MAKING THE CASE FOR TECHNICAL AND TACTICAL DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE

DIRECTION OF A DESIGNATED SKIING COACH by

Tom Reynolds

In this article I will approach the subject of technical/tactical development through introducing a warm-up system designed to enhance balance and timing while building turn shapes, utilizing skill progressions, as well as allotted time for free skiing under the leadership of a designated skiing coach. I am not aware of any sport other than ski racing that does not have a warm-up system, involving movement patterns for the sport at hand.

Hockey players have a skating coach and a warm-up routine. Tennis players have a standard warm-up sequence. I could go on to document the same for other sports. Yet, young ski racers get off the lift and start down the mountain with no thought in mind to warm-up and coordinate their skill package for the day. The warm-up routine (skills progression) outlined in this article is not carved in stone. Programs can develop one of their own. Ownership of specific components in any program lays the groundwork for success. I highly recommend incorporating a warm-up skills progression in all competitive skiing programs, to assist athletes in building ownership of their movement patterns in the sport of alpine racing. I suggest introducing the program and coordinating it throughout the year under the direction of a designated skiing coach. The Designated Skiing Coach This coach needs to be an exceptional free skier with complete knowledge and command of the mountain. He/she will have extensive insight into skill development, as well as an eagle eye for recognizing both technical excellence and tactical deficiencies caused by lack of ability, insufficient basics, or equipment inadequacies. This will not only enhance the total development of the alpine athlete, but could also create opportunities for the rehabilitation of skiers coming back from injuries, as well as the athlete, whose skiing has gone flat, or is suffering from a confidence loss. The major responsibilities of a designated skiing coach would be to introduce and implement a system to enhance technical/tactical development throughout a total program, establishing one day a week during the season where this person rotates through each skiing group with skill progressions and directed free skiing time. For example, if a program was divided into four groups according to age and ability, this coach could spend one day each week with each group, working on technique and tactics while free skiing on the mountain. This coach would be responsible for all ski boot work that involves balance and alignment of the athlete, lateral canting, and cuff adjustments for height, flex, as well as ramp angles. The skiing coach may also be in charge of athlete video work and preparation for individual competitor review later in the day. Other duties might include actively perusing World Cup DVDs and communicating with U.S.S.A Ski Coaches Association, so that the entire staff remains abreast with current standards and developments. With the assignment of a skiing coach it will become possible for on-hill coaches to focus on the daily coaching responsibilities. For example; course setting for

technical disciplines, safety procedures in speed training, as well as race scheduling, periodization for the athlete, travel arrangements, and dealing with supplier representatives for equipment evaluation, advisement, and procurement. The Importance of Utilizing a Skills Progression—Day to Day The following is an example of how a skiing coach might introduce a skills progression during pre-season on-snow development, meeting with a different group each day. The focus would be to observe each athlete’s turn shapes on blue/black terrain while skiing three runs at moderate speeds. No technical instruction will be given prior to the three runs which will be run in a series of sections, 200-300 yards over a total trail. Run one will be skied with mid-radius turns. Run two follows with round fall-line turns, and run three is a combination of mid-radius and fall-line turns with rhythm breaks. All runs would be videotaped. Observations of stance, balance, and need for boot adjustments would become evident for follow-up. The video of the runs will be discussed off-hill. A follow-up on-snow will introduce a skills development progression with emphasis on stance, balance, timing, tempo, rhythm, and turn shape. Add to this the elements of turn entry (cross over), as it applies to the rise line, the fall line, and terrain variables. Also included in this skills progression will be the elements of turn exit and transition skills, rising forward, compact glide phase, and extended glide phase. An example of one such skills progression follows, to be skied on blue/black terrain at moderate speeds. The athlete should have a relaxed clear mind, be in balance, and work from an athletic stance. The task will be a non-stop run with concentration on completing each turn arc and emphasizing the glide phase through turn connections:

• Begin linking narrow wedge turns. • Ski tips should become aligned at turn entry. • Skis should remain aligned to the terrain (approximately at hip width)

throughout the transition. Eliminate the gliding wedge. Continue emphasizing turn shape. Move into turn entry with a fluid cross-over movement, showing matched edge angles with both the inside and the outside ski. Concentrate on body alignment. In skiing terms this is called stacking—the alignment of feet, legs, hips, shoulders.

• High inside hip.

• Relaxed active inside leg (retracted knee). • Extended dominant outside leg with appropriate edge angle for

terrain. Emphasize the glide phase from turn exit through transition.

• The body should be rising forward accompanied by smooth hips and relaxed hands through the transition area.

• The legs will relax, the ankles straighten, and the feet move forward under the body.

• The hips will unite over the feet (re-centering), as the athlete prepares for the next turn entry.

The above theme should include 200-300 yards or more of terrain, depending on the needs of the athletes. Continue this sequence, placing emphasis upon utilizing matched skis with corresponding edge angles, according to the terrain. Complete all turn arcs. Conclude the progression by moving the revolutions up to full speed for the event to be raced or trained that day. Athletes need to utilize a progression daily for warm-up, cool-out, or remedial work. Once athletes are familiar with a skill progression, it will involve no more than a single run of skiing and only minutes of their time. The designated coach responsible for a free-skiing technical/tactical program should utilize the progression each time he/she skis with the group. Once installed, a progression will simply become a skiing technical/tactical review outside of gates used daily throughout the season by the competitors. Rule Of Thumb:

• Competitors should always warm-up prior to going into a training course with turn shapes, rhythm, and speeds for the event being skied that day.

• Make use of every inch of terrain including ‘working the flats’. • Never leave the hill at the end of a training session while making poor

turns. • Cool out with rhythm, tempo, and turn shapes.

Introducing Proprioception to Skiing Movement Patterns Proprioception and skiing movement patterns are not muscle memory. Muscles do not have a memory. They need to be continually stimulated from the mind to the nerve spindles in order that efficient movement patterns

may be executed in any sport. Let us begin with Webster’s Collegiate dictionary which defines proprioception as a stimulus, rising within an organism; such as, sensations and feedback. The human feet have 200,000 receptors. The muscle spindles in the feet receive the sensory message, which is put into action by various stimuli; such as, changes in limb positions. Skill progressions activate this process, developing the athletes’ feel for the snow which originates in the feet. Proprioception: Developing the Feel for Foot/Snow Interaction In order to benefit from warm-up/cool-out progressions, it is important to understand proprioception as it applies to skiing movement patterns. As human beings we are all similar, but different in a variety of aspects; such as, age, eyesight, strength, suppleness, body build, as well as the ability to utilize our proprioceptive senses. However, as athletes, we can benefit from splitting our time on the hill among the following: practicing excellence in movement patterns, working drill sequences, training race disciplines, and skiing the entire mountain. Understanding the importance of proprioception to skiing movement patterns will contribute to the athlete’s development. Specific Motor Programming can be introduced through a basic movement pattern specific to the sport at hand. In this case it is a basic skiing progression. Ownership is declared through repetition. The ownership might be judged ‘foolproof’, as long as everything remains constant. This is not true in ski racing, as snow conditions on a race course are constantly changing. However, the repetition of a skiing skills progression has introduced a general motor programming reaction which governs an athlete’s movement behavior, as snow conditions change. At this point the template/computer effect kicks in, and balance adjustments can be made, bringing the athlete back on track, and utilizing the movement patterns that relate to the basic skiing progression learned through specific motor programming. General Motor Programming is known as lateral learning. It enables the athlete to make various technical adjustments in balance and coordination in

the alpine disciplines to snow conditions and terrain. Drills compliment lateral learning. Drills can introduce quickness, agility, and balance. Drills may vary in form and be introduced on a variety of terrain. Skiers, who have introduction and continuity to both programs, along with mountain free skiing will have the best chance to ski at peak performance while making natural adjustments to snow conditions, terrain, and speeds on race courses. Train Intelligently: The Path to Success Keep in mind that speed is not simply the result of technique and tactics. Sound basics, technical and tactical adjustments, and athletic ability each make a contribution to a racer’s success. However, speed itself is manifested by the desire to go faster than anyone else from start to finish. However, I have a fundamental belief that sound basics will make a contribution to positive results. In the process of mastering the basics, remember to make learning ‘fun’. Coaches should avoid verbalizing complex concepts. A simple explanation, accompanied by a well demonstrated movement pattern, will usually do the job. Establish sound training habits, by building directed free skiing and skill progressions into your program with a designated skiing coach. Begin your day with a warm-up. Finish your day with a cool-out.