How to Practice

You are joining a very successful training programme that has scheduled a number of contact hours with highly experienced coaches. 

This partnership, between you and your coach, is the foundation of your success. 

Your coaches will guide and direct you through what is required to pass the BASI Ski Instructor exams.

Your success relies on how much you are able to implement that into your skiing. 

To earn success you will need to spend time practicing.

Here are the Top 10 tips to make your practicing as beneficial as possible:

Make your Practice EASY

  • Make practicing accessible by fitting it into your everyday skiing. 

  • Make it easy by knowing what you are working on and what you are going to do.

  • Start by just taking 5 minutes on a couple of runs to do some ‘Deliberate, Focussed Practice’

Make your Practice FUN

  • Practicing is still skiing!  Enjoy the experience, make it social.  Don’t let it get stressful or too intense.  If that is happening, go for a blast, ski for fun, clear your head and then come back and focus on your deliberate practice.

Make your Practice EFFICIENT

  • Doing a little well is always better than doing a lot badly!

  • Do short, quality sessions where you truly focus on deliberate practice. 

  • Appreciate that practicing well is also a skill that needs to be developed!

Make your Practice DELIBERATE

  • Be clear on what you are changing and why.

  • Be Deliberate and make a change.  Do something new and not just repeat what you have always done.

  • Make sure you understand what your coaches have said.

Make your Practice FOCUSSED

  • Listen to your body.

  • Be clear on what you should be noticing/feeling in your body and/or the skis against the snow.

  • Focus on the INPUT or OUTCOME.

Make your Practice SUCCESSFUL

  • Make good choices on where you are going to practice.  Your choice of terrain will be the factor in whether you are successful or not. 

  • Make good tactical choices.  Make sure you choose a SPEED and LINE that allows you to be successful.

  • Always start on easier terrain, and at slower speeds, to give you the capacity to tune in and change. 

Make your Practice VARIED

  • Once you start to consolidate a change, make it robust by varying your practice.

  • Try it on different gradients and different terrain.

  • Try it at different speeds and turn shapes.

Make your Practice SUPPORTED

  • Take time to practice with friends, make it social, watch each other, talk to each other about what you feel and notice, and learn from each other. 

Make your Practice TOTAL

  • Use everything available to you to develop.

  • Use Visualisation and Mental Rehearsal.

  • Use your body and physicality.

Make your Practice HABIT

  • Make Deliberate, Focussed Practice fun, social and easy so it becomes a habit that you enjoy doing every day you are on snow.