Tele Teaching Technique

Good Morning. Is there someone watching who can tell me the generally accepted (or PSIA protocol) techniques for the actual on-the-hill instruction of the telemark turn? What is discussed, and then what does the instructor have you do? I wonder if the 'help' we casually give our friends to learn the turn is similar to, or way off base, compared to the Pro approach (or even if the Pro approach is a good one), especially in the area of transitioning an otherwise good alpine skier to the tele way. Most often, watching an alpine style skiier trying to pickup the tele turn, on his own or with the help of his good buddy, presents the same picture - he/she always has the inside and supposedly back ski somewhat off to the side, virtually in snowplow position, knee awkwardly bent, boot on tippytoe, little weighting, and the whole contraption working like an outrigger. This must be the reflection of what he believes he is to do, or is being told to do. We tell him the corrections to make and finally that he needs to 'commit' to the turn. Eventually, if he sticks with it, it comes together and life is good. That is how I learned, and now that I'm comfortable with tele under most snow and slope conditions, I am caused to wonder if my learning route has been more tortuous than it needed to be. Do we, and should we, teach directly and immediately to the mechanics of that great turn, which for all it's glory and pleasure, is on one end of the range of tele styleized turning? There isn't always time and space (or need) for that full on, swooping, up-unweighting, drop back and down, and back up again move. So, we adapt the technique, largely, for the steeps and moguls. The more I have learned to adapt to varying conditions, and the more I have watched some of you really good skiiers out there, the more clear it is to me that the crux move is the 'tele shuffle' (am I borrowing that from Mike and Allen?). The amount of distance you slide your feet past each other and the depth of your drop is to some extent (except perhaps to some purists?) a matter of the moments' imperative, personal interest, and need for balance. There is, after all, only one fundamental difference between alpine and tele - and that is which ski leads in the turn, and switching leads is a shared requirement. As a good alpine style skier at the time, I wonder if I would have picked up the whole tele thing easier and sooner if I had been guided to KNOW that the inside and uphill ski is the back one, and that the 'tele shuffle' with a roll of the knees, edge to edge gets you around. And then adapting and accentuating toward the classic tele turn that we know and love. What do the Pros say? What do you say? Thanks. David

Not a professional instructor so I can't speak to the official teaching method but I know from personal experience that the most difficult thing for me transitioning from alpine to tele was the awareness and weighting, tracking and carving of the back ski's outside edge. One of the best exercises I've found for feeling this difference between the alpine and tele turns is to alternate alpine and tele turns while keeping the feet in a static position. In other words, right turn tele, left turn alpine. This takes the transfer of weight from one ski to the other out of the equation since the heavily weighted downhill ski in the alpine turn becomes the heavily weighted uphill ski in the tele turn. The only thing that changes is which edge of the heavily weighted ski you are using. Once this is comfortable, switch sides. In my experience the pseudo-snowplow turn is a direct result of the ingrained response of alpine skiers to weight the front of the downhill ski in order to make the turn come around, which is exactly the opposite of what needs to happen in a telemark turn. Committing to the turn is actually committing to the back ski's outside edge. That's the balance point. The front ski is just there to break trail.

Dead on observations. And from this side of the learning curve it seems easy and intuitive, even (I frankly think that tele is easier than alpine - quad strength not withstanding). I'll have to dwell on the tele/alpine switching exercise for a moment. When we're in the sometimes unenviable position (spouse/friend) of being looked to for advise, it is not always easy to know what they need to hear.

I took lessons last year, and the regular instructor was OK, but some of the best tips I got were from Randy (from TAY) one night when the instructor was gone. I agree that tele shuffle is important, and for me, coming from X country, no alpine, the big news was something you alpiners already know, BOTH skis have edges and shape, and both are used in every turn. I love the guy's name Legdragger, because for years that's all I did. Practicing using both skis' edges and doing the reverse a mark turn helped me experience a little break through.

I said it in the last thread, but the real key is regular practice. Somebody else said if you do it back country only, it'll take you 20 years to get good. That was my experience until lessons last year. So I think to get a newbie there quick:
- get her on the groomers every week (formal lessons or not),
- have her practicing about 1-2 tips a week, (from Mike & Allan, or Paul Parker, or a friend)
- PLUS get her out in the real snow and emulating good skiers
- Quit wasting time teaching guys how to tele, and work on bringing in more tele-women.

I was PSIA level 1 certified a couple years ago. This is no major achievement and I mention it only because it means I can at least tell you something of the PSIA approach to teaching tele. In short, first you learn how to alpine ski in tele gear, then the tele technique is gradually introduced. Tele skiing is not, as such, fundamentally different from alpine skiing in many technical respects. This means that much alpine knowledge is transferable. I will not address that stuff at all, but rather an action plan.

First you complete linked alpine turns.

Second you do a "courtesy tele" in between turns. This means you complete a turn in alpine style, then drop a knee into tele position, then rise back up, then do another whole turn alpine style, then drop the other knee, then rise back up, and continue until you feel comfortable with the balance. It is called a "courtesy tele" because it is not contributing to the actual turn process. It just gets you a comfort level with sinking and rising and balance. You can do this slowly and/or extend your time essentially doing a falling traverse between turns just to get a better feel for being in that position. Then rise back up.

Third, you start to inject the tele position earlier in the turn. So you would initiate in alpine style, and then 80% of the way into the turn (well after crossing th e fall line) , drop into the tele position until you finish the turn. Then hold the tele briefly, then rise up and initiate the next turn in alpine style. At this point, you have now begun using the tele position for pressure management (oops, technical jargon), meaning in the simplest terms that you will feel an impact on how your skis track and on the shape of your turn, you just won't have any panic about how to start the turn or get across the fall line.

Fourth, you move that "drop into tele position" point earlier in the turn. Next 60% of the way through, then just after you cross the fall line, then just before your turn across the fall line, then right at the start of the turn, until finally you are actually rising and switching leads and sinking again in 100% tele mode.

I have not addressed at all the role of edging, or rotating the ankles, or how far to spread your feet, or how much to weight each ski. Not time for a treatise here. PSIA was conceptually moving towards a more unitary theory of skiing, so that they could express and teach the same sorts of core information regardless of alpine or tele. I don't know where they are now or what the current dogma is. But this progression seemed to work well.

My last comment would be that if you are already a good alpine skier (which is my assumption for all of these comments), then remember to keep a quiet upper body, keep your hands out in front and use your pole plants. Remember that the tele turn is over-rotated - it forces your hips more across the fall line (until you are very good) so you need focus on these factors to help keep facing down the hill.

Hope this helps.

JimmyO

If you are really keen on understanding PSIA thinking -- you can always read their textbook.

www.psia.org/store/index.asp?mode=prod_d...&prodid=133&memo=EDU

This new nordic manual is compatible with Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors and covers all facets of nordic instruction. Extensively illustrated, topics are introduced by ski category: cross-country skiing (classic, skating, and cross-country downhill) plus telemark skiing. Teaching elements include visual cues, skills, and “stepping stones” to lesson design, with numerous drills and exercises to use with students. Equipment charts and waxing information are also discussed. Contributors include current and former PSIA Nordic Team members. 2005. 6 x 9." 108 pages.

I have copies of the this one (the "new" manual") and  the old manual.   The "new" manual is a big improvement and contains a decent amount of useful information.

The "core concepts" manual is also useful if you are invested in becoming an effective teacher for a wide variety of students -- as it covers such issues as learning styles and other issues that professional instructors need to deal with.

Also here is the run down on how PSIA evaluates instructors:

www.psia.org/psia_2002/education/downloa...ert_standards_pf.asp