.
 

karlo

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AFTER he learned how turn, right? I know you know, Karlo, but for the general reader: tree wells are extremely dangerous, and so are tree collisions. So, not the best place to start at young age.

Right. I mean Green trail trees, the ones in kid areas, and accompanied by adult. I’m assuming the kid can turn and chooses not to. But, there are lots of fun things to do outside the trees.
 

Tricia

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I've talked with @ADKmel and may try going to her resort and taking a lesson for my son there once or twice,
Working with someone like her will go a long way. She has good advice.
I suggest you find some place to ski that has fun twisty-turny up-and-down trails through the woods.
There's also follow the leader, but keep it to one follower per leader. Beware, if there is more than one follower following the leader the followers can get too close to each other.

When @spencer was teaching teams at Northstar, he would frequently use the summer mountain biking map for the mountain to take kids on banked turns and undulations. He said it was some of the best terrain to teach extension and flexion as well as controlling your speed with turn shape.
 

LiquidFeet

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Okay, we didn't make it to @ADKmel (a 2-hour one-way drive is tricky with a one-year-old), but we certainly made some progress :) Thank you everyone for your advice! Here are some videos from today:


Super! By that third video he figured out to weight the outside ski, and voila he got smooth turns. Great progress. He's one year old?
 
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Ivan

Ivan

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Super! By that third video he figured out to weight the outside ski, and voila he got smooth turns. Great progress. He's one year old?
Thanks! He started figuring that out before but couldn't connect the dots and make several turns in a row. This time something clicked, and he started doing it very easily and naturally.

No, he's four and a half, but his younger brother is one. Our logistics this season was pretty complicated: I usually started skiing with the older one while the little one was taking a nap with my wife, then my wife skied on her own while we were having lunch, then, time permitting, I did a couple of runs on my own while she was having lunch. A 4-hour round trip would have complicated things even more...
 

T-Square

Terry
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You know what we call that? ... ..... ..... ..... ....SKIING!

YAHOO!
 

irishnc

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Looks like @JaneB may have experience giving private lessons for one year-olds. :huh:
(please forgive this joke)

Thanks! He started figuring that out before but couldn't connect the dots and make several turns in a row. This time something clicked, and he started doing it very easily and naturally.

No, he's four and a half, but his younger brother is one. Our logistics this season was pretty complicated: I usually started skiing with the older one while the little one was taking a nap with my wife, then my wife skied on her own while we were having lunch, then, time permitting, I did a couple of runs on my own while she was having lunch. A 4-hour round trip would have complicated things even more...
 

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