Jim Strohm wrote:
......

Adults probably need to be taught skiing with the equipment as "all
one
piece" -- i.e. in normal conditions you'll always have two skis and
two
poles, and one body to use.

Not really, one body and two skis will be sufficient.


If you take a "first-ever" skiier and teach them to use their poles
to
the utmost of their ability first, then they should be able to get
the
bottom half of their body to follow their top half.

So you haven't seen the beginners tangled up in their tangled poles and
skis, eh?

Which means --
poles give balance,

Not really, balance is held at the feet/skis, not at the poles,

the focus for turns,

and poling breaks the traction (so is the focus) of the turning force
and produces unstable turns.

and a good universal tool for
when you're not moving on your skis.

Ski like skate, no poles are needed.


Until you learn to use your poles properly, you're going to have a
difficult time becoming a proficient skiier.

Not really, the most proficient skiers I see are those ski patrollers
ski without poles.


Here's an experiment you can try.

Get a four-legged stool. Set it on the floor. Shove it a few feet
along the floor. This is your skiier with both poles in active
contact
with the snow.

Chop off one leg, and try the same things. This is your skiier with
one
pole planted and the other pole searching for its next plant.

If you didn't kick the stool too hard, it stayed upright the whole
time.

Now cut off the leg opposite the first one you cut off. Balance the
stool. Then shove it a few feet. I don't have to tell you what the
results will be.

What a tedious experiment, do you think that Mary needs to learn how to
use hacksaw to even do this experiment (and destroy a perfectly
functional stool)?

I had my students threw away their poles already.


This is your skiier who can't use their poles.

And -- don't spend more than 45 seconds teaching the snow plow to
grown-ups, unless you're buying lunch and it's gonna be "pizza,
french
fries, pizza, french fries." Teach the parallel turn concept first,
and
then the snowplow and wedge turns as "nice to know but you'll only
use
them in the lift line."

I don't get them into parallel turn until they have a solid fundation
on snowplow skiing.


Train for the ultimate goal, not the lesson plan objectives.
What is your/the ultimate goal [in skiing]?


IS


Jimintexus