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7 year old progression help

Tricia

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My nephew went skiing a few times at the age of 2 but due to several factors, my younger sister and her family didn't ski much over the past several years.
This year she enrolled him in the ski program after school at Crystal Mountain Michigan where he's had a few lessons and has fallen in love with skiing. The good news is, he can get lessons every time he goes, which has helped him make decent progress, but the thing my sister has observed is that he stands taller and turns better when he keeps his hands up, but he has a habit of dropping his hands to his knees.

Any tips on getting a 7 year old to keep his hands up?
Here is a short video.
 

AtleB

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There are excercises that can do that, but honestly I would recommend not to meddle with it when he skis freely.
Some more challenging terrain (bumps, forest tracks etc) might make him get his hands up for balance.
 

Jersey Skier

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My nephew went skiing a few times at the age of 2 but due to several factors, my younger sister and her family didn't ski much over the past several years.
This year she enrolled him in the ski program after school at Crystal Mountain Michigan where he's had a few lessons and has fallen in love with skiing. The good news is, he can get lessons every time he goes, which has helped him make decent progress, but the thing my sister has observed is that he stands taller and turns better when he keeps his hands up, but he has a habit of dropping his hands to his knees.

Any tips on getting a 7 year old to keep his hands up?
Here is a short video.

I used to tell my son to remember to ski like he has his Xbox controller in his hands because he used to drop them behind him. People must of thought I was nuts when I'd ski behind him constantly yelling "Xbox." But he listened.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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There are excercises that can do that, but honestly I would recommend not to meddle with it when he skis freely.
Some more challenging terrain (bumps, forest tracks etc) might make him get his hands up for balance.
Coincidently, the instructor said that he's turning so well that perhaps giving him his blue sticker so he can go on blue runs may force him to get his hands up. He is also showing interest in skiing in some trees.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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I used to tell my son to remember to ski like he has his Xbox controller in his hands because he used to drop them behind him. People must of thought I was nuts when I'd ski behind him constantly yelling "Xbox." But he listened.
I remember @UGASkiDawg telling his kids to pretend they had a steering wheel in their hands.
 

Philpug

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Problem with the game controller is that it can create alligator arms with the hands too close together and to the body.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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As a coach I've used a lunch tray or beach ball as visuals for kids.
I think he'd relate to a ball before an xbox. He doesn't get much screen time and I'm not sure how much exposure he's had to an xbox.
 

coskigirl

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Also, once he starts using poles I have them hold a pole horizontally across their body while they ski (I take the second pole) because it makes them more conscious of the drop.
 

socalgal

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As a coach I've used a lunch tray or beach ball as visuals for kids.
We use this idea a lot with our kiddo. Also, doing "silly" arms: be a bird, make an elephant nose, giraffe neck, etc. Another BIG favorite is skiing with a snow ball. Then eating it at the bottomogsmile
 

Erik Timmerman

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Coincidently, the instructor said that he's turning so well that perhaps giving him his blue sticker so he can go on blue runs may force him to get his hands up. He is also showing interest in skiing in some trees.

No.

I think the last thing he needs is steeper terrain. I wouldn’t worry about his hands and I’d work on that stance. Get his feet closer so he can balance on one ski at a time.
 

AtleB

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No.

I think the last thing he needs is steeper terrain. I wouldn’t worry about his hands and I’d work on that stance. Get his feet closer so he can balance on one ski at a time.
I agree, not steeper. Too steep too soon often gets kids in the backseat. But more challenging in the way of bumps or narrow kids tracks in the trees. A bonus is that kids usually love that stuff.
 

Big J

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He needs poles.
I agree with using ski poles. He will be able to relate to why his hands should be in front to prepare for the next turn. Correct pole planting is a good reason to have your hands in front creating the correct body position waiting for the next turn. If his hands are in front a pole plant is all from the wrist as the arm is already in the correct position. All advancement flows from being technically correct in the beginning even with something as simple as a pole plant.
 
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LiquidFeet

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No.

I think the last thing he needs is steeper terrain. I wouldn’t worry about his hands and I’d work on that stance. Get his feet closer so he can balance on one ski at a time.
^^^ This. This. This. This! Yes to everything Erik just said.

--No poles yet. No! Poles are for parallel skiers. Use them as a reward for skiing parallel like a big kid.
--No to steeper terrain. He'll go even wider in his stance because he's using stance width and the braking snow plow now to slow down. He is not ready for controlling speed on something steeper yet.
--No to trees, no to bumps. Wait until his stance is narrower, almost parallel between turns. He'll have much better control of his turn radius with a narrower stance, especially if he can get skis parallel between turns. Controlling turn radius is important when there are obstacles in your line.

This big issue of stance width has to do with speed control. He needs to be able to go slow, to avoid obstacles, and turn on command. That wide stance is inhibiting these skills.

--Work on controlling speed by completing turns on these groomers, instead of relying on the wide braking wedge. Completing turns means going across the hill towards trees at the end of every single turn. This will slow him down every single turn. He needs to know and feel how this works, and choose to use it on purpose. He's young. This may take time.

--Once he "gets" that going across the trail will slow him down, work on getting those skis parallel between turns. There are drills that work for this. The longer he stays in that wide wedge, the harder it will be to break him of this habit. Work on completing turns and getting parallel between turns right now.

--The way to get skis parallel is to stand on the downhill ski between turns and move the lightened uphill one to parallel. Work on that with him, using the usual drills. Change instructors if you can't convince this current one to help him move towards parallel right now. This needs to be done on the easiest terrain he's on, so he won't insist on the wide wedge for speed control and a sense of security. Once he's on the outside ski between turns, he's ready to be on it for the whole turn. That means he can start working on fully parallel turns. With those, he'll have much more control of his turn radius and be ready for steeper terrain, and bumps, and trees.

Oh, and as a reward, poles. Let steeper trails, trees, bumps, and poles be a reward. In which order depends on terrain and reading the child's skills and confidence level. Poles can wait until parallel is happening. That's the big prize.
 
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