The more you understand the path you're on – and WKH PRUH VSHFLfiF \RX DUH DERXW ZKDW \RX UH WU\LQJ WR DFFRPSOLVK Ȃ WKH PRUH UHOHYDQW DQG HffHFWLYH WKH feedback can be.
if it were groomed.” Don’t do that! If you sought feedback, accept what you get without making excuses.
National Academy attendees listen attentively to AASI Snowboard Team member Tony Macri. One key to growth in snowports is knowing how to interpret feedback and apply it to your own riding.
Q Be future oriented. Don’t say, “Tis is what I did badly.” Rather, say, “How can I accomplish this in the future?” Don’t dwell on what already happened. Focus on what’s going to make improvements and be open-minded to suggestions.
the example above, next ask, “Do you have other suggestions about how I could accomplish that movement?” Direct the question to get things going and then listen and pay attention to the response.
If you seek it out, graciously listen to feedback and aspire to understand what could be a different perspective. Tat said, it’s okay to be an open-minded skeptic. Take in all the information and see how it relates to your goals and performance intentions. Feedback given today may not work for you today. Maybe it will tomorrow or next season. Maybe it never will. Te more you understand the path you're on – and the more specific you are about what you're trying to accomplish – the more relevant and effective the feedback can be.
Q Interpret. When your coach/clinician says generally that “We need to do XYZ” or “What we are trying to do is ABC,” pay attention! Tat feedback may not be, “Hey, Tim, blah blah blah” but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t lend an ear, and make an effort to work on it. Interpret what is being said as, “I guess that applies to me as well!”
AVOID OVERLOAD; KNOW WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH If your coach is accustomed to giving you frequent or constant feedback, don’t be afraid to ask him or her to hold off on giving you that feedback. Sometimes you can be so close to “getting” something and figuring it out that the outside comment derails you and sets you on another (unwelcome) tangent. Too much feedback can rob you of the opportunity to really learn something and having that awareness, that autonomy, is what gets most of us really fired up. Learning involves some degree of
QBe ready! We’ve all said it and we’ve all heard it. “Well, that run wasn’t good because my second buckle wasn’t tight enough.” Or “I struggled in those bumps because usually I ride this run in the morning.” Or “I could totally do that –
problem solving and sometimes the most helpful thing a coach can do is nudge you toward determining your own opinions and feedback. Wrisberg also explains in his book, “As long as athletes are attending to relevant sources of intrinsic feedback, they don’t need (or usually don’t want) additional information from you. Terefore, a good rule to keep in mind when considering when to give feedback is ‘When in doubt, be quiet.’” Wrisberg also writes, “Recent research indicates that people profit more from feedback
SEEKING FEEDBACK ON… FEEDBACK
So, what are your favorite ways to get feedback? What works best for you? Get in on the feedback focus of this thread on the 36Ζ$ $$6Ζ &RPPXQLW\ WLQ\ FF )DY)HHGEDFN
52 | 32 DEGREES • SPRING 2017
when they ask for it than when someone else (e.g., an instructor or coach) decides they need it. Interestingly, these studies also show that learners are able to improve their skills with relatively little extrinsic feedback.”
USE FEEDBACK WISELY Finally, recognize that your performance and you as a person are one in the same. No one else thinks less of you when you don’t make great turns, or more of you when you slay a run. You shouldn’t either. We put a lot of stock in our performance as skiers, riders, and teachers. Rightly so. However, take feedback from yourself or from others and commit to use it constructively, to refine skills and to develop as a professional snow-sports instructor. Work hard in that endeavor. Our
performance is always going to be better than some and worse than others. As legendary instructor Stu Campbell once told a group of us who were training for National Team tryouts in Stowe, Vermont, “You’re never as good as you think you are, but it never looks as bad as it feels.” Hallelujah to that! And why not take your cue from the
Rolling Stones, who sang “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.” Bravo Mick Jagger and Keith Richards! Seeking and receiving feedback is not always easy. It makes us vulnerable and can make us feel uncomfortable. However, directing that process and taking responsibility for it ensures that you continue to grow… that you’ll continue to strive and thrive as a snowsports instructor.
Robin Barnes is a member of the PSIA Alpine Team, the ski and snowboard school director in Portillo, Chile, and an instructor at California’s Heavenly Mountain Resort. Email:
robinbarnesusa@netscape.net
GRANT NAKAMURA
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