Alpine Ski Racing, a child's experience, a philosophical approach, U10 Championships

[@gamotua]

After 2 yrs of teaching my daughter, she has joined the ski team at 11. She had her first team race this last weekend. We watch 2 videos every drive up to the mountain and work on fundamentals. She took first in her first race ever. So proud as a parent, we took it as a learning experience and most importantly a FUN experience.

[@michaellane203]

Deb It's always so cool to see and hear your interactions with your students of all ages! But, I think you have a very special interaction with kids and those are the ones I enjoy watching the most. You're an inspiration, keep doing what you're doing 👏 😃!

[@stevenbeyea1670]

I love all your videos, but this one in particular really resonated. As the dad of a U10 racer, last summer I found myself reflecting on the (poor) job I had done as a ski race parent the previous season. Frankly, I felt I that I had bought into his desire to be in gates all the time, do races all the time, etc. I self reflected because I had noticed that although my son still loved skiing that he was starting to see it as « work ». This year we took a markedly different approach, more focused on experiences where sometimes the coaches were teaching and sometimes the mountain would teach, and yes sometimes gates and races but mostly just getting time on snow. I can see the more pure joy of skiing come back! Even when it comes to the races he did do he told me that in the start gate he didn’t feel nervous, he just thought about how fun it is to fly through gates and how great it feels to cross a finish line! This week was an exemplar, where he had heard about a race some teammates were traveling to and he asked if we could go. We told him that A) instead of going to yet another race and spending most of his days standing around waiting to do a 60 second run, we were coming to Mont Sainte Anne for the week and he could just ski as much as he wanted, and B) after 4 podium finishes in two race events he could just go into the summer proud of what he accomplished and he didn’t need to do one more race to change that. At MSA this week he picks every trail… his call on bumps, trees, steep groomers etc. Just ski and have fun. No coaching. No video review. Just pure fun. And… the mountain has taught him and me a lot along the way! :-)

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

Good stuff

[@stevenbeyea1670]

@@DebArmstrongSkiStrong there was a related lovely moment on the lift yesterday. I had commented that it is good to know your limits when he said that he’d love to try the freestyle mogul course they were building but that he wouldn’t do any flips. He responded « But I don’t know what my limit is unless I take risks! Just like this week, there were some runs I was nervous to do, but I did them and now I know I can do it. ». It was a wonderfully mature thought from a 9 year old, and a lovely « lift talk » moment as a parent. The power of free skiing!! :-)

[@benbingham3615]

What they said... you're a great champion who is a great teacher. I can hear you when i'm skiing !

[@AndreaHamiltonWA]

So good. We're all proud of Hogan. Teaching is so rewarding. I love working with our teenagers, they learn how to teach the 3-year olds to ski in the Alpentykes program. I think next lesson we'll invent a new trick. THANK YOU for the "fun" reminder!

[@kkrsnn5632]

The little kids just beginning to ski is such a great and amazing view 😊

[@MisterHughes]

In the 30 years I've worked with young racers I've always insisted the program is not all poles and gates. When kids have come to me from other coaches and I'm doing a technical session, or a play session, so often it'll be only 3 or 4 runs before they say "Can we have the gates out?" These are the same kids who will quit around 14 - 15 years old. I spoke to an old friend who got her FIS license when she was 16 years old, did a single season and quit. She's 45 years old now and hasn't skied in over 25 years. I was invited to come back to a club I worked with when I was very young, and I argued hard the training sessions can not be all gates. There had to be technical sessions with no gates, and there had to be fun sessions too. There will always be kids who quit, but if they believe skiing is only valid if it's through gates, once they are bored of racing there's a strong chance they'll be gone for good. They miss out, and the sport misses out.

[@josephregan1007]

Deb these videos are so beautiful, so authentic and so inspiring. Thank you for your commitment to sharing with us :)

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

Thank you!!!!! appreciate it

[@wayneyancey6422]

That was AWESOME Deb. You inspire me to be a better instructor by adding to my bag of tips, tricks, and philosophy. Thanks.

[@death2pc]

Fun IS everything. From THERE it WILL develop.

[@miquelcrespo7515]

Always nice vlogs! ✌️

[@krzysztofkr7878]

beautyfull... :')

[@colinclark737]

Deb, What are your thoughts about keeping U10’s in stubbies for slalom versus the 60 inch gates where they do learn how to cross block at this age?

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

Whatever the rational, philosophy, approach, just be sure to do.it really well. I don't see a right or wrong. A food coach with a good approach and progression will get good results.

[@Banks231]

why the lift chair restriction bar is always open in the US?

[@philiplacey5430]

We are ungovernable.

[@kjjhrgt]

Deb, what do you think is the best age to start competetive skiing? There are coaches who say that racing under 12yo is counter-productive because of stress and demotivation related to frustration caused by losing/ not winning. Is it a viable stance?

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

Yes for sure, that is a valuable view. Competition is extremely complex and can be damaging if not handled well for every kid. The kid who wins and the kid who does not.

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

A lot of articles have been written about Norways approach to competitive sports. Check those out.

[@jtwoolley]

where is this

[@DebArmstrongSkiStrong]

Telluride

[@judithwright1505]

Great video BUT please when you’re interviewing kids on the chairlift put down the safety bar . It’s not cool to ride the chair with the bar up. You and your kids are role models for skiing and for human interactions . Add safety to that list.