Teaching with analogies (teach for transfer)

[Mendieta]

Some analogies that I learned aren't really politically correct, but they worked.

For working on my uphill hand dropping back while skiing bumps I was told to imagine a little guy standing on the top of the bump. Stab him in the toe and punch him in the nose.

This helped with my pole plant and driving my hand forward, but since I ski with a 44" pole, that was one tiny little guy.

Lol. I just saw this one. You are so lucky you are in good terms with the mod team

 

[Josh Matta]

I typically tell kids to stab the polar bear in the butt and then punch him in the face.

 

[Yo Momma]

Looking for something else, I found this video about The Countered Position. He demonstrates the Power Position when he has Jeff shove him in different positions.

Nice video!
I actually call Power Position....."Hulk Position". I tell them gimme your game face, flex your core and gimme your best "GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!" Totally makes everyone laugh and we ski down all making the Hulk noise! It tends to add a fun dynamic to the equation but gets the point across. I find myself doing it just for fun sometimes when I'm on steep, tight terrain. Can't help but to laugh pretending to be the Hulk!

 

[JESinstr]

OMG! That has to be one of the worst instructional ski videos I have ever seen! There is so much misguided information. It just baffles me. All the points that I could make are summed up in the final part where he is doing Javelin turns. At any time while doing the Javelin turn, do you see his shoulders actively/intentionally facing down the hill? That should tell you something about counter.....It is not forced, it happens as a result of the mechanics of proper separation.

 

[Fuller]

The worst, really? I think all beginners and most intermediates would be happy to get the benefits of a countered position no matter how they come to it. If its exaggerated or forced it can be smoothed out and refined later. Judging by the number of shoulders you see wagging about on any mountain I would say it's the number one issue for the terminal intermediate. Once a skier wrongly develops that pattern it can be a SOB to get rid of.

 

[Fuller]

Finally one instructor asked him....What do you do for a living?....Carpenter!. Well pick up your wheelbarrow and lets go. Finally something he understood.

I'm a carpenter (or was) and this may not work for me. I had my helper do all the wheelbarrow work while I drank coffee and chatted up the clients.

 

[JESinstr]

The worst, really? I think all beginners and most intermediates would be happy to get the benefits of a countered position no matter how they come to it. If its exaggerated or forced it can be smoothed out and refined later. Judging by the number of shoulders you see wagging about on any mountain I would say it's the number one issue for the terminal intermediate. Once a skier wrongly develops that pattern it can be a SOB to get rid of.

Yeah, unfortunately, pretty much the worst.

He starts out talking about an overactive upper body sighting over rotation and then the cure is to invoke an overactive upper body by under rotating. If you want to destroy turn shape, upper body rotation be it over or under, is a good way to go. He is correct that we want to maintain a quite upper body which he shows when (as I pointed out above) he demos the javelin exercise.

As so many knowledgeable contributors to this forum advocate, we ski from the feet up. The upper body remains quiet and faces intended direction of travel.

The inability not to keep the upper body quiet is indeed the beginner's biggest roadblock in learning to ski. So although I am criticizing the video, I like @Yo Momma 's Hulk position for beginners because it consciously invokes tension in the upper body and that tension keeps it from flying around until the beginner's brain can normalize the ability to adapt to a new way of dynamically balancing.

If you are straight running, side slipping or executing rapid, rotary "heavy" turns, whose radius is shorter than the design capabilities of the ski, then the upper body faces down the hill. But again it is the lower body that is separating not the upper.

If you are executing turns with a radius that the design of the skis support (Carving) your upper body will, through separation via proper stance and lateral alignment, face in a direction that supports the developing arc.

 

[Winterpro]

For the Golfer learning to ski...finding your basic balance and stance and on the skis; too far forward and you will hit dirt; too far back and you will 'top' the ball...
"Long leg/short leg"... climbing a ladder...

 

[karlo]

This should be included here, in the Analogies Hall of Fame

One other analogy from American ninja warrior. The quintuple steps. It is the first obstacle in almost every competition.


Watch the different approaches. Some jump to a step, stop, turn around methodically, then jump to the next, then repeat. Then there's the guys that just bound through, placing just one foot on each platform. The guys bounding are 'throwing themselves downhill.' They are dynamically balanced. If they stopped bounding, they would fall. Whereas the more measured approach is statically stable. Per @Josh Matta , those with the more conservative tactic are 'blocked.' It takes a leap of faith to bound from step to step, but leads to more efficient skiing and ability to handle more difficult terrain with ease.

Either approach works. Your blocked skier can get down the hill just fine, it just takes longer and is less efficient. Strive to become dynamically balanced.