Some Thoughts from Park City...

I was looking through notes from my recent trip to Park City where I attended a bank of national meetings for USSA. Thumbing through the pages, I am finding many things. One thought pattern that began to develop in a discussion on Youth Development was of particular interest to me. It very much aligns with my own philosophies and I think all of our coaches share the same thoughts.

I will keep this brief, as I know it is coming on Summer…

The discussion pointed out that for our youth, well managed competition and training can and should be used to nurture physical skills, technical skills and preparation for the future. This all becomes very intertwined…Here at Whitefish we teach a lot; we spend time on skill development searching for improvement and mastery. While it is tempting to just ski, ski, ski (and skiing is very important), without the mastery of basic fundamental skills, true potential will be difficult to realize. As skills are cemented and mastered, free-skiing becomes the playground where the athlete learns to employ those skills in many different ways and in many different situations. However, without mastery of the skills, less productive habits can and will be patterned.

Much the same is true with gate training. Gate training for our younger skiers should be included in the teaching aspect, designed to help develop fundamental skills, then provide the right amount of challenge to promote accelerated learning. As skiers progress, we should never abandon an emphasis on fundamental skills, but gate training can also evolve to more difficult challenges and even race simulation.

Lots of skiing and race simulation (without teaching development) can lead to improvement, but without the work of developing the proper foundation that improvement is limited. Remember the Leaning Tower of Pisa; quite a building, but obviously lacking the proper foundation…The building is beautiful, but has taken a great deal of energy and modifications to try to make up for the lack of a proper foundation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa

Well managed racing and competition are an integral part of the process. Properly chosen and administered, it provides a goal structure and challenge that is a very effective growth/learning stimulus.

Our approach emphasizes long-term success. Time spent on the foundation of skill development and mastery will provide us with a much better long-term outcome.

Thanks for listening…hope you enjoy the program!

Roy