GSC JV/J6 Strategy

1. GSC JV/J6 Strategy 2011/2012 Season

2. Mission Provide an exciting place where young ski racers learn to enjoy the sport while mastering the fundamentals of ski racing

3. JV Strategy • Season’s strategy • Coaching philosophy • “Fun”-damentals • Game Plan

4. “The Seasons” • Pre-Season (before snow) • Early-Season (before Cannonball opens) • Mid-Season (through regional qualifiers) • Home Stretch (championships/spring Series)

5. Pre-Season • Recruiting • Parents & Coaches • Equipment • Swap & sell, Sizing support & Equipment preparation • Fit Day • Pre-Season Preparation • Parents: Cards and equipment • Coaches: Staffing, “game plan” & self education plus off snow team coaches clinic (self directed)

6. Early Season • Recommend pre-Gunstock on snow training (JV) • Encourage early snow training at “Rock” (JV&VI) • Focus on basics (easy to moderate terrain, speed & complexity) • Self sufficiency (especially for JVI’s) • Turn shape & size • Stance & balance • Pole swing • Arcing (on gentle terrain) • Regular 1:1 feedback focused on task/activity • No pre-set coaches assignments • Athletes grouped to enable progression mastery • No gates • Casual Goal Setting (why is the athlete participating?) • Offer tuning sessions w/parents in small setting

7. Mid-Season • Recommend “night” training 2nd/3rd year JV’s • Continued focus on basics (gradual advances in terrain, speed & complexity) • Turn shape & size • Stance & balance • Pole swing • Arcing & edge angles (significantly increased emphasis) • Gliding • More “individualized” feedback (in addition to “task/activity” feedback) • Some use of pre-set coach & athletes groupings using coaching pairs • Gate progression focused on line & tactics (extensive use of brushes, stubbies, helpers etc) • Race day readiness preparation • Some JVI’s and/or JV’s may “train up”

8. Home Stretch • More “individualized” feedback • More frequent use of pre-set coach in pairs & athletes groupings • More frequent use of “traditional” gate training • Increased focus on race day readiness • Introduction of cross blocking as appropriate

9. Coaching Philosophy ENSURE IT IS SAFE KEEP IT SIMPLE MAKE IT FUN

10. Mental Skills • Set goals for themselves with help from the coach (Goals for run, day and longer term) • Recognize the relationship between positive self talk and self confidence • Visualize themselves performing the task before actually doing it • Use “cue words” focused on goal and positive messaging • Perform the task, then review the performance to reinforce self learning

11. Coaching Tactics • Feedback should be informative and set the wheels of self discovery in motion • Exercises and drills isolate skills that need to be patterned to build good habits • Repetition is the key to success, mastery required before advancing • Boredom is the enemy • Emphasize positive • Engage using rewards (feedback, leadership trail choice, sender, etc) • Shoot straight “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”

12. More Coaching Tactics • Make sure athletes understand you • Simplify your message before you speak it • Use a mix of verbal, visual and experiential teaching tactics (verbal only hits 1/3 of the audience) • Engage athletes with real responsibilities • “Sender” • Demo’s • Self diagnosis & coaching • Peer coaching • Nominating most improved of the run • Etc

13. Make Every Run Count • What is my goal for this run? (e.g., be aggressive, run a straighter line) • 2. What is my focus for this run? (e.g., keep my arms in front) • 3. Can I see myself doing it? (use imagery to mentally practice what you want to achieve) • 4. Am I at my optimal intensity level? (Am I too psyched up? Too relaxed?) • 5. Am I committed to making this run? (Will I give it 100% and fight all the way down?)Note: This also means no “wasted” space. Skate out the top and tuck Stonebar when grouping up. Use ankle rolls going into the lift line, etc.

14. Highlight – Happy Moments What is a highlight? Any simple pleasure, little treasure, joy, lift, positive feeling, meaningful experience, magic moment, or anything else that lifts the quality of the day for that person • Help make those highlights • Encourage each athlete to identify a highlight everyday

15. Well Trained Artists

16. Diagnosis Recognizing the difference between is causing the problem vs. what effect the problem is causing. • Observe more than one repetition. • Chose a variety of viewing points (angles) to watch the performance from. • Look at global movements – how is the whole body moving? • Look at: • Basic stance • Action of the skis on the snow (carvings vs. sliding) • Motion of the skier’s mid-body • Asymmetries (matching angles) • Equipment (pole length, ski length) • Terrain/environment (is this the right place for this task at this time) • Psychology (overly aggressive or to apprehensive) • In gates, line & tactics (position on rise line, pressure timing, apex timing) • Look “bottom up” and “top down” • Look back a few turns (the root usually occurs a few turns back) Correction • Provide concise feedback (simplify in your head before speaking) on the desired movement that will replace the problem (your in the back seat doesn’t solve the problem) • Pull the athlete from an environment that makes correction to difficult, this means pull them gates, go to more gentle terrain, etc

17. Course Setting • Have a goal and set to promote that goal • Pick the right terrain for your goal • Use even rhythm and spacing in SL • Use tape in SL • Set “corridors” when you look up the hill • Plan ahead (the next shot in pool) • Set smart for the terrain & variables • Slow athletes down before pitches & combinations • Use the hill to create fall away and “banks” turns • Know your distances (SL 12M, 6M, .75) • Share sets & keep rhythm • Watch fall zones

18. “Fun”-damentals What is fast? The racer who can carve turns most cleanly while holding the tightest line throughout the course will have the most overall speed.

19. Turn Shape & Size • Turns shape should generally be “consistent” (i.e. doesn’t get longer and more shallow as the pitch/speed increase) • Turn size should be infinitively adjustable by the athlete (no 1 trick pony) • Athletes should think about turn shape and size before EVERY activity & watch their peer or coach demo • Turn shape is effected by ski’s, make sure the athlete is on the right ski (size & event if 2 pair)

20. Stance Stance Describes a skier’s natural posture on the skis in relation to the width of the feet. As further skill development occurs, the skier must develop the ability to adjust the width of stance to suit external conditions or events (SL, GS, SG, DH).

21. Balance Balance & Movement describes the skier’s ability to maintain an athletic posture. • Width of stance to suit event and conditions • Arms forward and open at chest height. • Upper body slightly rolled through the spine • Shoulders ahead of the knees (although you don’t break the waist to set the edge, you may as you release the edge to keep from going to the backseat, refer to zettel.pdf in “good reads”) • Knees and ankles flexed, adjust balance using ankles • Balance is felt predominantly through the feet (ball and toes) • Shin pressure is key!!!!! It’s your instant report card!!!! • Level shoulders at the apex (gate) is very important!!! • Watch out for “squatting”, use shin pressure and taller stance to correct

22. Pole Plant Completion phase - The skier is releasing the edge as the pole is swinging toward the front of the ski. Crossover point - The skier is changing edges as the pole is planted or just released. Initiation phase - The skier keepshands forward going into the turn. *** The main purpose of the pole plant is to re-center (timing). The racer should feel like the pressure moves from the heels to the toes as the pole plant is being made.  *** • In GS, the pole will swing wider and will not reach as far forward towards the tip as it will with SL. In GS, the pole plant also runs for a longer period of time driving through the turn. Also, in GS the pole plant will reach further “down the hill” brining the body forward and inside towards the fall line. • In SL, the pole plant doesn’t go as far down into the fall line. When people plant to close to their body/ski they usually have a “pole plant” hook or “row boat”. • In gates, remind the athletes that the “outside” hand begins to swing the pole plant before the gate and completes the touch right after passing the date.

23. Arc & Edge Angles • Increase edging with the feet, ankles and legs (steering) • Continue moving the upper body forward and inside the arc (inclination) • Maintain alignment, parallel shins, knees and hips(use inside ankle/knee to avoid locking/bracing, also watch for “scissoring”, pull inside foot back if needed) • Increase edging with inclination (long leg, not knee) • Early edge/tip pressure & load above & in fall-line is key! • Maintain the weight over the outside ski in 1st ½ of turn • Try to use separation and angulation skills to manage loading • Long leg/short leg & big toe/little toe • Release the edges and/or unload the skis • Re-center by moving the upper body over or ahead of the feet &/or pull feet back (alignment) • Set the edges for the new turn (inclination)

24. Arc/Edge Illustration Look at turns from fall line to fall line, rather than traverse to traverse

25. Another Arc/Edge Illustration

26. Gliding • Appropriate width of stance • Parallel lower legs • Appropriate fore/aft balance, • Use of subtle edging movements (i.e. smooth increase and decrease of edge angle) • Line choice that supportssubtle edging throughout the turn • Using a low tuck to minimize the surface area • Optimizing the shape of the body(i.e. hands in front of face, round back, etc.).

27. Lessons Learned • Technique • Work harder to be “tall and balanced” between turns in both SL & GL (extend from new ski, not old) • Work more on “hips” early season (AKA Mike Morin stuff) • Work more on ankles early season (flexion of ankles to keep from being in back, check boots first) • Work more with arc’s in the fall line (teach clean arc’s this way, having athletes be really good at turning across the hill, but unable to go straight down it isn’t all good, we over compensated w/some) • Ankle rolls (on steep pitches) • More SG & speed in general (in right setting) • Work more aggressively on hands/shoulders and pole plant in SL • Spend a lot more time on “1 ski”, one ski only, inside, outside only • Break individual bad habits starting day 1 (insist on it & change speed/pitch until it is attained) • EVERTHING is QUALITY – DEMAND Perfection at all experience levels

28. Lessons Learned • Slow down speed 2 build precise movements • More continuity across groups/coaches, adjust exercise instead of doing something entirely different • Do move advanced planning 2-3 week intervals • Continue heavy use of stubbies and helpers & apex gates • Pole touch, roll on edge before turn, super forward • Work as much on a fast line turning into the fall line as we did on setting up high (late and straight is no worse than high and early) • Look ahead • Work more on how to handle changes in terrain (i.e. rollers at Cranmore)

29. Game Plan • Be creative when planning practices for pre-season or on-snow • Keep practices moving • Don’t be afraid to work on ‘basics’ • Don’t be afraid of repetition they need it! • Do not waste competitor’s time with extra talking or long explanations • Change tempo, engage individuals, keep igniting the group while moving the agenda

30. Playbook • Playbook – Listing of coaching activities to break down and teach new skills • Playbook activities – Detailed description of each activity w/diagrams • Lesson plan / calendar – Season long outline of playbook tasks that build logically • Pre-set morning routine • Daily objective • Days tasks

31. Organization • Organization/Communication • Talk about execution and refinement of the game plan more often as a group throughout the season • Continue team approach to “lesson plans” and setting • Validate athlete grouping collectively and try and take “every thing into account”, may not change anything?

32. Additional Ideas • Videographer (photo sequences, year end clip) • Brownbag • Ski hero • Birthday cake per month • Facebook • Common language (cue words)