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Ever ski in a Sumo suit?

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
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I haven't, but I wonder what it would be like.


I was teaching some one today and wondering what I can expect of her. I've never worked at a carnival gussying people's weights, but 350 lbs? +/- 50 lbs? She's not a bad skier, she's been at it for some years and wants to get better. She is getting better, but I wonder how much I can expect. What ir realistic. How narrow of a stance can I expect if her thighs are as big as my waist? If she could balance on one foot, how long could she be expected to support her weight on one foot? Maybe that's just not realistic. Can she angulate? Her skeleton should work the same as mine but can I really expect her to build counter and anticipation? Also... her skis. She is on a 150 something women's ski. It's designers were probably picturing a 115 lb woman to be skiing these puppies. Her boot fit actually looks pretty good, btw.
 
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Jilly

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OMG - brings back bad memories. I seriously didn't know that Columbia made coats big enough. My student wasn't as big as a sumo wrestler, but she was a large lady. The biggest problem I had was she wanted me "to learn her". She just didn't want to do the work to learn. As we know, skiing doesn't work that way. She just wouldn't try and I was at fault. Got to say that I haven't taught since for pay, a few other reasons, like bad knees. Having more fun "helping" people.
 

Ogg

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As long as she is receptive teach her like you would anyone else. It might even spark her to work on dropping some of the weight. I know when I was +45-50% of my current weight one of the motivating factors to losing it was improving my skiing.
 

cantunamunch

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She is on a 150 something women's ski. It's designers were probably picturing a 115 lb man to be skiing these puppies.

This is testable, got hardpack? If she's doing all the moves but can't hold an edge...

Also, any signs of her not being able to get to the BTE properly? Can she herringbone? Can she get to the BTE in a narrow stance?
 

Doug Briggs

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I know that this may seem rude or be difficult to do, but you may have to ask her what her limitations are. Find out what other sports she participates in. What accommodations she has to make in those sports. I don't think what I'm suggesting is insensitive, I certainly don't mean for it to be, as you can't offer ways to improve if the suggested ways just aren't realistic. You are certainly on the right track by considering what they are, but without asking you won't know if your assumptions are correct.

I've had to do this with people that obvious infirmities and imbalances. Age, surgeries, recent and/or old injuries, obesity to some degree, and, as I'm coaching speed, how fast do you really want to go? One guy has multiple fused vertebrae and can't bend his neck. That restricts his ability to be aerodynamic and still see. If I hadn't asked about what I perceived as lack of mobility, I wouldn't have known. Rather than getting him to lower his chest, I had him focus more on arms and stance.

Restrictions due to size as well as having the strength to perform certain actions need to be addressed and accommodated. These have likely been issues with your student prior to you. It is good that your student is motivated. I have only had one athlete defer to wanting more speed. He just wanted to continue to participate in racing and to be able to do it safely. I respect that. He knew what his goals were and if I hadn't asked I would have had him going faster than he likely would have been comfortable with.

I wish you both success. She is fortunate to have an instructor that cares enough to make the effort to learn how to help her.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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OMG - brings back bad memories. I seriously didn't know that Columbia made coats big enough. My student wasn't as big as a sumo wrestler, but she was a large lady. The biggest problem I had was she wanted me "to learn her". She just didn't want to do the work to learn. As we know, skiing doesn't work that way. She just wouldn't try and I was at fault. Got to say that I haven't taught since for pay, a few other reasons, like bad knees. Having more fun "helping" people.
The part of selling to an over weight customer that I found difficult was when filling out the paperwork for the bindings. You have to ask how much they weigh, it is a sensitive subject for both men and women. Although maybe a lot more for women. One of the ways I would try to get the information without being insensitive was to talk them away from other customers in a lower voice and have them fill in the form as I talked them through the questions. Many of them did appreciate the private conversation and shared the facts I needed to set the bindings with a little more honesty. It was one way I found that helped because it made many of them repeat customers.
 

oldschoolskier

Making fresh tracks
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I haven't, but I wonder what it would be like.


I was teaching some one today and wondering what I can expect of her. I've never worked at a carnival gussying people's weights, but 350 lbs? +/- 50 lbs? She's not a bad skier, she's been at it for some years and wants to get better. She is getting better, but I wonder how much I can expect. What ir realistic. How narrow of a stance can I expect if her thighs are as big as my waist? If she could balance on one foot, how long could she be expected to support her weight on one foot? Maybe that's just not realistic. Can she angulate? Her skeleton should work the same as mine but can I really expect her to build counter and anticipation? Also... her skis. She is on a 150 something women's ski. It's designers were probably picturing a 115 lb man to be skiing these puppies. Her boot fit actually looks pretty good, btw.
You know what, if she’s there taken a lesson, she’s motivated. Limitations, there may or may not be any, approach it like any other student and work around the problems. Worry more about you finding the solution vs her potential limitations.

This almost instantly makes you one of the best instructors because you adapt to the student not the other way around. She’ll be impressed how you teach.

I’m going to paraphrase what our sons (disability) swim coach said (and this raised my respect of him and I still occasionally remind him to stick with it) as he coached him in an able bodied high level group.

I teach all of the same, each needs individual attention and help, so all are the same in his eyes.

Looking at that way you student is no different than any other, treat her that way.
 

Doug Briggs

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@oldschoolskier makes a good point about ability vs disability. If you have an adaptive ski program, you could ask them for advice. They're likely to understand and know how to focus on your student's abilities.
 

Tony Storaro

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It might not be a bad idea for her to do some ski touring first, a bit of going uphill before going downhill.
Nothing too crazy, just 100-200 meters vertical.


Poor soul, must be terrible for her...
 

oldschoolskier

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That's been my approach. As I was driving home I was wondering if I need to "get real".
Treat her the same is real, adjust to what’s needed, discretely, sometime you both will learn what is needed to make it happen.

Have a child that has intellectual disability and some minor physical effects, you learn just to move ahead.
 

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