How to get better at skiing if you're already pretty good??

[BeanoNYC]

^^^Long time/No see Steve^^^

Take a half day lesson with John Egan at Sugarbush.

 

[JimG.]

Someone mentioned lessons... but I would like to know has any one here jumped from advanced to "ski anything expert" by taking lessons? I think it is more important to watch, follow, emulate, and challenge yourself frequently.

I particularly agree with this.

And I also believe it helps to ski an area frequently and the same runs so they become more familiar. This decreases any fear of the unknown and promotes an awareness of skill utilization, rhythm, and timing. You think about skiing well, not about where you are going.

 

[abc]

Someone mentioned lessons... but I would like to know has any one here jumped from advanced to "ski anything expert" by taking lessons? I think it is more important to watch, follow, emulate, and challenge yourself frequently. You have to be committed, you have to approach it from a very mental and analytic level. You have to make it your own and own it.

Are we talking about mental aspect? Or technique? If it's about technique, lesson is the best way to achieve it.

There're lessons, then there're lessons.

If Bode Miller and Lindsey Von can benefit from "lessons", so can anybody else. The trick is finding the right instructor. And we're not talking about one single lesson either.

Also, I seriously doubt anyone can "jump" to a whole new level over ONE (or even a few) lessons! Especially in the higher level, it takes a much smaller changes to make a difference in performance. In my younger days, I was a half way decent competitive badminton player (nationnally ranked). But to make a change in my smash, it took nearly half a YEAR of 3 days/week of working with a coach to get it dialed in. The result was pretty significant. Much more powerful with the same effort. I can only imagine to fine tune a movement on skis will not be any simpler. It'll take time and takes focus.

Watching and imitating others will help but it could only go so far. A lot of times, small ingrained bad movements are hard to self-detect and will inhibit progress. That's when a good instructor will be of great help. (Mind you, that "instructor" doesn't have to be a paid one. But it still would be a focused working on technique with outside guidian)

Whether a recreational skier care to work so haard to improve is an entirely different matter.

But left alone, most people tend to "plateau" at whatever the level they last had intensive instruction on.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

I just go out and ski as much as I can.

 

[Smellytele]

Well I need to get some racing lessons because I suck. people that I can beat in the bumps, woods and on most trails all seem to kick my ass on the race course. I don't know if it is mental and/or I don't like being told when to turn or what but I just suck at it. More skiing is not going to help unless it is gates. I do not find skiing gates enjoyable at all probably because I suck at it.

 

[SkiFanE]

Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller get training. Lessons are different. I agree they can be good for some people, but at a certain point they are useless unless you also spend time skiing, lots of it.

For me, simple things stick in my brain that I work on. Get these from my kids coaches or videos. NBut the thought is spending a perfect ski day with an instructor would make me want to poke my eyes out lol.

I haven't had a ski lesson since middle school
but I'm pretty dang good on all terrain. All from what ive mentioned. Finally figured out bumps on a warm spring day when I was miserable pushing the snow around. Everyone else was happy, having a ball. Knew there had to be technique I was missing. Kept changing my stance, weight, speed, etc...and hot damn I figured it out and haven't ever chosen a groomer by choice since. Maybe it's athleticism and stubbornness lol, but plateauing without lessons is BS. Of all my regulars 50+ day ski buddies I can't think of any that have taken a lesson as long as I've known them. We just ski ski ski no matter the conditions.

Are we talking about mental aspect? Or technique? If it's about technique, lesson is the best way to achieve it.

There're lessons, then there're lessons.

If Bode Miller and Lindsey Von can benefit from "lessons", so can anybody else. The trick is finding the right instructor. And we're not talking about one single lesson either.

Also, I seriously doubt anyone can "jump" to a whole new level over ONE (or even a few) lessons! Especially in the higher level, it takes a much smaller changes to make a difference in performance. In my younger days, I was a half way decent competitive badminton player (nationnally ranked). But to make a change in my smash, it took nearly half a YEAR of 3 days/week of working with a coach to get it dialed in. The result was pretty significant. Much more powerful with the same effort. I can only imagine to fine tune a movement on skis will not be any simpler. It'll take time and takes focus.

Watching and imitating others will help but it could only go so far. A lot of times, small ingrained bad movements are hard to self-detect and will inhibit progress. That's when a good instructor will be of great help. (Mind you, that "instructor" doesn't have to be a paid one. But it still would be a focused working on technique with outside guidian)

Whether a recreational skier care to work so haard to improve is an entirely different matter.

But left alone, most people tend to "plateau" at whatever the level they last had intensive instruction on.

 

[dmc]

Maybe your as good as your going to get?

 

[drjeff]

Maybe your as good as your going to get?

I had that epiphany with golf a number of years ago, or atleast I thought I did

I was getting quite frustrated in that I had plateaued at a certain level, which was just a bit below a level that I had been at a few years prior (when I was playing a bunch more) and I started to mentally obsess about a whole host of the the mechanics of my swing, and I was getting worse

Then one day I just kind of stopped worrying about 100 minor details at once as I was trying to swing the club and just started playing. I got better with the same amount of practice as before.

Sometimes I feel that the same thing can happen with one's skiing, they start to way over think every turn (hand position, upper body position, hip position, angulation, ankle flex, etc, etc, etc) and it's far more than the brain can actively do at once (atleast it is for my brain ) So when i'm working on something on the hill, I just try and focus on 1 specific thing and let the rest happen, and for me that keeps me maybe not progressing(that age thing I am starting to realize does begin to factor in a bit ), but atleast no regressing

For me atleast I find that the old KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle really helps define my "zen" of downhill snowsliding these days

 

[dmc]

For me atleast I find that the old KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle really helps define my "zen" of downhill snowsliding these days

I like the way you think!!

I don't feel the urge to learn anymore.. I am where I am.. I pick things up naturally now.. I have all the base skills..

 

[steamboat1]

At 56 years young it's all down hill from here.

 

[AdironRider]

Honestly, I willing to bet most people on this board are better than your run of the mill ski instructor to begin with as it is. Most ski instructors arent the bee's knees at skiing, and dont give me PSIA stuff, cause thats a joke.

Lessons are a waste of money unless you are putting your kid in a kids program for the season or a never ever (max intermediate).

 

[BenedictGomez]

Lessons are a waste of money unless you are putting your kid in a kids program for the season or a never ever (max intermediate).

Lol, whut?

I am not a ski instructor, and thus not biased, but as someone who worked at a ski resort and stationed at the instruction area encountering literally thousands of skiers taking lessons over a 5 or 6 year period, from "never evers" through "advanced", I'm quite comfortable labeling your above as a definitively false statement.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Honestly, I willing to bet most people on this board are better than your run of the mill ski instructor to begin with as it is. Most ski instructors arent the bee's knees at skiing, and dont give me PSIA stuff, cause thats a joke.

Lessons are a waste of money unless you are putting your kid in a kids program for the season or a never ever (max intermediate).

What you say about instructors is true but one thing most instructors learn is how to dumb things down into simple drills that simplify the learning process. I am sure there are plenty of skiers/boarders that have never been instructors and are really good at doing this but sometimes I cringe when I hear people without a clue trying to teach friends/family on the mountain.

 

[subdude]

Take an advanced lesson, nothing like another pair of eyes to see what you are doing..I do once a year...

this, and request a level III instructor if there's one available.

 

[AdironRider]

Lol, whut?

I am not a ski instructor, and thus not biased, but as someone who worked at a ski resort and stationed at the instruction area encountering literally thousands of skiers taking lessons over a 5 or 6 year period, from "never evers" through "advanced", I'm quite comfortable labeling your above as a definitively false statement.

And they were wasting their money above the intermediate level.

We laugh to the bank at what people will pay for a lesson here when they absolutely dont need it. How much improvement are you going to see from a ski instructor for a couple hours? Zero, its all about skiing more, not having some skid tell you how rad you are.

 

[AdironRider]

this, and request a level III instructor if there's one available.

Why? You realize its just passing a test right. I think we can all pass a test if we want to. Requests usually result in paying for a private lesson as well.

For advanced skiers the value ratio is so far out of having it be worth it its laughable.

 

[SIKSKIER]

DMC and Riv said it best.Ski with somebody better than you that you can stay behind without being out of control.Its how I progressed to the "I got it it now" point.Its amazing how much you'll pick up if you can turn where they turn and feel that same arc instead of skid.I do have friends that will try to stay with us when were cranking fast turns,and they do but they are not learning anything as its all a high speed skidfest and a scary one at that.

 

[MadMadWorld]

And they were wasting their money above the intermediate level.

We laugh to the bank at what people will pay for a lesson here when they absolutely dont need it. How much improvement are you going to see from a ski instructor for a couple hours? Zero, its all about skiing more, not having some skid tell you how rad you are.

Saying a person would learn zero in a couple of hours with an instructor is absolutely not true. The thing I learned most from clinics were the why and how behind certain techniques. Having that comes in very handy.

 

[Cheese]

What you say about instructors is true but one thing most instructors learn is how to dumb things down into simple drills that simplify the learning process. I am sure there are plenty of skiers/boarders that have never been instructors and are really good at doing this but sometimes I cringe when I hear people without a clue trying to teach friends/family on the mountain.

More than just simplifying they have a basket of methods for teaching a single skill. Sometimes a student just can't grasp method A, B or C. A good instructor has method D, E and F ready in hopes one of them will make sense to the student.

So it may not just be the people without a clue trying to teach friends/family but rather a narrow minded expert that doesn't know enough about teaching or the student to explain it in several different ways.

 

[Scruffy]

Honestly, I willing to bet most people on this board are better than your run of the mill ski instructor to begin with as it is. Most ski instructors arent the bee's knees at skiing, and dont give me PSIA stuff, cause thats a joke.

Lessons are a waste of money unless you are putting your kid in a kids program for the season or a never ever (max intermediate).

I think your mileage may vary on this. I can certainly see your point can be valid from some experiences I have had with lessons. However, on the flip side, if you can arrange to take lessons from a very good level III instructor ( or better yet, one whom teaches the level III ) it may be worth your while. Of course, this all depends on your own level and what you want to achieve.

All I know is; I know Master level racers and they go to race camp for at least one week every year and they learn something new each time, and improve. I've skied with a guy that developed the courses that taught the level III examiners and learned stuff. This sport has a near infinite level of attainment. The problem with "just ski more" is you just reenforce bad habits that may make you plateau. This may be a high level plateau, and you may not care if you can ski anything the way you want to; but there could also be room for improvement or advancement. Again YMMV. When I take lessons now, I research the instructors and ask form them, if I can't get them, I don't waste my time. Just walking up blind to the lesson table and asking for an advance instructor is a crap shoot.
Also, at any advanced level, you need to be very specific about what you want out of the lesson and if the person is not listening during the lesson, it's time to correct it asap or bail.