The Role of the Instructor in the Age of Freestyle
[Article] - The article below is the unpublished version. A much-revised version was published in the Fall 2008 issue of 32 Degrees magazine, a publication of www.thesnowpros.org, Lakewood, CO
A long list of instructors signed up to work as slippers, starters, security, and hospitality. A few even labored into the night setting up flood lights on the new Superpipe, an 18-foot tall, 440-foot-long beauty that everyone was dying to hit. In the process, they got to see the event through from practices and qualifiers to finals, mingling (and sometimes riding) with the competitors, and gaining an appreciation for life on the pro circuit.
Encouraged by my boss--eastern division AASI examiner and development team member John Hobbs--I spent three days traipsing around investigating what the Grand Prix has to do with snowboard instruction.
"Absolutely nothing," one instructor told me, grinning. It was Saturday night and we were waiting to see if the halfpipe finals were still going to happen on account of the fog. The indie rock band Shiny Toy Guns had played and people were sliding down the slopestyle course while others threw snowballs at the cameramen. My colleague may have been poking fun at me, but the whole scene got me thinking about the rebellious side of snowboarding. It's one of the reasons I dumped my skis for a snowboard 18 years ago--and it's one that still motivates new riders today. Let's face it; some snowboarders are just rebels.
On Sunday, during the Paul Mitchell Progression Session slopestyle competition, a man behind me exclaimed, "Oh! He fell right off the balance beam!" Meanwhile the kid next to him was watching and pointing, naming the maneuvers, telling dad which riders weren't going big enough and which ones had sketchy landings.
Idea #1: Watching the riders and the crowd at a snowboard competition gives us clues as to the different things that motivate our students--and our staff, for that matter!
"I'm inspired to learn more, that's for sure," said Noah Prince, LIII. "You don't get to see this every day to figure out how to do the tricks." The Grand Prix was a motivator for all levels of riders--and an opportunity for nerdy instructors to analyze movements and work out their own tricks.
Personally, I have to train my brain to recognize anything more than a 360. Was that a frontside or backside spin? Did the rider grab the toe edge or heel edge? Ride switch or regular?
Hobbs reminds us that the freestyle ATML model can be used to describe not only a singular Approach, Takeoff, Maneuver, and Landing but also a combination trick. A 270 onto a box, for example, followed by a boardslide--there is a full ATML cycle just to 270 on, followed by another M (the boardslide) and L. Using ATML in this way can help break down a complex trick so we can come up with a proper action plan for advanced students.
Idea #2: Competitions are an opportunity to do advanced Movement Analysis, to watch others and figure out HOW to STOMP NEW TRICKS.
Like instructors, competition judges have to do movement analysis (MA). They look for amplitude, travel distance, grabs (type, hold time, style, variety), rotations (direction, number, vertical axis), and execution (takeoff, maneuver control, and landing) for each trick that makes up a rider's line through the course.
To hit high marks, therefore, coaches and riders have to do MA too. During the men's halfpipe finals, for example, riders were commenting on their competitor's runs--cheering when someone busted out a big 1080 McTwist and groaning empathetically when they sketched the landing after a good run.
In the women's division, Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark took home the tour title for the 3rd consecutive year in front of friends, family, and fans. Second was Ellery Hollingsworth, a high school junior also from Stratton Mountain School. Trick-wise, the runs were close. Clark threw down a front air, back 5, front 5, back air, front 7; and Hollingsworth had a front 7, cab 7, front 5, back 5, front air. That's one extra cab 7 for Hollingsworth--definitely a more technical run in terms of tricks, as fellow instructor Sabina Shulz pointed out. What set Clark apart, however, was her amplitude; her hits were consistently five feet bigger than most of the guys.
When asked how to get good amplitude in the pipe, competitor Theodore (TJ) James from Ludlow, VT responded "speed, line, pumping, and committing"--in a nutshell.
"It's very psychological," added friend and fellow competitor, Skyler Thomas. "You have to be able to go big. A lot of it's in your head."
John Hobbs agrees. "Mostly at this level what I overheard from coaches and riders giving each other tips and egging each other on was way more psychological than instructional," he said. "It's certainly a big role in instruction that we don't always focus on."
Luckily, AASI has a model to explain this stuff. Maslow's "Mountain" describes a hierarchy of human needs, starting with the basic needs like food, water, and shelter. It made me think about the competitor's basic needs, and the fact that life on the competition circuit has got to be tough. These guys and girls hiked that steep halfpipe for a combined seven hours of practice leading up to the qualifiers and finals. Then on Saturday the competition was postponed due to fog and replaced with the $2,500 Rip It Best Trick competition--a dog and pony show in which riders hike as many times as they can, as fast as they can, pulling the biggest and best one-hit wonders at the bottom of the pipe for a chance to win $2,500. I wonder how well I would do if my boots were wet and I had to wait two hours in the cold fog for the comp to start and my whole family was there to watch and then it was postponed...
In the end, Elijah Teter took the best trick prize but lost the tour title the next day. Kelly Clark, visibly upset, chose to sit out the Rip It contest Saturday and take home the victory on Sunday.After our basic needs, according to Maslow, we have our need for safety and security. For example--is the lip too soft for a safe takeoff? Clair Bidez had this safety concern during Friday night's practice, but it didn't stop her from taking 3rd on Sunday (after it hardened up, incidentally). Competitors have to work with all sorts of psychological variables that are in turn dependent on the world around them, and it is a job of the coach to recognize and respond to those needs. Ditto for snowboard instructors.
Idea #3: Coaching the psychological is key to growing good, confident snowboarders at all levels.
The rest of Maslow's "Mountain" consists of: 3) our need to belong (Was I missing this when I was too shy to talk to most of the competitors?), 4) our need for self-esteem (Am I good enough to be a Level III snowboard instructor?), and 5) the pinnacle of self-actualization--which in this context I think of as that Aha! moment when everything is good; you are having fun among friends; and you perfect a trick and realize what it is you like so much about this sport.
"It's all about fun," former instructor Bob Evegan chided me. "That's the basis of it."
Competitor Connor Leach, 16, agrees. "Snowboarding is for fun--that's all," he said. For Connor, the secret to learning new tricks is riding with "friends he looks up to"--in his case Danny Davis, Scott Stevens, Scotty Lago, and Kevin Pearce. He also rides with his mom, who rips.
Idea #4: Ride with friends and family. Make new friends. Have fun.
Connor made friends instantly at Killington, scoring points with young Will Stellar, 11, when he gifted him his signed bib. "Will is going to Nationals in Copper so it pumped him up big," said Will's mom Joanne, a longtime Killington ski instructor.
When asked what snowboard instruction has to do with a competition like the Grand Prix, veteran instructor Chuck Janisse, 64, said, "It's both a culmination for some riders and a starting point for others. The Louie Vito's of the world...have gone through a long process. A spectator watches and says 'I want to do that' and it starts the process for him. It's a cycle."
Oftentimes that's where the instructor comes in. When Little Billy gets jazzed on the competition and wants to learn how to spin cab 5 off the big booters, we go the Easy Style It approach, teaching prerequisite skills like flat spins and ollies and switch ollies (if he's ready), making sure he knows how to navigate a park safely, and helping him understand exactly when its okay to step it up.
Idea #5: By spreading Smart Style--park etiquette and proper pacing--the snowboard instructor helps to keep our parks fun and safe for novices to pro's.
"[Competitions] can be a motivating factor for students, especially kids," said instructor Lucille Rogoff, who learned not long ago herself. "But you need to know how to turn before you can do any tricks. Sean White turns. He doesn't just 'fly' out of the halfpipe."
In many ways the instructor bridges the gap between the snowboarding world and the general public--an important role considering that the former depends on the latter for sustenance.
Teaching a student to cover up that gap between hat and goggles, for example, may be as important to their sense of comfort and belonging as pulling off their first turn. And, while not all pro's needed an instructor to start them off right or ongoing coaching to help them realize their potential--a great many did and still do.
Within the snowboarding world, we are instructors as well as friends, teammates, coaches, customers, and spectators. We pitch in at our mountains--whether helping to run a competition like the Grand Prix, stopping to show someone how to click their skis back on, or inspiring each other to improve our riding. In turn, we reap the benefits of investing ourselves in doing what we love best.
On the way to the car Sunday night after the finals, exhausted, I ran into a friend and fellow instructor trying to warm his wet feet before heading back up the hill to take down lights. He was wrecked, I could tell. "No one can help me now, Erica," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder as I attempted to force a pair of slightly-too-small Sorel's on him.
That night we were rewarded with runs through the half-lit pipe, and the excitement was as tangible as our collective exhaustion. The best part was that it led to day after day sessioning the park, and ultimately to a team of instructors competing together in Killington's 15th annual Spring Loaded competition.
The threat of burnout always looms that time of year, but somehow the locker room seemed to be filled with happy faces and abuzz with plans for the next season up until the end. So I'm pulling one final corny lesson out of all this:
Idea #6: Keeping ourselves happy is what keeps us going. Getting involved in competitions--at whatever level--is just one more way to pump us up. The bottom line is that instructors make snowboarding fun for everybody when we are having fun too!
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