Saturday Dec 20
Goal: Diagonal Stride Progression, practice downhills/ downhill turns
Note: Use as many or as few of the exercises/games options listed. Not all exercises are appropriate for all age groups.
9:45 - 10 Group Game - No poles
Capture the stuffy. Two hoops on either side of the playing field with equal number of stuffies. try to get them all to your side. There are one or Two taggers with pinnies who aren’t on a team (could be coaches or older kids) and can tag anyone who is carrying a stuffy. If you get tagged, you drop the stuffy where it is and go ski around your own team’s hoop. First team to get all the stuffies to their hoop wins.
10 - 10:20 Skills Review:
Split into age groups, and review skills learned last week
Ready Position
review important aspects - knees bent hands forward in ready pos.
older groups, practice “racing tuck” to force a deeper knee bend.
gently push each skier to see if they can stay standing in their ready pos. (If they fall, then they get a bonus practice for falling and rising)
Falling and rising on flats
falling: fall to the side, brace with hands,
rising: weight forward, hold onto ski tips.
“dead bug” position (roll onto back to untangle, then grab tips of skis and roll over to get up (grabbing tips of skis forces weight forward)
Downhill Snowplow/ step turning
JR1: Small hill in stadium
JR2: hill from stadium towards Lower Mickeys
JR3: Main loop hill
JR4: bottom of Titan, Little Dippet, or the hill that connects glen’s glide to mickeys
10:20 - 10:40 New Skill: Diagonal Stride progression
Introduce goal - learning diagonal stride, plus key points and a demo. Lead kids through progressions in flat terrain. There should be tracks set in the upper stadium and jackrabbit flats. Start without poles. Make sure kids always start in ready position
Teaching Progression
2) Have the skiers cross the area sliding their skis. (don’t take their feet off the ground)
3) Have the skiers get on the balls of their feet and walk forward. (no gliding)
4) Have the skiers cross the area sliding their skis in a “jogging-like” action, pushing off the balls of their feet, and lifting the ski off the snow at the back. Skiers should continue the glide on the front ski.
“Squish the grape”
5) Ask them to use a certain number of steps to get from one point to another.
Teaching Tips:
Emphasize a “ground up” focus. Help your skier start by focusing on their feet. Adding key joints like ankles and knees will significantly increase balance.
Select appropriate terrain. Better to err by selecting easier terrain and ensure success than making it too difficult.
Anticipate different paces of progress.
Create “early wins” for motivation and engagement.
Introduce getting in and out of the tracks by stepping laterally with complete weight transfer from ski to ski.
Common errors:
skier pushes with a straight leg.
skier does not weight ski when pushing.
skier does not transfer weight onto glide ski (weight shift) during the leg push.
skier’s arms swing across chest and not up and down the track.
arm swing is same as leg stride - i.e. left leg and left arm are moving forward at the same time.
Diagonal Stride Technique focus areas:
JR 1
In the progression of the Diagonal Stride this is the “running step”. This technique is practised and assessed on flat terrain with set tracks.
The skier slides his/her skis down the track
The skier “walks” down the track on the balls of the feet with some ankle and knee bend
There is some glide onto the forward ski as the skier pushes off
There is a “jogging-like” action on the balls of the feet, with glide onto the forward ski
After the skier’s weight is shifted to the gliding ski, the pushing ski momentarily comes off the snow at the end of the push
“Squish the grape”
Arms swing comfortably (somewhat in opposite time to the leg’s stride)
JR2
In the progression of the Diagonal Stride this is the called the “gliding step”. It is practised and assessed on flat terrain with set tracks.
Some glide occurs with each stride
The skier lifts skis off the snow when kicking. There is a weight transfer about 50% of the time, and the recovery foot lands beside or in front of the glide foot.
The skier can perform five successful strides in a row, but balance may be insecure and unnecessary movements may occur
Poles are typically not yet used for propulsion, but are used in an alternating arm action
The body is mainly upright in the Ready Position
JR3/4
In the progression of the diagonal stride, this is called the “long step”. This technique should be practised and assessed on flat terrain with set tracks.
The skier shows a clear weight transfer from ski to ski resulting in a longer gliding action
The ski lifts off the snow when the skier kicks
The recovery foot usually lands beside or in front of (not behind) the gliding foot when viewed from the side
The hands are close to shoulder height and elbows are slightly bent at pole plant
The skier demonstrates some ankle and knee bend, and maintains a slightly forward body lean
The poles are angled backwards and help provide propulsion; the skier is clearly pushing off of them
Each pole is planted beside the opposite side ski boot
10:40 - 11:20 Skill Practice and Ski
The following exercises (No poles) can be spread throughout a ski if you want to head out onto the trails, or make a little course in the stadium area (good option for JR 1). Stop on a hill or two to review snowplowing technique as a group.
Marching Soldiers: Have skiers walk on one spot lifting the knee high in front of chest.
tail lifts: Have skiers walk on one spot extending the leg backwards. See if they can lift the skis off the ground.
flea leaps: Have skiers jump off snow with both feet. Keep knees bent when landing.
One-leg Pops: Have skiers jump off snow from one ski to the other.
Sizzling Snow: While remaining in one place the skiers step from ski to ski, keeping only one ski on the burning snow at a time. Have the skiers “hiss” as the snow “burns their skis”.
One-leg Pops: Skiers pop/spring off one leg, which is bent, and then land on it. Alternate legs.
Agility: Skiers run in place on their skis, changing the tempo from slow to fast.
Balance: Have skiers balance on one leg with the other extended backwards. Hold that position as long as they can and then switch.
11:20 - 11:30 Skills focused Games
After a ski with the exercises interspersed, find a flat-ish place to practice scootering and/or make a game and/or relay out of it
Scooter exercise:
(Practise Diagonal Stride elements using this activity)
1) Skiers remove their right ski and stand on their left ski in the right hand track.
2) Skiers then push their way down the track using their right foot. They push themselves slowly up on the left ski to glide for a period between push-offs. This is done with an emphasis on transfering the skier’s weight from the foot to the ski.
3) The kick foot stays behind until the glide ski comes to a stop.
4) Skiers bring the free foot beside or ahead of the glide foot when starting the next push.
5) Switch the ski to the other foot and repeat.
Variations:
Scooter Glide: Skiers remove one ski and practise scootering and gliding on one ski for as long as possible. The contest is to see who can glide the longest. A variation of the game is to have the skiers count the number of pushes they require to cover the distance between the start line and finish line. This game encourages a more powerful push and a better glide
Scooter Hurdles: The skiers prepare for Scooter as usual by removing a ski, but this time they must all remove their right ski. Obstacles are placed beside the tracks, on the right side, 1-2 m apart, and 10-20 cm high. Skier place their left ski in the right track, and move forward. Each time they step over an obstacle, it forces them to place their weight on the gliding ski. Repeat on a different course using the opposite ski.
Scooter Relay: The group is divided into two teams. One half of each team goes behind a line at the top of a gentle slope, and the other half behind the start/finish line at the bottom. The lead skier from each team scooters up the hill (emphasis on bent ankle and knee) and tags the respective uphill teammate who then scooters down the hill (emphasis on balance and glide) to tag the third skier. Repeat using the other leg.
Ball races: Put a ball in the track with one kid on each side. The leg with the ski on it pushes the ball forward. First to push the ball to the end of the track/ designated end wins.
freeze Scooter tag: One coach acts as the “chaser”. Skiers remove one ski. They freeze on one leg when tagged by the chaser. Frozen skiers may be unfrozen if tagged by a free skier. Alternate skis after five minutes.
End Game 11:30-11:45
One Ski Soccer (to practice scootering!!)
or go for a ski, if kids aren’t keen on games!