What you don't say.

[Uke]

Are there any words, short phrases that you avoid using in your teaching? I long ago stopped using 'push' and 'weight shift' in my lessons and use 'tall and short' rather than 'up and down'. Last few seasons I have been limiting my use of the word turn.

So, how about you, what will you not say in a lesson?

uke

 

[LiquidFeet]

Great topic.

I avoid saying pelvis (I say hips instead), flex/extend (lengthen the leg, shorten the leg), parallel (match, like this, not like this), perpendicular (like this, not like this), push or pressure (I never use these as verbs), terminal velocity (I did say this, once).

 

[JESinstr]

Lean

 

[Mike King]

Great topic.

I avoid saying pelvis (I say hips instead), flex/extend (lengthen the leg, shorten the leg), parallel (match, like this, not like this), perpendicular (like this, not like this), push or pressure (I never use these as verbs), terminal velocity (I did say this, once).

LF, it seems to me that hips are confused with the pelvis. If you need to correct a pelvic tilt, you aren't going to get the same result if you say tilt the hips forward?

 

[LiquidFeet]

When there's an issue with understanding, I show them and say "like this" and have them copy whatever I'm asking them to do. "Show me." Then I use "not like this," just for clarity. We practice everything static if there's any question in my mind about their understanding, even in a group lesson, then in single J-turns if they look wary or uncertain.

"You are skiing with your back arched, like this. There's another way that might increase your control over your balance. Tuck your belly button in as if you were just punched in the stomach. Let me see. Good." (I lean down and pull forward on the ski tips to check the solidity of the skier's stance.) "See how that helps you stay stable on the skis? Now hold onto that punched-in-the-stomach thing for a few linked turns.... Did you feel the tension in that tummy area as you made those turns? Good. Let's do that some more over here...."

Mike, I know "hips" does not mean the same thing as "pelvis." But I use it when I'm working on getting my skiers to stop rotating the "hips" into the turn. Pelvis is much more precise, but I try to avoid anatomical terms when I don't know my skiers. They might have a science-phobia. Or a math phobia. Or a ski-instructor-techno-babble phobia.

There are many reasons to restrict which terms to use. Misunderstandings abound. Just getting skiers to understand inside and outside takes some time when they are not familiar with the terms. I've taught art for years. The same issue is embedded in art instruction. Words get misunderstood all the time. Even "This assignment is due on Thursday" can get misunderstood ... according to my art students.

 

[karlo]

“Should”. I don’t have much experience as an instructor. I am informed by my efforts to coach my wife and kids.

 

[John Nedzel]

I try to say as little as possible before I see the student ski. My pattern is to demonstrate, observe, ask for understanding, comment and another give another demonstration. When commenting on movements or objectives I try to use the same terms the student used.

At some point I will mention the common terms instructors use for the movements we are practicing. I only do this hoping that in future lessons different words don't confuse them.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I guess there's could be a time and place for just about everything. I told my lesson yesterday that he needs to "grow some balls". I wouldn't say that to everyone, but he laughed and took it the right way.

 

[Mendieta]

push or pressure (I never use these as verbs)

This was so confusing to me as a beginner. The few times that I was asked to exert pressure on the outside ski I was really puzzled. Weight transfer (to the new outside ski) worked instantly. Note that most instructors if not all will use this term, or tell you to stand on the outside ski mostly (on firm snow). All of that is simple to process and really the intended message.

The other thing is outside/inside ski. The few times someone referred to the uphill, it has always seemed silly and confusing. Outside/inside is unambiguous to me.

My 2cts as someone who takes lessons.

 

[Coach13]

I guess there's could be a time and place for just about everything. I told my lesson yesterday that he needs to "grow some balls". I wouldn't say that to everyone, but he laughed and took it the right way.

There is something to be said for honest feedback!

 

[LiquidFeet]

I've had an well-educated adult with an advanced degree and a high paying job say to me, "How can you tell which way is downhill? It's all so WHITE!"
Communication is a delicate art.

 

[KingGrump]

I've had an well-educated adult with an advanced degree and a high paying job say to me, "How can you tell which way is downhill? It's all so WHITE!"
Communication is a delicate art.

Common sense not so common.
I've often found among my friends, the ones with the most advanced degrees tends to exhibit the least common sense.
Seems to come with specialization too. I call it the "Can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome.

 

[CalG]

Don't say "DON'T" There are no mental images for the negative instructions.

"Don't ski into that tree" Invites a collision, as the "DON'T" is dropped from the instruction as useless and without an image.

 

[Coach13]

Common sense not so common.
I've often found among my friends, the ones with the most advanced degrees tends to exhibit the least common sense.
Seems to come with specialization too. I call it the "Can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome.

Funny. I always say dollars are no indication of sense.

 

[Tony S]

I try to say as little as possible before I see the student ski. My pattern is to demonstrate, observe, ask for understanding, comment and another give another demonstration. When commenting on movements or objectives I try to use the same terms the student used.

When I read this - or read LF talk about avoiding the word "pelvis" - I have to laugh at myself. So many different kinds of learners. You can show me something a hundred times, but until you "use your words" to explain what I should be seeing it will mean nothing to me. The more detail the better! I want to understand the framework, the context, the discourse before doing anything crazy like the activity itself. No doubt the rest of the class will have mutinied by then.

 

[Chris V.]

I've had an well-educated adult with an advanced degree and a high paying job say to me, "How can you tell which way is downhill? It's all so WHITE!"

There are times, LOL.

 

[Chris V.]

Avoid negative commentary. Instead find something positive in the student's skiing, talk about that, and build on it.

 

[Coach13]

I've had an well-educated adult with an advanced degree and a high paying job say to me, "How can you tell which way is downhill? It's all so WHITE!"

Course I’ve been on some flat green runs in the MidAtlantic where uphill vs downhill is not vastly different! lol

 

[Mike King]

There are many reasons to restrict which terms to use. Misunderstandings abound. Just getting skiers to understand inside and outside takes some time when they are not familiar with the terms. I've taught art for years. The same issue is embedded in art instruction. Words get misunderstood all the time. Even "This assignment is due on Thursday" can get misunderstood ... according to my art students.

Thanks for your explanation.

So, one of the items being somewhat discussed here in Aspen is a field in learning motor control skills that seems to go by the moniker optimal motor control learning. A key observation from this literature is that both skill acquisition and retention are enhanced by focusing on external, as opposed to internal cues and allowing the student to work out what actions are needed to achieve that external cue. Have any of you been using this technique? And if so, what sort of success have you had?

This research might provide some guidance as to what not to say...

Mike

 

[Philpug]

There are many reasons to restrict which terms to use. Misunderstandings abound. Just getting skiers to understand inside and outside takes some time when they are not familiar with the terms. I've taught art for years. The same issue is embedded in art instruction. Words get misunderstood all the time. Even "This assignment is due on Thursday" can get misunderstood ... according to my art students.

True Dat. Just the thread about inside tip was confusing, I thought it was talking about at the apex of the turn then @4ster expained it was refering to the transition of the next turn.