February 2012
10 posts
Homeward Bound
My two-week Asian tour is coming to an end. Japan was awesome and Korea is always exciting. A few things I’ve observed on this trip:
- CASI is stronger than ever outside of Canada. We are quickly becoming recognized as the world-standard for snowboard instructor training.
- The Korean snowboarders have taken technique development to another level. The quality of riding I observed this...
Mix It Up
Sometimes the best way to get out of a rut is to do something different.
I had the opportunity to run the CASI Level 4 course at Silver Star, BC a couple weeks ago. During the week I rode pow, park, plates and my new snowboardcross board. It was a great way to add some variety to my riding and get me thinking about applying some of the same or new concepts across various applications.
Asia-Bound
En route! I’m stoked to be heading to Tokyo this morning, for my first ever trip to Japan. I’ll be running CASI’s first Level 2 course in that country, at Evergreen Outdoor Center in Hakuba.
Following that I’ll be in South Korea working with the lads at CASI-Korea. I’ll be running some general training and Level 3 Prep sessions during the week of Feb 19-23 at...
January 2012
14 posts
Technical or strategic?
A lot of times, in teaching, we tend to focus on the technical approach. By that, I mean finding a drill or an exercise that we can use to get a specific movement across to our students.
In that, we often overlook a more tactical, or I like to thing of a more strategic, approach to riding on the mountain.
To me a tactical, or strategic approach might be to help students learn to make the...
“Once the water is deep enough that you must swim to stay afloat, does it really...”
– http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/over-your-head.html
“How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you are?”
“Invest your time, don’t spend it.”
Separation...
Separation…if you’re a skier or ski instructor, you’ve heard it. But we don’t talk much about it in the snowboard world. It’s something that I’ve been playing with a lot in my own riding in recent seasons.
By separation, I mean upper and lower body separation, or allowing the upper body to create some type of stability or resist movement, while the lower body...
Going back to...Korea.
Just booked my tickets today! I’ll be heading to Japan to run CASI’s first Level 2 in that country in February of this year. This will be followed by some time in South Korea with my friends at CASI-Korea, where I’ll be running some general riding sessions, as well as some Level 3 intro sessions. Stoked!
October 2011
6 posts
What I've Learned at Obedience Class...Part 3
Choose your feedback carefully
During the classes, I’ve been on the receiving end of three types of feedback.
Corrective: This was where Lucy and I were attempting to perform some task, and it wasn’t working. Mrs. Fido intervened with something like “you were doing it this way, try it this way”. It was simply a corrective measure to get me to do it correctly. Fine.
...
What I've Learned at Obedience Class...Part 2
Personality and a positive attitude
Mrs. Fido has a positive attitude towards teaching. I think in her case, as self-employed professional, she wouldn’t be successful if she didn’t.
But Mrs. Fido also has a strong personality. She’s the type (like many teachers and instructors) who really likes to be the one standing at the front of the room telling us what works and what...
What I've Learned at Obedience Class...
I’ve been going to obedience classes. Well, I have been escorting our dog, Lucy, there. She’s doing great, and I’m learning a lot too. We can turn right, turn left, we’re working on our “heels”, and stays.
I’ve learned some other cool stuff too, mostly from the instructor teaching the class. It’s been interesting to be a student again, and to observe someone else giving us (a group of adults...
What are you riding?
Stoked to be riding a Burton Vapour this season, along with my usuals - Ion boots, and a new one for me - the Cartel EST’s. Can’t wait to try ‘em out!!
WatchThis is great…
September 2011
2 posts
2 tags
In the air...
It never fails. August comes to an end, the buyer’s guides start coming out, and I start to get the itch. Winter is around the corner, and you’d think after almost 20 years of snowboarding, it would get old. But, I still love arriving at the hill and lacing the boots.
This time of year my focus turns to snowboard-specific fitness, to make sure I’m on top of things from the...
May 2011
1 post
WatchThe start of my summer work…
March 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Bend It...
Often, pressure control means bending our knees, or flexing and extending. Not always the case…
Here’s my opinion - pressure means loading or unloading the flex of the snowboard. This is what gives us performance. It can be done by pushing against our board through extending the legs, or by allowing the board to flex in a bumpy hollow, or by pushing on one foot while pulling up with...
“Chance favors the prepared mind.”
“Initiative is taken, not given.”
January 2011
4 posts
Back to '99
Toss your highbacks.
Well, maybe not quite, but it’s a good analogy to think of on the heel side edge.
Rather than pushing your calf muscle against the high back to get edge angle, try instead using the muscle that runs up the front of your shin (name?) to edge (pulling your toes up). Try feeling little or no pressure on your calf during a heel turn.
Who knows, you might scrap the...
Too Square?
Alignment is big in CASI-land. Shoulders, hips, knees should be aligned with the feet/bindings…or shoulders should be aligned with the length of the board. Fine, this is a key to being adaptable and balanced through the intermediate stage of skills.
The problem with this comes at higher levels of riding, when we need to start making adjustments in balance across a variety of planes.
With...
Mix it up...
Many times, I find we limit ourselves to certain movements in certain terrain or snow. Mix it up! Try carving in bumpy or ungroomed terrain (or bumps)…spins off the opposite edge…counter-rotate rather than rotate. Developing performance all about experimenting with variation, and expanding your bag of tricks.
December 2010
2 posts
"Early Edge Change"
We say this a lot in CASI-land. Getting novice riders to “change edges earlier” will help them become higher-end riders.
The thing is, we can’t really change the edge any early than at the end of one turn/start of the next - try changing edges half-way through a toeside turn and let me know how that goes. The important parts are:
a) when we engage the edge and make it work for...
The tightrope
During a recent on-snow training session, I heard a really good analogy for balancing on edge (something we do a lot). Think of yourself balancing on a tightrope, and moving across it. Chances are, you’re not going to simply align your body parallel to the rope. You’d likely orient your head, shoulders and hips with a slight anticipation of the direction you’re moving.
This...
October 2010
2 posts
Season's Starting
It’s that time of year again…colder mornings, frost…
Last year I was in a position where the first few runs of the season DIDN’T involve burning legs, panting, or pain. I started the season fitter overall all, but I also feel that the type of training we do, and how we prepare our bodies for the unique movements of snowboarding is key.
Lately, I’ve been getting my...
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I’m trying to get a feel for whether or not anyone is reading this stuff…my hunch is not, but if you’re reading this, why not subscribe to my RSS feed. That way you’ll get the updates whenever I make a new post. Just click on the RSS icon above (next to the file cabinet).
Enjoy.
February 2010
4 posts
1, 2, 3
My friend, and fellow snowboard coach, Dave from the Ontario Snowboard Club (www.ontariosnowboardclub.com) recently explained to me his thought - “snowboarding is really simple, it’s just really hard to do”. His 1, 2, 3 approach goes line this:
1: Stand in a neutral, balanced position (at the start of every turn).
2: Put the snowboard on edge (by moving the body to the...
Tactical Approach...
When we teach, we often focus on the technical aspects of riding - the movements, body parts, and exercises that are important for new snowboarders. But, don’t forget about the tactical side - things like approach line (in bumpy terrain or trees), speed, or shape of turns.
Sometimes by simply having students adjust their path of travel, or maybe ride faster (or slower), they may have more...
The relentless search for "tell me what to do" -... →
This is a blog that I subscribe to — this particular update spoke to me in what we do in training new, or old, snowboard instructors.
"Finding Balance"
This is something that we often do unintentionally while riding…we might sink lower at the end of the turn if we are going fast, or maybe change our body position on a box or rail when we feel the frictionless surface underfoot, or we might turn the board under us back into alignment at the end of a turn.
When we start a turn, we intentionally leave balance. What’s important is that...
January 2010
6 posts
Use The Back!
We LOVE to talk about the front foot in our riding and teaching – as a means to help our students nail their first turns, and whenever we get on the steeps, to help us pivot. But eventually, we hopefully all get to the point where we’re standing equally over both feet as we ride. But what about the back half of the snowboard? You pay for the whole thing…you might as well use it!
In the photo...