Ski Coaching with MSC
One of the key benefits of being a member of Midland Ski Club is access to our extensive coaching program which runs at the Ackers slope, near the centre of Birmingham.
With instruction, the emphasis is on the instructor imparting information to the skier with the hope that the skier will pick up some of the information and act on it. Coaching is a more interactive and long-term process, whereby the coach and skier work together to improve the skier.
The minimum standard to start being coached with MSC is the ability to do snowplough turns from the top of the slope and to use the lift: if you can't yet do this then the slope can provide lessons.
All sessions are run by instructors and coaches qualified through Snowsports England or the British Association of Snowsport Instructors or equivalent internationally-recognised organisations.
This coaching program runs of different nights for different skiers.
Monday Evening..
..is the main Adult Coaching Night with sessions running from 8 to 10pm in winter, and an hour earlier in the summer. Last year we experimented with a new format of these sessions: two groups of skiers each with a pair of instructors to maintain continuity during the inevitable periods when one is away.
Mondays: 8-10pm Adult Coaching.
(summer: 7-9pm).
Coaches: Clem Chakki, Mike
Woodall, Paul Brown, Luis Lopes.
Tuesday Evening..
.. is Performance Skiing Night. From around 6.30 until 7.30pm instructor training takes place for budding and current instructors who want to improve their skiing and instructional skills to the level required for the first or subsequent levels of instructor qualification.
From 7.30 onwards, it's Race Training. Young (and not-so-young) skiers work hard to improve their time through slalom poles. These sessions have become very popular over the last year and we hope this year to be running two groups in parallel - it is possible that we will be introducing definite criteria for joining these groups based on the new MSC Achievement Levels.
Tuesdays: 6.30 to 7.30: Instructor
Training. 7.30 to 9: Race Training.
Coaches: Roger Cromblehome and
Rob Weeks
And on Fridays..
What do Superman, a Mohican, a Swiss cow and the devil have in common? They can be found at the Ackers on a Friday night at the Midland Ski Club junior session.
Friday is the main junior night and by 7pm the session is in full swing with a slope full of skiers ranging from 4 to 17, all determined to have fun and learn how to ski faster. Watching are a crowd of parents, hoping that their child will come out of the sessions a better and safer skier, and out among the skiers are a number of coaches with a mission statement of 'safety, enjoyment, learning'. Where does the devil come in? The children are encouraged to wear ski helmets, why not spice them up a bit with horns and a tail or a Mohican haircut.
Skiers must be able to achieve the minimum standard of linked snowplough turns from the top of the slope, to be able to stop and use the lift safely. Many of the younger skiers will have achieved this level through the Sunday Pingu sessions, run by the Ackers. Skiers will first join the introductory group where they will consolidate on the skills that they have and work towards parallel skiing. A range of fun exercises is introduced to concentrate on one aspect for each session such as flexible legs or basic stance. They will then move into the intermediate group and work further on parallel skiing skills, with an emphasis on understanding how turns actually work. An important aspect of these two groups is learning skiing safety and mountain awareness with an understanding of the FIS code. These young people will be going on to the mountain as fully fledged skiers, there will be no gentle introduction via the nursery slope, they need to understand how the weather can affect them, how to cope in case of an accident and how to avoid causing an accident themselves. If you see a number of skiers lying down in agony with crossed skis above them it might not be as bad as it looks, it may be that accidents are the FIS code focus for this week.
Finally the skiers move to the race-training group. Here the emphasis on learning skills for all mountain skiing continues, alongside this racing skills are introduced. Many of the skiers will race for MSC at Gloucester and start racing in Snowsport England races and regional schools races. Bollards are used to set rhythmic courses to encourage linked turning and sometimes poles may be used to set a race course. When the children have finished it's time for the parents. A common complaint from parents is that they can no longer keep up with the kids - this adult performance session is designed to handle the problem, again with emphasis on skills for all mountain skiing. This is where you can work on the techniques that will allow you to ski moguls, slush and even Black 13 at Davos without breaking into tears as your little darling races past.
The 2006 / 2007 sessions will see some changes: a 4th group will be introduced as numbers rise, the introductory group moves back to a 6pm start and most importantly the MSC Achievement Awards will be introduced. This offers tests at 9 levels, similar to the national Snowlife awards, starting at level 1 to match the minimum standard and rising to level 9, a height that requires a lot of hard work to reach. Assessments will take place regularly against the set criteria - each skier will have their own book and will know their goals and what they have achieved so far.
Friday Nights: Introductory group 6
to 7.30 : Intermediate and Race
groups 6.30 to 8 : Parents 8 - 9
(summer), 8.30 - 10 (winter)
Coaches: Roger Cromblehome,
Sarah Walsh, Steve Wragg, Jane Lee