Training for Great Instructing ​

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Great instructing will create a better experience for your students, generate positive social media, increase safety, and it is more fun.                                                             

                                   

                                                      Mt. Holly Clinics 

 

We require three clinics each season. There will be clinics to improve your teaching and skiing or riding. Most clinics are offered in December before the Christmas holidays.

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                                          Pine Knob Clinics

 

Here is the signup for clinics. Customers will purchase multiweek programs online. You need to attend the indoor and on hill clinics for the program you want to teach. You will be committing to teach the entire student lesson program for 4 hours a week which will be 6 weeks. That will be 24 hours of teaching at the rate of private lessons or $1020 for the program.

 

The programs are students patch lessons, Superstars, Kindersparks, and Discover Michigan. Everyone who teaches privates should take the indoor and on hill clinics for private lessons. Instructors who participate will be listed higher on Only Sky and get a quality recommendation. We have created quality standards please look for them on the New Quality Standards page. 

          

There are 5 question reviews at the end of several sections of this website. We recommend everyone complete the reviews, we will have a record of all who complete the reviews. Please pay special attention to the how to teach page.  

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                                           Great instructing

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Teaching will be more fun if you develop a passion for teaching and constantly strive to improve the quality of your teaching. Meeting the needs of your students creates success. Focus on what they need rather than having a set plan you try to achieve. 

 

People skills are important, but we need to create success which will be more fun and increase safety.

Determine their goals and help them understand what it will take to achieve them. In many cases you will have to help them because many will not have a specific goal.

 

You will constantly evaluate how your students are doing, are they having fun or are they bored because you are going too slow? Are you going too fast and creating fear? If you can't tell ask them, and encourage them to let you know what they want.

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By going at the proper pace you will give them the skills they need to handle more challenging terrain, remember 'turns before terrain".

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Great teaching can convert students into returning customers. It takes a combination of: self awareness, attention to your students needs, personality, energy, a fun attitude, physical ability, confidence, and knowledge to respond to the unique physical and emotional needs of each student. You may also have to shape their expectations by helping them understand that improving is a process that will take time and practice.

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Always seek to improve your teaching and review every lesson for what went well or could have been done better. When you get returning customers, keep a log of what you did and what you want to work on for the next time.

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We have a strong emphasis on teaching beginners because it takes a lot of knowledge and skill to teach a great beginner lesson. You can have a big impact on someone giving them a lifetime of fun and adventure.

  

                                                Pine Knob New Ski Instructors

                                                                                                   

After the hiring clinic, first year instructors will begin a process of teaching each other and providing feedback as was done in the hiring clinic.

 

You will teach other new instructors who will be providing feedback. Then you switch roles and give feedback to other new instructors. 

                                                 

                                      Ski instructor self evaluation 

 

Use this to assess your performance or do a peer review with a friend

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Are you meeting the the quality goals for your lessons, especially beginners so they can turn and gradually go to steeper terrain.  

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People skills

 

1- Appearance- clean school jacket, name tag and helmet

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2- Speaks loud, makes eye contact, smiles, pleasant, confident, fun

 

3- Checks clothes and equipment, asks if cold or if feet hurt

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4- Asks questions of parents and/or student about goals and athletic background, encourages them to ask questions, focus on their needs not your plan 

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5- Provides clear goals and specific feedback. At the end tells them what is next, thanks them, invites them back, and schedules their next lesson if they would like to do it right away. Tells them where the restrooms and cafeteria is at. 

 

Teaching skills

 

All levels

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1- Pays attention to students and sets the pace based on their performance, not too fast or slow, asks if unsure, not a set plan, different tasks for each student if needed in semi private

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2- Provides a clear explanation and then specific feedback during or after performance especially for athletic stance, physically assisting when necessary, makes good demos. Always tells them to start in an athletic stance before every run, knows "Ski Moves" verse natural moves

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3- End lessons by telling them to ski in control and not hit anyone, reviews what to practice, where to ski and to gradually go higher when they can link turns and turn to a stop.

 

Beginners

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1- Before using the lift- walking, athletic stance, static exercises, side step, straight run, assistance using lift support at hips, proper spacing, support on and off rope and setting up to ski 

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2- Gliding wedge in athletic stance, bouncing on toes with chest over toes, touching knees, wedge change up, wedge stop, controls speed with T bar if icy or pushes if snow is slow, has students ski down next to carpet as soon as exiting, works with skis off when necessary, uses other tools like wedge maker and forward lean tool if necessary

 

3- Gliding wedge turns: in athletic stance, narrow wedge, with speed, slight turn, straight, then turn other way. Turn feet or push on big toes or combine. Specific number of big and small turns, turn to a stop at the end. Can see when knee is moved inside verse flexing the ankle, or if the hip move outside and flattens the ski, or if the knee is flexed rather than the ankle. Not doing: just one turn to a stop, starting in a traverse, skiing too slow, turning too far across the hill, or rushing from one turn to the next. Makes sure they know how to take off skis off, reset binding, and put on    

 

Intermediates

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1- Warm up run, evaluate, review athletic stance and wedge turns, explain chair use if needed, work on matching and pole use

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2- Use the "Big 3" on a gentle slope with speed, in athletic stance with small wedge, make slight turns. Turns often become parallel. Outside hand to knee. If needed, do deliberate matching statically and fan exercise for the bottom part of the turn first. Or static step on outside ski and match the skis, then starting in a steep traverse link turns to work on matching in the first half of the turn.

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3- Add early weight transfer, down and up motion, pole swing and touch

 

Advanced

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1- Warm up, evaluate, review athletic stance, review pole use if necessary

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2-  Uphill christie for progressive ankle flex and tip( angulation) drills. Turning both feet for skidded turns for most students. Exercises for SWIFT, progressions, opposite/extremes.

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3- Adding variety, size, shape, speed, steepness, conditions, moguls, and park for those interested

Smooth (continuous) flow over the feet while loading and unloading the skis, keep Big MO going downhill. Knows the "Ski Moves Image" when angulation ends to look for well timed ski moves.

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                                         Review for this section

                                                   2 of 10 reviews

                                              5 true or false questions