HOW AUSTRIA GETS KIDS CARVING By Jonathan Ballou, PSIA Alpine Team
AUSTRIA
One of the on-snow workshops the Austrian delegation presented was titled “Carving – Experience the Feeling,” based on their sensory-based approach to introducing children to carving In essence, they off ered a progression of tasks that created the sensations of carving from the ground up through to disciplined body movements. T e progression was highly logical, easily copied by all levels of instructors, and very much task based. T e skills developed went sensations
from created
by the lower body moving to create ski performance to experiencing the ski performance of carving on very fl at terrain. Once workshop attendees felt the sensations of the lower body creating ski performance, the progression moved to stabilizing the torso through accurate rotational and lateral movements of the inside and outside half while incrementally increasing speed and terrain. From a developmental perspective this is spot on. In
Jonathan Ballou
this progression, kids learn basic gross body movements, then associate those gross movements with ski outcomes in terrain that is well within their comfort level. Refi nement is a product of experience, and adding bits to each drill rather than focusing on the minutia of task perfection. Here’s an
example of the progression: Q In a slight squat, tilt the skis by pressing on the inside knee with the outside hand.
QTry this while skiing, shifting hands each turn – the student should feel the experience of carving created by the tilt of the legs/knees. T is is created by physically manipulating the legs into this position.
TOP TAKEAWAYS QT e methodology showed clarity but approached this by
QDrills are used as the context for the sensation – they create intrinsic feedback. T e point of the drill is to feel the outcome created by attempting the drill.
creating sensations of the outcome rather than technical understanding of the outcome.
Q Almost all drills went from manipulating the movement of body parts with one’s hands or poles to associating the outcome of the skis with the movements of the body parts.
While the progression itself was not particularly new, the idea of doing each task solely for sensory awareness of what the task creates was rather innovative. Some tasks were actually contradictory. Most required students to angulate and actively balance against the outside ski, but others forced the students to incline and almost put their inside hand on the snow. While these seem technically contradictory, both created the performance of a carved outside ski and simulated some sensations one will feel while carving at higher speeds. When asked, “Do you off er much feedback to students
when they are performing these tasks or is the point to just do it?” the Austrian presenter shrugged his shoulders and said “T ey basically just do the task, it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect.” I loved this statement. It represents that the true reason behind the exercises is exactly as stated; to develop a sensation, not to create task mastery. T e Austrians had clear direction in their session.
QNext, put both fi sts together and place them between the knees while skiing similar carved turns as the previous exercise. T e aim here is to reinforce a consistent width of stance, and associate the feeling of carving with this stance and movements of the legs without the physical manipulation of the inside leg.
While the tasks were relevant and accurate, what was
truly important was HOW and WHY the tasks were presented. T e purpose of each task was to create a specifi c sensation at slower speeds that would be present when carving at higher speeds. Each exercise logically built on another and went from manipulative to associative. In most cases the student used their hands, ski poles, or something else to physically make their legs do something (manipulative). From there they tried to create the same outcome while doing an exercise to stabilize the upper body while associating the desired outcome of the skis to the movements of the body.
34 | 32 DEGREES • WINTER 2016
Everything they did was to develop the sensations of carving, particularly as relevant to the developmental level of younger kids. Doing the exercise created the desired sensation. Once the sensation is discovered, it’s time to move on and ski it.
VIEW VIDEO
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Be sure to check out the video from this clinic, which includes all of the drills.
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