Winter Slalom Symposium

[lpskier]

Andy was organizing weekend clinics at his lake that included on water coaching with video,etc. and a classroom component. If a respected coach were to organize such a thing in the future, that included say an Olympic coach from another sport but that produced gold medalists, that talked about topics like mental preparation, physical preparation and strategies for success, would you be interested and would you pay in the range of $1000 for the weekend plus transportation and housing and meals?

[Orlando76]

Sounds way too steep for a pep talk in my opinion.

[lpskier]

It would include three days of skiing. Andy used to charge $100 a set so using his rate as a example it would include $600 of skiing. Pep talker has to be flown in and put up for the weekend.

 

Just seeing if there's an interest before I put any time into it.

[bkreis]

@lpskier I love the idea...for me, it'd need to be somewhere that had shelter to get dry and warm...lol, I'm from miami!

[bbirlew]

@lpskier,

I went through that style of camp back in the late '90s. They had Olympic trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists, etc, along with event specific coaching.

 

As a teenager who ate fast food all day and had never done any mental prep of any sort, it was a real eye opener and one of the best overall things I've done for my skiing.

 

 

[Orlando76]

Ok I'm confused.... Is it just a non-waterskiing Olympic coach lecturing or is it in the water, skiing with a coach such as Brooks, Rini, etc AND an Olympic coach lecturing? Maybe I misunderstood the topic.

[lpskier]

@Orlando76 It would be a combination of on water coaching (2 or 3 sets per day) and off water class room lecture/discussion. I have talked to an Olympic coach who is willing to come. I have a strength and conditioning coach as well. I like the nitric isn't angle but haven't thought about it. I have a coach in mind but it could be multiple ski coaches. I'm gaging interest first before going down the road of organization.

 

Brooks just took the brand manager position with Radar, filling Chris Sullivan's shoes, emptied by a move to Master Craft.

[Razorskier1]

@lpskier -- I think the concept is cool. I would have loved to have come down for one of Andy's long weekend deals but couldn't make it work with kids still at home. Now they are gone, and my schedule is more flexible. I think the strength/conditioning stuff is really important for us old guys.

[RazorRoss3]

@ipskier, if it was $1000 I'd rather take 10 coached sets at $100/set than 6 sets with $400 worth of pep talk. Then again I'm 23 years old and have the endurance for that.

[bkreis]

@lpskier we could do it in Miami possibly..personally not interested in the strength/conditioning coach :-)

[jipster43]

I would love to do something like this when my shoulders are healthy. I'm very interested in developing a strength & conditions program that will allow my shoulders to recover stronger than before and help me limit future injuries - especially to my back.

 

How many skiers do you think you'd need to make this symposium viable?

[Edbrazil]

Miami would be a nearly ideal site. Water never gets cold, and they have 5 SL courses.

[Horton]

Just take a couple cases of good beer to @skidawg's house. You will learn more and have more fun.

[lpskier]

@horton That's helpful.

[lpskier]

It would be in Orlando, but could be in March or even April.

 

@RazorRoss3 There are reasons certain athletes win Olympic medals and others don't, and a lot of it has to do with mental preparation.

[pregom]

@ipskier are you going to have a minimum level of slalom skiing ability required?

[lpskier]

@pregom No minimum requirements, but it will help if you have a reliable deep water start. :-)

[pregom]

Thanks, @ipskier. Glad to see the bar is set low but not too low! :)

[RazorRoss3]

@ipskier, the mental game is important, don't get me wrong. That said, I just like to be on the water, not saying the class room stuff wouldn't be good for me but for my money I'd rather spend more time on the water because it's fun. I also don't really get tired so the endurance side isn't a problem.

[andjules]

I think the mental part is a great angle, but there is a limit to the $ premium I'd pay for a non-waterskier. A more affordable, ski-centric approach might be getting Dave Benzel to come out for a talk (Dave was a top ski coach in the 80s and more importantly, the most invested leader in our sport when it came to sports psychology - then or now, arguably).

I don't know as much about Mike Ferraro, but he's another ski-oriented "champion-builder" I'd be interested in hearing from (unless I've got my history/rumors wrong, Matt Rini was Ferraro's coaching protegé).