A very Happy New Year to everyone reading. I hope 2013 proves to be a good year for you,
and if learning to drive is one of your New Year Resolutions, then “go for it”!
My family and I have just returned from a skiing holiday
where the spirit of “go for it” featured large. My Wife and I have some ski experience but
the last time we went was 14 years ago, and our 2 young kids are absolute beginners. What I experienced is probably worth sharing
with you, especially if you have some nerves or you are a little anxious about
your first driving lessons.
Our two kids started off on Day 1 in the absolute beginners,
leaving my Wife and I having to decide which class to put ourselves in for the
Ski School. We had a brief chat with
some Instructors and they told us despite the long gap, put ourselves in the ‘intermediate’
class as apparently “you do not forget what you’ve previously done”. How true that turned out to be.
In our group we had 8-10 people, ranging from 12 years, up
to I would guess about 55 years. Our
Instructor seemed a nice enough chap but had very little English and showed
little emotion.
I was nervous, but the sun was shining and so with a big
deep breath we started skiing. For any
skiers out there, we were concentrating on ‘parallel turns – basic form’. Although we started off on a green slope,
then a blue, we were soon on the chair lifts going on to the reds (which is of ‘intermediate’
level). This is where things began to
get interesting. Little cracks in our
group began to appear. This is often the
way in my driving world too, if there are any slight flaws in technique, then
more demanding conditions tend to expose them; so some began to fall and that
then knocked confidence which then further affected their ability – a nasty
downward spiral.
However, unlike my driving world of 1:1 instruction, our
Instructor had quite a problem on his hands, because despite spending time on
some drills to improve technique, a couple of the group were not motivated to
get down to the real detail of improving technique. Why is difficult to know. Perhaps it takes extra mental and physical
effort which they were not prepared to invest in, perhaps they didn’t like to
experiment by doing something new through the fear of falling over, perhaps
they didn’t have enough trust in the Instructor.... maybe they simply didn’t
like to look stupid on the mountains doing precise drills for technique. Whatever the reason, when we then went back
to ski a demanding route again, bang...... off they came again. And one rule when skiing is to stick together
for safety, so the couple who were not putting the effort in on the drills were
now affecting the progress of the majority of the group.
But if you have read my blog for a while you may recall me
referring to ‘golden nuggets’. In a
learning experience, no matter what it is, there can come a time when something
is said or done that you really connect to, I mean REALLY connect to; it makes
you take a huge leap forward in progress.
My ‘golden nugget’ came on Day 3.
We were on an icy red slope, people were falling all around us, and my
Instructor took a moment to do a drill.
Let me briefly explain what he did.
He demonstrated skiing across the slope whilst turning downwards and
showing he was truly turning downwards by putting both ski poles directly
behind him, so the tips of the poles were pointing up the mountain. Hope you can picture that? You don't normally do this when skiing, but this was the drill, and for very good reason.
So, off I go, and do you know for the couple
of times I did that drill, I instantly got a result, a huge moment for me. You see by turning to that degree, rotating
at the hips, you also force the ski blades to alter the angle they cut into the
snow (or ice) and this has a profound effect on control – which means no
sliding, and no falling. If I
immediately did this action after a turn, it ensured I kept full control, it
was truly magical, and something that will stay with me for years. I can literally picture how this looks as I
type about it now.
There is no substitute for having full control when skiing (or
driving too) .... and so this was a massive moment for me. It reinforced for me the importance of
providing options for people, options to learn. I can’t honestly say anyone else in my group
made mention of this drill afterwards, but for me, it worked, and I am a great
believer in discovering ‘golden nuggets’ on my driving courses.
More to come.....
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