Popping is just one entry-level terrain park skill that can easily be developed just about anywhere outside of the park.
park to develop the skills they’ll need for the features in the park. T is isn’t a new teaching style (after all, a classic mantra for instructors is “new skills, old terrain; old skills, new terrain”), but it doesn’t hurt to remind yourself how useful it is. For example, one critical component
of many freestyle tricks – from ollies and straight airs to successful rail slides – is the projection of primary (or POP) the rider applies to get airborne or otherwise move from the approach and takeoff into the maneuver and landing phases. By working outside of the park to teach students how to pop, you’ll boost their confi dence through repetition in a familiar environment. When you think about it, the park often only has a few features, so riders don’t have that many opportunities to work on their POP before they’re done with that run. In contrast, popping outside of the park on small bumps, natural rollers, or even on the fl ats 25 times can be better for working on fundamentals than focusing on three to four small jumps in the park. T e repetition also gives you more time to watch students and give them feedback.
GET DOWN IN THE DIRT And before students try their fi rst straight airs off a jump, focus on fundamentals of duration, intensity, rate, and timing on the adjacent runs. In some ways, taking off from a jump and doing a straight air is a lot like making an arced turn, except it’s done on a vertical plane rather than the horizontal plane we ski on. When transitioning from the fi nishing phase of a turn into the initiation phase, skiers move their center of mass in the direction they want to go; more specifi cally, the apex of the next turn. T is is the exact same thing skiers do when they POP off a jump; the only diff erence is the faster rate of extension into the apex, which provides the power to lift off the ground. Popping is just one entry-level terrain
park skill that can easily be developed just about anywhere outside of the park.
Learning to tweak the skills students already have and using them in a freestyle-y way builds confi dence for the park. T is can also turn the rest of the mountain into one big terrain park while preparing the student for many happy sessions on the park’s diverse features. Freestyle is a unique and vibrant part of the snowsports experience, but while some tricks are complicated, your students’ fi rst taste of freestyle should be easy peasy.
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NEW FREESTYLE TECHNICAL MANUAL CAN BE YOUR BEST RIDING BUDDY
Want to get even more pop out of your freestyle lessons? Pick up a copy of PSIA- AASI’s new Freestyle Technical Manual – available in digital and print format – through the Accessories Catalog at
TheSnowPros.org. ΖQ LW \RXȇOO fi QG H[SHUW DGYLFH DQG URFN solid progressions for the park and beyond. And it’s all enhanced by videos that make the learning come alive.
VIEW VIDEO
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Get dialed in on tactics for teaching and ollie with this video from the Freestyle Technical Manual.
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