This morning Danny, our very own SDSC Camp Director and head coach of the Colby Alpine Ski Team, led us through a fantastic session on skates that focused on balance while at speed. We solidified our basic athletic stance in sneakers, hopping and shifting our weight onto only one foot so as to find our center of balance from any position. This gave the campers the a better sense of how to recover when they lost their balance on skates. The same applies for skiing, and Danny emphasized the importance of that "re-centering" during the transition between two turns on skis.
We then progressed to working on parallel position, where feet, ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders must all stay parallel to the ground. Parallel position is extremely important for skiing, and it was great to see the campers grappling with what for many is a new concept.
Finally, Danny concluded his session by running timed SL and GS courses in lanes (similar to those out at Mt. Hood, I think), and the campers responded well by looking for speed and pushing themselves to venture slightly outside their comfort zone.
Excellent start to this fine Tuesday, and now we are off to the Waterbury Center State Park for some swimming and beach games!
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