Instructional Session: Balance with Danny Noyes

This morning, Danny led all of SDSC in a balance progression on skates in the Mount Mansfield parking lot. In addition to directing SDSC, Danny is heading into his 10th year as the head alpine ski coach at Colby, has coached 11 NCAA Div I All-Americans (7 men, 4 women), and was honored as EISA Coach of the Year in 2010.

As with last week, we continued to start from athletic stance in sneakers to establish a routine and incorporate the second week campers who had not been on skates yet. I'm always impressed with how Danny's sessions build from the basic elements to the entire picture of a skiing turn, and today was a perfect example.

Once comfortable on skates, we moved into lanes and practicing flexing up and down in athletic stance before moving to hops over bamboo poles. After poles, they progressed to jumping over hurdles, and finally into GS courses. Danny emphasized how in parallel position, your inside ski (or skate, in this case) is slightly ahead of the outside ski. That helps you drive your inside knee, maintain pressure on the outside foot, and puts your hips and shoulders in position to exit turns with momentum moving down the hill.

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When Danny added bamboo poled into the course to signal their transition between turns, he pointed out how good skiers who are balanced in their transition limit mistakes.  Our campers focused on jumping and landing in basic athletic stance (a move where balance is a NECESSITY) before rolling into their next turn. The kids did a great job, taking lap after lap down the lanes and focusing well on the feedback they received from coaches. Finally, they finished strong with the SL challenge!

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As the sun heats up, we are getting ready to jump in the water at the Waterbury State Park. It's going to feel good!