Periodically, different people ask: "Why do our athletes-skiers not rise higher ... ten third in the world ranking?" or "And when will ours ... take at least some places?" "And why … ?" etc. In all questions, bewilderment and bitterness are heard - it is insulting for the state. And for some reason, I constantly want interesting articles of those specialists - coaches who are in alpine skiing ah really understand. There are no problems with amateur or recreational, one might even say "rest" alpine skiing: there are both instructors and amateurs who are ready to write - and write - excellent materials. Equipment reviews - please, travel sketches - as many as you like, reports from the developing resorts of the Urals - no problem, stories about the World Cup - for God's sake. About the training of instructors, about safety in the mountains, about love, about the weather, about lifts - about anything. But about sports training, methods, and in more detail - with graphs, with a comparison of the results of the training process of Vary with the results of Yanitsa, and the results of Andrey or Sergey with the results of Kjetil or Hermann - there is no one to write to. Yes, there is also a letter to the editor from the coaches of one of the schools of the Olympic Reserve (!) With a request to publish some good materials on the training methodology.
And the editor gave the order to find a coach who would share his knowledge in the magazine, so that his students showed no results, and to speak, and not only obscenely ... It turned out that there are such coaches. Few, but there is. But, firstly, they do not strive to tell at least something, and secondly, they do not want to learn at all, and even more so - to teach others. Don't believe me? I didn’t believe it either, until I talked with them, with the coaches, tried to persuade them to cooperate, to write articles. One senior coach told me so bluntly: "Well, yes! I will teach my coaches what I know myself, and then one of them will help me! I will not tell anyone anything. But I can write, in general outline, without details. "In general terms, this means to tell about the fact that skis have edges and that the edges are iron, but you need to train ... But about the details of the training process, about the method - no, no! There is a great secret! Apparently, thanks to this secretly and is considered a good result that our best athletes in the fifth ten international competitions show results.
I ask another coach: “and you read something about alpine skiing (secretly, of course, hoping that he will start to name special foreign and overseas magazines). He says to me:“ I don’t read anything. I have to work, but there is no time to read books and magazines ... "I understand, I say, I'm sorry that I disturbed me with questions, I took them away from the business ... And the third, no less experienced, coach told me in detail that the main progress of his students - children - is happening when they compete with stronger athletes, copying their technique. Then I ask: "So it means that our best athletes copy the technique of the best in the world, and then those who compete with them at the same starts copy their technique, and so on? "Yes - he says - so it is. So after all, I think, where the dog rummaged! It turns out that our Vova or Seryozha, to the best of their understanding, copy the manner of someone of the best in the world, and since all the subtleties of the training he does not know the process of the best in the world, then he copies, most likely, with an error and, very likely, without taking into account the anatomical and other individual characteristics of the athlete he took as a model. n does not explain to his subordinates - remember why? And it turns out that our boys and girls are, at best, the n-th copy of last year's leader. And that, with this, if I may say so, the methodology of the training process, often flavored with obscenities and constantly - the lack of normal funding, you can grow a world star? Something I strongly doubt.
Is it too weak to invite some of the world's leading coaches who have already raised serious athletes? No money? But is there money for five or six snow groomers that are in Shukolovo? There is. And this is several million dollars, by the way. Found more than forty million dollars for the first stage of the Sorochany park construction? And what - for the fact that in the top ten at the World Cup Ivanov-Petrov-Sidorov constantly shine, money cannot be found? I do not believe!
Come on, why am I - after all, I'm not a coach, I don't have higher special education, just as I don't have the title of MS - who will listen to me, an amateur? After all, it’s like with us: if a coach, then at least he should be a master of sports, otherwise colleagues will not even listen. That is, this is nothing that he cannot say two words without an obscene bunch, nothing that drinks, nothing that the technique is the same - to drive on the track, nothing that does not understand how amateur skating differs from sport. The main thing is MS, and even better MSMK, and a certified specialist of a sports university. And it's not scary that the university does not even have such a department - alpine skiing, which means that there are no teachers either. Absolutely not. But he is MS, he himself knows everything about alpine skiing.
Well, okay, back to our rams. That is, excuse me, to the fact that none of them wants to write in the magazine - and indeed - why? None of the coaches writes - the fees are small, it takes a lot of time, and then the subordinates will also sit up. True, one was found who is not afraid of being jailed. Now - an American, our former, from St. Petersburg - Grigory Gurshman. So he talks on the pages of our magazine about this, about this, how the process is going, and what such nuances are in modern technology. True, his articles are not to all Russian coaches to their liking: "Who is it who decided to teach us here? Yes, we ourselves know all this, we just don't want to write! And his film about a summer training session on roller skates is bullshit, I've already seen this exercise ... "
I don't give a damn that Greg coached the Austrian men's team, then the US men's team, and then the Canadian women's team. We still know better than him. It's okay that the film also contains shots of the best athletes in the world training on roller skates. It doesn't matter that Sonya Nef, in part thanks to Greg, remained in alpine skiing several years ago. It is not interesting that the boys from the club that he now trains take the first places in all age groups in the competition. However, this is all really unimportant and uninteresting, because the main goal is not to get caught up, so that no one learns the secrets and techniques thanks to which the best skiers of Russia then occupy their well-deserved places ... And let our Sasha and Masha continue to be only the second or third copy from the really strongest skiers - that's enough for us! After all, in Russia they are the best, no one disputes this?
I'm only afraid that Grisha will get tired (he used to be Grisha) alone to tell at least something worthwhile to our "tough specialists" who don't even want to listen to anything. And then there will again be a black hole in the magazine available to all coaches. True, it turns out that I'm not the only one so fearful: in March of this year, several coaches went to Canada to attend a seminar that Greg held for them free of charge. And the impressions of Lena Vikhreva, who attended this seminar, are published below. And Greg brought his students there so as not to be unfounded, he conducted trainings and showed secret exercises to our coaches, who decided to learn a little more. Apparently, he is very offended "for the state" ...
Seminar for trainers from Russia
Elena Vikhreva, alpine skiing coach
The first thing that I would like to note is the level of training. The seminar was held at a high professional level. All classes were held according to the plan presented by the participants at the very beginning. There were no failures even in the smallest details, ranging from hotel reservations to minor organizational issues such as transport, meeting time on the slope, meals, etc. On the very first day, Gregory suggested that we adopt some rules that helped us do everything on time and methodically, of course, subject to their implementation. If we evaluate the level of the seminar from the point of view of its organization, then I give the highest mark.
Now about my personal impressions of the topic of the seminar. I have been coaching for the fourth year, I read all of Gregory's articles and carefully studied the film on the exercises during the summer training of athletes-skiers on roller skates, but still I still had questions about technique and methodology.
As you know, only very talented people can learn to ride on a self-instruction manual, everyone else needs a teacher. It is possible to teach another person to ski downhill only on condition that the teacher knows how to feel and understand the movements as a whole, and each element of the movement separately. If you just give exercises without understanding their purpose, the result, of course, will be, but the quality will suffer greatly. When I realized that after all I had read and seen, a complete picture did not work out, I decided to go to the seminar. I must say right away that almost all the questions about the technique and methodology that I wanted to ask Greg exhausted themselves on the very first day of class, they simply disappeared. It was like shock therapy: the first impression is a shock from what he saw, then a surprise why I did not understand this from the materials studied, because everything is so clearly and clearly written there.
Yes, in order to understand the fundamentals of movement, you have to see them "live", and performed by an experienced demonstrator, and the overwhelming majority of both coaches and athletes, based on static material, do not understand what exactly one should strive for. Again, before the ball seminar, I had the wrong picture of ideal skating - something to strive for. Now there is such a picture, and all that remains is to work: to learn to see, feel and move in harmony with these sensations.
It’s useless to talk without a demonstration, and so Gregory and I decided that we needed to hold a seminar in Russia, in which everyone could take part. For those who want to understand, I will conduct a seminar (dates will be known closer to autumn), where I will try to talk about the whole picture of the ideal cut turn.
The 3rd Annual Open Conference of the Union of Alpine Ski and Snowboard Instructors was held October 26, 2005 years in the House of Public Organizations under the Moscow Government.
It is written in the charter of our organization that a conference should be held annually, at which:
- The Council of the Union of Instructors is elected (the members of the Council make all decisions on the work of the Union and also carry out these decisions)
- The old composition of the Council reports on the work done
- Plans for the next season are highlighted
- And every two years, an audit commission (a commission that controls the activities of the Council) is elected
When organizing the first conference, we decided that it would be much more interesting and better if this event was not only a re-election, but also educational.
In order for instructors not to lose their qualifications, but on the contrary to improve it, it is not enough just to ride, it is necessary to continue to improve as teachers and educators, communicate with other instructors, share experience and absorb the experience of others. And at every conference, we invite interesting people to us related to teaching alpine skiing and snowboarding or simply working in the field of alpine skiing and snowboarding, so that they share with us their experience, their best practices, or, simply, tell us something interesting for Snowpro instructors.
So this time, the conference was dedicated to the professional growth of instructors. The conference program was supposed to cover three main topics:
- teaching children;
- similarities and differences in the methods of teaching alpine skiing in different countries;
- sports and instructor, why is it important for an instructor to master modern sports equipment.
Reports on these topics were to be made by:
- Georgy Dubenetsky, editor of the magazine "SKI - Alpine Skiing"
- Elena Vikhreva, Alpine Skiing Coach of the CSKA Children's and Youth Sports School
- Alexey Svishchev, Chairman of the Coaching Council of the New League sports club
- Ilya Orlov, instructor-teacher of the Union of Instructors
- Anna Khankevich, psychologist, snowboard instructor at the Union of Instructors
And also Dmitry Shishkov, instructor-teacher, chairman of the Council of the Union of Instructors with a report on the last season and plans for the next season.
So how did it go?
The conference brought together about 60 people. In addition to the instructors of the Union of Instructors, there were:
ski and snowboard instructors of other organizations,
representatives (teachers) of organizations (Russian Ski School and the Training Center of the FGSSR) that train instructors in Russia,
representatives of ski resorts, in particular, Sorochany resort,
rescuers EMERCOM of Russia working at ski resorts,
representatives of the companies Rossignol, Trial-Sport, Fischer, Bask (LMA), SkyTecSport, Sportmaster, Mounttec,
and other people associated with skiing and snowboarding
For the first time our conference had the status of international, it was attended by a representative of Ukraine - Vasily Leskiv, president of the AGPI (the organization uniting instructors of Ukraine).
In addition, I would like to single out Yuri Sergeevich Preobrazhensky, a regular participant in our conferences, among the guests of honor.
By tradition, Dmitry Shishkov was the first to perform.
The main theses of his presentation: Click to open the abstracts
An unpleasant surprise was that Alexander Svishchev unexpectedly found himself on a business trip in Austria, and Georgy Dubenetsky, too, due to unexpected personal circumstances, could not attend the conference.
The ex-speakers apologized for a long time over the phone, but the fact remained, there were no speeches at the conference. In this regard, we had to urgently look for a replacement for them.
It was decided not to change the topic of the second report - "Similarities and differences in the views of representatives of various national instructor schools on teaching methods." Personally, I have been interested in this topic for a long time, therefore, not finding a better candidate, we decided that I would speak, i.e. Alexandra Shishkova.
The report was prepared on the basis of the materials of the "Professional Skier" magazine, according to an article by Leonid Feldman and on the basis of my personal experience.
The main theses of my report:
Three reports were devoted to teaching children at once. Elena Vikhreva was the first to perform. Her report seemed to me very interesting and useful for us, instructors.
At the beginning Lena said that this was her first experience of performing in front of such an audience, but despite this, her presentation was quite casual, and she managed to hold our attention throughout her speech without any problems.
It was interesting to look at the teaching of children by a trainer, not an instructor. Personally, it made me smile that the pedagogical approaches seem to be the same and the children are the same, but the instructors mainly teach children to slow down for greater safety, and the coaches, on the contrary, retraining the children, teach them to increase their speed and accelerate to achieve results.
Abstracts of Elena Vikhreva's report (compiled from a synopsis, therefore, in less detail than previous reports)
After Elena Vikhreva, another unannounced speaker, Sergei Panchernikov, spoke. Sergey is a Snowpro instructor and he shared his experience of working in a children's g / l school in the USA.
For several years, he combined his work as an instructor with his postgraduate studies in Washington DC. The report turned out to be very interesting, despite the fact that Sergei, like me, was preparing to speak directly on the day of the conference.
Anya Khankevich is one of the leading snowboard instructors of the Union of Instructors, a certified psychologist spoke about the psychological aspects of teaching children, reinforcing the reports of previous speakers with scientific terms and rationales, as well as clearly structuring our knowledge on this topic, which was once taught to us at the school of instructors and supplementing them with newer ones.
The abstracts will be available (see later).
Ilya Orlov, head of the snowboarding department of the Union of Instructors, spoke about teaching children how to snowboard. Ilya works a lot with children, and he shared his experience with us.
In addition to thematic reports, we listened to representatives of companies supporting the Union of Instructors (), Rossignol, Swix (Fischer), SkyTecSport. Their speeches were dedicated to plans for cooperation with the Union of Instructors.
Dmitry Klimenko spoke about the discounts provided by Rossignol to Snowpro instructors for skis, boots, bindings; talked about two top ski instructors and two top snowboard instructors becoming Rossignol pro riders; about the “free instructor hour” program for Rossignol customers; and also about many other things.
Tatiana Sorokovaya told the audience about the mutual cooperation of the SkyTecSport gym with the Union of Instructors, about the constant training of our instructors on ski and snowboard simulators.
Marina Semenikhina spoke about the new products in Swix, and that Snowpro instructors will be testing all kinds of ointments, cantares and other accessories for preparing the sliding surface of skis and snowboards for the third season.
In addition, the just published book by Grigory Gurshman "Pyanta Su!" Was presented at the conference. Alpine skiing through the eyes of a coach. The conference participants, thanks to Timur Degurko (instructor of the Union of Instructors), had the opportunity not only to see this book, but also to purchase it.
The result of the conference was a preliminary count of votes in the elections to the Council of the Union of Instructors and the Audit Commission, and, of course, a festive buffet table.
This season, the Union of Alpine Ski and Snowboard Instructors is led by:
Dmitry Shishkov - Chairman of the Council of the Union (elected at a meeting of the Council)
Maria Dolgosheina
Andrey Kolyada
Anastasia Kolyada
Ilya Orlov
Alexey Samsonov
Timur Degurko
And their activities are controlled by members of the Audit Commission Natalya Pravikova and Tatiana Tikhonenko.
I think it's not so interesting about what the Snowpro instructor and their guests had at the buffet table, but they say that it tasted good (to my great regret, I could not stay at the buffet table).
According to a recently established tradition, I want to end this report on the conference with a small rhyme inspired by Shurik Kaniovsky, who shouted to me and Natasha Pravikova at the Ski Salon: “Snowprays! Hey!"
I really like Snowpr,
They are cute and funny.
Snowprа - she is the best,
Both skis and boards ...
But such success did not turn up
Snowpr-yam heads.
They easily lead the arc
Skiing Rossignol,
And he shod his leg
In K2 and on the hillock.
They fly on virgin soil,
Having smeared the skis with Swix,
Lights are burning in their eyes
They eat Twix.
With my body wrapped in LMA
They fly in Siberia.
SkyTec chat on Wednesdays they,
Instead of pulling weights.
Snowprа is very dear to me,
Cheers cheers!!! Cheers cheers!!!
P.S. We are waiting for the Twix brand manager to sign a cooperation agreement and sponsor the Union of Instructors.
Alexandra Shishkova
Instructor-teacher of the Union of Instructors
This blog post was written by Greg Gurshman on ski.ru ....
ABOUT AGGRESSION, TECHNOLOGY AND AGGRESSIVE TECHNOLOGY - OR WHAT FASTER
I answered my own technical questions in some detail here:
but postponed the point about aggressiveness for later. This is not an easy question to answer. Therefore, I did not want to write about it somehow casually and in a hurry between the planes.
And I was waiting for one event to confirm my words. I'll start with the event.
The first Russian athlete was admitted to the best Austrian ski academy STAMS. She turned out to be a Moscow schoolgirl Katya Tkachenko. It should be noted that the admission of foreigners to this ski boarding school, the graduates of which are almost all members of the Austrian national team, occurs only in extremely rare cases. I have known Katya for many years (I think since 7). Of course, I'm glad for her and for my mother, and for Katya's coach Lena Vikhreva (CSKA). On behalf of everyone, I want to congratulate them here.
But why is this fact interesting in terms of talking about technique and aggressiveness? Over the years, I have said that Katya and Lena are on the right track in terms of technology. Sometimes I made an effort so that she did not leave this path. At the same time, there were many Russian "specialists" - coaches and functionaries, who said that Katya was driving incorrectly and, most importantly, not aggressively. Naturally, there were also disrespectful comments about her coach. I'm not talking about myself anymore
Those who saw Katya driving may well appreciate that she is driving dynamically and very smoothly. In general, such a ride is inherent in the leaders at the World Cup. This is exactly what the admissions committee in Austria appreciated, which watched Katya skating for several days (both on and off the track). I spoke with the coaches and they unanimously admitted that it was the aggressiveness in Katya skating that played a decisive role in their choice. At the same time, Russian colleagues believed that Katya did not have any aggressiveness. The fact is that they confused and confuse aggressiveness with jerking, shoving skis and thrashing on landmarks.
What do we mean by true aggressiveness? Aggressiveness is the creation of large angles of displacement in the initial phase of the turn above the line of incline of the slope. Thus, during aggressive skating, the athlete does not "fight" across the slope in the third phase (under the goal), but cuts most arcs over the flag. This, of course, is only the ideal of the most efficient and fastest skiing. But it is to him that you need to strive. This is impossible without the right technique.
"Aggressive" riding in the typical Russian sense leads to holes under the pole and an obvious struggle at the exit from the turn. Therefore, no pseudo aggressiveness, leading to jerking, is definitely not needed, but an aggressive shift into the arc leads to smooth, but dynamic skiing.
He explained as best he could. I hope that both coaches and athletes and even veterans, who especially like to twitch on the track, will try to understand that this is not aggressiveness at all. And the main thing is to understand that this will definitely not add anything to either the speed or the results. Jerky driving is always slower, despite some illusions that can arise on short slalom tracks on pimples.
So, aggressively shifting forward and inward of the arc, rather than jerking while standing over the skis, is the path to success both on the track and simply in free skiing. Truly aggressive driving is the result of technique, not deliberate aggression.
True, for many, this is all of course difficult, even in discussions of technology on the forums, there is a lot of aggression, what can we say about skating.
Kavgolovo is a resort close to the northern Russian capital. This is a tourist-proven multifunctional vacation spot. It combines scenic landscapes with versatile sporting opportunities.
In the snowy season, skis, snowboards, sledges reign here, and in warm weather golfers, tennis players, rowers come to Kavgolovo ...
Resort location
Kavgolovo lies in the reserve zone, 20 kilometers north of St. Petersburg. The resort is based in the village "Toksovo" - an old place, rich in history and ancient sights.
The ski base is formed in the open spaces Northern slope, at the foot of which there is the eponymous hotel-complex.
Acquaintance with the resort
In the village of Toksovo, events and competitions of a sporting nature are often held, among which are international competitions. Therefore, tourists not only enjoy the good tracks, but can also receive an award for this by participating in tournaments.
The ski base has a modernized, renewed infrastructure system. Several lakes nearby expand the range of recreational opportunities.
Characteristics of the sports facilities of the resort
Despite the fact that the Kavgolovo base is under the jurisdiction of the National State University of Physical Education, Health and Sports, not only student athletes are allowed to the slopes.
A recent renovation has transformed the center into an innovative, state-of-the-art sports resort.
These conditions allow training all year round, which is used even by the athletes of the Russian National Team. winter species sports.
Opportunities ski base
- Number of slopes - 3;
- The longest ski slope is 450 m;
- The presence of a toboggan and jogging track,
- The presence of lighting on the tracks;
- The number of lifts - 10;
- Snow supply and ramming system;
- Equipment rental, service, repair and storage;
- Availability of quarter pipes, springboards, snowboarding facilities;
- Training Instructor Service;
- Medical Center;
- Parking.
The sports area for skiing Kavgolovo is represented by several zones.
Complex "North Slope"
Here the slopes "Balletny" (artificially formed according to the standards of a ballet gentle slope) and "North" (consists of 2 parallel slopes) are used.
The length of the Ballet slope is 300 m with a drop of 20 °.
The length of the tracks on the "Northern" slope is about 220 m.
The GC "Kavgolovo" is proud of a three-kilometer ski-roller track with night lighting.
For tourists-skiers, this area is of greater importance. It includes 3 tracks. Their length is on average 250 m, and the drop is 50 m.
The slopes have sections of varying difficulty, so it is interesting to ride here for everyone.
There are also ski jumps, a freestyle area, a toboggan run and a quadpipe that attracts snowboarders.
The snowmaking system and snow-compacting equipment ensure high-quality and safe snow cover on the tracks.
Eagle Mountain Sports Park
The slope "Eagle Mountain" is also good, where the length of the slopes is 200 m. Thanks to the excellent snow cannons, you can ride here even in a thaw - the thickness of the cover is about 1 meter.
There are rolling and service department, there is an opportunity to contact the coach.
The area is fully illuminated in the evening. The children's descent is also highlighted separately.
"Slope VTsPS".
Directly in the village of Toksovo, the "Slope of the VTsPS" was formed. It is aimed at athletes of all skill levels. The slope is about 200 meters long. However, there is no maintenance of the tracks here.
"Andreevsky slope".
For training and accumulation of skills, "Andreevskie" trails are ideal. The slope is not long (100 m), it has 2 slopes.
The first is completely smooth, straight and with minimal slope.
The second one is a little more difficult and has slight irregularities in the landscape. However, there is no snowmaking system here.
Other zones.
For mass skating prepared slopes "Impulse" and "Polygon", but even here the slopes are not looked after and give free rein to nature.
Young people and groups of tourists or families are more common on the Semeyka slope. And on "Toksovo Tramplin" energetic extremals rule.
Lifts
Most ski areas have several lifts.
- On the "North Slope" - 2 lifts;
- "Eagle Mountain" offers 2 mechanisms for the main runs and 1 child for the corresponding descent;
- There are 4 lifts at the VTsPS, including 1 for children (its length is 30 m);
- In Toksovo Tramplin there is 1 lift - the Tatrapoma tow bar.
The purchase of ski passes is carried out in several ways:
- for 1 weekday (only on weekdays);
- for 1 day (applicable on weekdays and weekends);
- 5-day subscription;
- for 10 days;
- for 20 days.
About equipment and service
In Kavgolovo you can rent or buy complete skiing equipment. Here everything is rented and sold in sports shops everything necessary for a tourist who comes to ski resort.
Sticks, skis, boots, tracksuits and protective helmets, snowboard and equipment for it, skates, cheesecakes, sledges, sets.
Instructors and trainers teach beginners and children in the safest areas of the tracks. You can learn to ski and snowboard.
You can also get a master class on improving skills in the trampoline and extreme views sports.
Apres ski
Establishments that provide additional needs of tourists in Kavgolovo are foreseen and are being developed thoroughly.
Apres ski is represented by the following services:
On a note! The "Kavgolovo" provides corporate services organizing, holding conferences, master classes, meetings for company employees and guests.
sights
The solid impressive history of the place explains the presence of interesting objects here that a tourist needs to see:
- Lutheran Church;
- Cathedral of the Holy Archangel of God Michael;
- Museum "Forests";
- Zoo and ecotourism park "Zubrovnik";
- Quest festivities according to old Russian traditions, which are organized by residents.
Leisure
What to do in Kavgolovo besides skiing? There are many fascinating entertainments for those who do not live by unique skis: trails for toboggan and cheesecake skiing are a priority for family companies, a skating rink, fishing on a nearby lake, trails and hiking trails, gazebos with stoves and barbecues are rented.
There are frequent competitions, which are interesting to watch or to be a participant in.
Accommodation
Hotels, hotels and cottages have been built to accommodate guests.
Near the "Northern" slope is the largest hotel here "Kavgolovo", which, in addition to accommodation, provides a number of other tourist services to clients.
You should also pay attention to multifunctional recreation centers, for example, "Rainbow" or "Green hills".
The level of comfort in Kavgolovskiy hotels is generally high, with different price ranges and rooms.
We go to Kavgolovo
If you go by your own transport, the road is simple: we leave St. Petersburg through the village of Novoye Devyatkino, and then a direct road to Toksovo and then Kavgolovo.
As public transport minibuses are convenient. They follow from the metro station "Prospect Prosvescheniya" (minibus No. 205) and "Devyatkino" (No. 295 and 621).
The final stop is called Fantastico. From it to the ski center 10 minutes walk.
Another option is the electric train. She goes either to the station "Kavgolovo" - from the Finlyandsky railway station, or to "Toksovo" - from where again on foot.
