SKI COACHING AS A PROFESSION by

Tom Reynolds

“Wow, it’s a great day to be starting my coaching career. The hill surface is firm. The training courses are set. Being on the hill, with two veteran coaches is a blast. I am looking forward to building my career in ski coaching!” This is a great attitude; however, every day on the hill isn’t going to be perfect. While many prospective coaches are excellent skiers with a racing background, others have skied for sometime and are drawn to ski racing through an interest in coaching. As a group these coaches are often in a hurry to move from ‘square one’ to the status of an international ski coach. Regardless of their background or ability, they need to step back and start at the beginning. There is in-depth knowledge that these coaches will be exposed to along the road to becoming a veteran coach. This article serves as an introduction for those considering professional ski coaching as a career. Introductory coaching positions are about a time of learning and paying your dues in the profession. The entry level coach needs exposure and mastery in the following areas:

• Technical/tactical exposure with a mentor • Knowledge of equipment-- skis, boots, canting • Mastering video equipment and software • Setting up timing equipment • Building starts and preparing courses • Course setting rules-- use of terrain-- four alpine

events • Planning year round athlete training-- periodization • Seeking professional certification-- USSA/PSIA. • Rules interpretation-- National and International • Introduction to sports psychology

Additionally, the developing coach will make airport pick-ups, set-up meeting rooms, and perhaps make a ‘coffee’ run. If you can see work to be done, and take the initiative to go ahead and do basic chores without being told, you will have accomplished the first step to becoming a professional coach. These include the following: Pick up and bundle gates. Stack salt bags. Clean out and gas-up the vans. Review video footage of your athletes and DVDs of World Cup athletes. Learn to break down these visual materials from the feet up and relate relevant information to your athletes. If you are fortunate enough to be invited to assist on a Europa Cup trip, be ready to drive a van in Europe. When you desire to become a professional ski coach, this is a start on the road to the top. Developing coaches also need to communicate effectively with athletes, other coaches, and administrators. The following general skills are invaluable to an organizational climate:

• Taking a course in communications. • Learning how to deliver a presentation. • Being able to handle a classroom environment. • Gaining a functional understanding of at least one

foreign language. The Master Program Plan and the Developing Coach A master program plan establishes the basic structure of any organization. Being able to work in the learning environment of a competitive skiing master program plan will include an introduction to staff assignments, managing the budget, and working with parents. It further entails exposure to developing seasonal periodization for athletes, as well as planning practices and selecting race starts. Developing a positive staff climate within this structure enhances overall program coordination. The key word here is ‘we’ not ‘I’. Introducing the Seasonal Practice Plan -- Periodization The purpose of periodization is to coordinate the physical and mental conditioning of the athletes within the program, allowing them to reach peak performances at critical times during a given season. Practices need to be structured according to the time of year and the race calendar. This will allow the competitors to balance their work loads and establish focus over a period of time. Periodization divides the training year into the following periods:

• General preparation period • Specific preparation period • Pre-competition period • Competition period • Active recovery period

Sports science has broken these periods into the following cycles:

• Microcycle—a one week training plan • Mesocycle—a training plan made-up of several microcycles • Macrocycle—a yearly training program made up of mesocycle

training units These cycles are always subject to change, as ski racing is continually the victim of the weather, snow conditions, travel, and competitor injury, as well as individual needs. For a detailed understanding of periodization cycles, a developing coach might want to refer to Coach Tim LaVallee’s Athletic Conditioning Manual available through this website: www.ski-race-coach.com and the USSA Ski Coaches Association at www.ussa.org Teaching Technical Skills Coaches need to be capable of teaching the mechanics of skiing. The athletes are slighted when the fundamentals of skiing are not taught. Solid fundamentals and technical excellence allow the competitor to understand tactics and skiing a faster line, yet have a higher percentage of finishes. Set standards for your competitors to meet and encourage excellence. The following are excerpts from a past Ski Racing article by Andy Walshe, former Director of Sports Science for USSA Snowsports.

• Establish a learning environment that encourages guided discovery. • Introduce technical teaching strategies, working from simple toward

complex. • Explain, demonstrate, and keep athletes moving during practice. • Work towards total movement patterns. • Emphasize centering and balance in a movement pattern utilizing two

skis. • Vary the intensity and establish a time limit for work on the hill. • Continually strive for a quality performance and ownership of the

skill.

Teaching Fundamentals Take the time to teach sound fundamentals in your program. Perhaps you have heard people say that repetition is the last refuge of the unimaginative. This is not true. Sound fundamentals can be covered daily through proper warm-up and cool out routines during practice. Once the habit is formed, the athletes will go through these routines on their own which will enhance overall performance. The warm-up should focus on the event to be practiced or the race of the day. Each practice or post race run should conclude with a cool-out. Never leave the hill making poor turns! A good introduction for coaches to both technique and tactics would be on-snow clinics through PSIA and USSA Coaches Association. I would encourage pursuing certification status through both organizations, as well as referring to Tom Reynolds text Effective Ski Coaching. Introduction to Sports Psychology

Coaching psychology is the karma that exists between the coach and the athletes moment to moment, day to day, and week to week. By observing a veteran coach, developing coaches will come to understand that each athlete on a team is an individual and learns physical skills in his own way. As the team becomes a ‘family’, coaches will learn to communicate with the individual athlete by identifying that individual’s physical learning style. Some athletes are visual learners, while others benefit more from a verbal break-down to a skill sequence. Coaches will incorporate both of these learning styles when introducing basic movement patterns. Understanding

the learning styles of the athletes is an inroad to their success. There is an old saying that encompasses skills teaching and learning styles:

• Explanation: Tell me and I will listen. • Demonstration: Show me and I will observe. • Repetition: Let me practice and I will learn.

Coaches can motivate and encourage athletes to accept responsibility for self-improvement. This inspires young people to learn to help themselves. Mutual respect and trust can enhance a motivational attitude between the coach and the athlete. Coaches may train athletes to perform, but athletes reach inside themselves to excel. What an athlete is capable of doing is determined by talent. What he actually accomplishes is determined by his attitude. Coaches can assist the athletes to understand the reality of the day and the moment. Athletes should not make excuses about soft snow, tough hills, or poor sets. At any one time on any given day in competition, you are what you are. Athletes should understand that wining is only temporary, having ‘class’ is permanent. When athletes are having a bad series of races, they often continue to regress. Part of coaching psychology is the understanding that, to make immediate technical changes may be detrimental in the short term. Change takes time. Change and technical adjustments, may mean going back to the drawing board to review the basics. Work with the athletes in progressions and guided free skiing in order that they regain timing and confidence. Conclusion Veteran coaches and mentors are master teachers. They can relate to young coaches, meeting with them in a relaxed environment, checking out their questions and doubts. This frequently happens during van travel. Encouraging this environment, new ideas can be introduced and problems resolved. Informal communication compliments learning and promotes staff bonding. Veteran coaches continue to learn, share, and explore. Learning is a lifetime commitment. If your choice is to become a professional ski coach, and you have found your passion, go for it! Dream your dreams and set your goals. You travel this road only once. When you find something you love, get at it, and max out! Remember: you do not become a coach by just putting the jacket on! It takes time, sacrifice, and hard work!

Coach Reynolds talking coaching strategy