Ski and Tea Clinic II
These women are tough! It was grey, it was cold, it rained, and then
it snowed, but they were in it, 100%! This was the second clinic in our
five part series with CXC and Ski and Tea. The first clinic we held was
focused on dryland drills to teach basic position fundamentals. To build
on that, the second half of this clinic was scheduled to be on rollerskis.
We just weren’t sure if the weather would play along. The forecast
called for up to 2” overnight, which could have made for some dangerous
conditions on wheels. Luckily, the day dawned and the promised snow hadn’t
come yet. This marked the first time in my life that I’ve woken
up on a cold fall morning, run to the window, and shouted “YES!”
in response to seeing bare ground through the glass.
So there was no snow yet, but you could tell it wanted to. It was one
of those cold drizzly mornings where nothing seems more appealing than
curling up with a good book and some cocoa. Getting yourself out of the
house and to a technique clinic takes some serious willpower and motivation.
But the ski and tea women? Total motivation. Twenty three women showed
up, all dressed for the weather, with upbeat attitudes and huge smiles.
These women were ready to learn, and a little rain wasn’t going
to stop them!
The first half of the clinic was a review of the first clinic. We went
over dryland drills designed to teach and enforce proper technique. Even
though this was clinic focused on skate technique, a good chunk of the
drills focused on classic. This seems counterintuitive, but there’s
a reason. When I put on a clinic, I like to start with the absolute basics
and build up. Since everyone is familiar with walking, the classic movements
seem to come easier to most. And once you get the classic fundamentals
down, it’s just a small adjustment (feet straight? Ok…now
make a V!) to build up to skate. Most of the women there had also attended
the first clinic, and their improvement was remarkable. Ideas which were
once foreign, such as core crunch and forward body lean, seemed much more
natural now.
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