To continue with the theme of my recent learning experience when
skiing in Bulgaria.
We were receiving 5 hours per day at ski school, from 10am –
3pm. For the first few days that was
quite a shock to the system; we were expecting 10am – mid-day and then meeting
up with the nippers for lunch and a chance to ski together. So when we did finish at 3pm, we made a point
of spending quality time with them, and seeing how there were getting on.
Despite having had no previous experience at
all, they were able to stop and turn using the ‘snow plough’ technique after
Day 1 (and they did a hilarious imitation of their Instructor with broken
English and Bulgarian accent). As such,
that time from 3 – 5pm proved to be very useful for them, as they enjoyed the
freedom of getting out and skiing without the constraints imposed in the ski
school.
Their eyes lit up the first time we took them out from the
nursery slopes and said, “Just enjoy yourself and ski”. This freedom to consolidate what you have
been taught is no small thing, it is something that I positively encourage on
my Intensive Driving Course. They had
been shown, and practised (a great deal) how to controllably turn and stop, but
they hadn’t been given the freedom to “just ski”; it was absolutely magical to
witness. Too much focussed effort on
technique can be ever so draining (mentally and physically), sometimes you just
need to find an appropriately safe place to consolidate without being
controlled.
The beauty with this
approach for our nippers, was that they were always one step ahead at Ski
School, they had already been out on greens and blues with us, before their Ski
School introduced them, so they were very happy and in their comfort zone; this
made for a very enjoyable learning experience.
(The DSA do state that the majority of first time passers of the Driving
Test, utilise parents for private lessons between lessons with their Driving
Instructor).
The situation was different for me and my Wife though. Because we had a couple of weak links in our
team (see previous “golden nuggets” blog), that resulted in very intensive
technique drills for long periods of time.
I have sympathy for the Instructor here as he was caught between a rock
and a hard place; the safety of the entire group is his responsibility. But it did demonstrate to me the importance
of ensuring the level of instruction is matched to the ability of the ‘individual learner’. People quickly get demotivated if they are
not being challenged.
Conversely, we had a newcomer come to us mid-week who was a
previous black slope skier, but has lost confidence with age. Despite her previous ability to physically
ski to a high standard, her mind was now dominating matters and ultimately restricting her
ability. I see this in the driving
world, where the brain (emotions, anxieties, attitudes) affect
performance. A black slope skier said to
me on Day 5 (which was a very demanding day due to poor weather conditions), “No
skier of any ability LIKES skiing in these conditions. For me, it’s all about
ignoring the ice, and focussing on finding the small pocket of snow that I can
work with to control my speed” – an example of how it’s always interesting to
hear how the mind works.
But what my Wife and this ex-black slope skier who joined us were both independently
saying was that they needed some kind of recognition from the Instructor that
he had faith in their ability; a very important missing link. Don’t get me wrong, our Instructor was busy,
he had a lot on his plate to deal with, but sometimes people just need some
encouragement, some morale boosting to say “Yes, you CAN do this slope, you ARE
good enough to do this, I would not put you here if I thought not”.
All of us need encouragement, and it is quite
natural to want to be told in very clear terms precisely how well you are
doing and that someone has faith in your ability; with 10 people our instructor struggled with this, but as my Intensive Driving
Course is 1:1, this important aspect is not overlooked.
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