Hi Rick

Thanks … Your Building Blocks training has been A TOTAL GAME CHANGER for me over the last 18months! My style is always evolving for the better and I still regularly go through your drills and keep referring back to your training to better understand or reinforce an area that needs improving. I have just signed up to start some Masters race training so am looking forward to your new DVD. If the Building Block DVDs are anything to go by I am sure this one will be superb!!

Cheers

Mike

I received DVDs …

They are fantastic. It is first time I find an approach so detailed like this around ski teaching, no matter if we speak about personal classes, books or video media. Congratulations.

Gustavo

Argentina

Thank you for your excellent DVD series…I bought the entire set and they are excellent …I am 64 years old and a longtime intermediate skier…these DVD’s have helped me considerably…I do need the Drill cards to keep me focused on my drills. i ski in mammoth ca

thanks

Craig CA USA

There are different types of skiers. Some are ok with being able to ski down (not caring how they do it). While other want to have complete control over what they are doing. There are many instructional DVDs out there. Those who want to have complete control over skiing will buy those other instructional DVDs and eventually get back to yours because that’s the only product out there that covers all aspects in detail.

Sheraz

New Jersey USA

Hi Rick,

I have got your building blocks DVDs last week

Many thanks.I think they are brilliant and I never saw such good explanation of ski technique before.

I really enjoy them.

From Peter, Germany

Hi Rick,

Wow this is a kick ass program thanks a lot.

Linda

Idaho, USA

Not only interesting but possibly the best “explanation” of “rotary” and “steering” I’ve ever read. In my estimation Rick has his head on straight and nailed the true meaning and application of our most misunderstood primary skill in PSIA’s AT

I feel likeI’ve just been given the key to that locked door that I’ve been looking at for years.

I wish I had your DVD set about 7 years ago….I’d be a WAY better skier!! … Your demos are very easy to understand and the explanations and “hints” that also appear as text on the screen are very well done. The photography is probably the best I’ve seen on any ski-training stuff

Hey Rick,

I just wanted to send a big thumbs up your way.  I feel like I’ve just been given the key to that locked door that I’ve been looking at for years.  In your spiral learning article you said that the road to expert skiing is a mystery to most.  Man, that is so true.  We don’t know what we don’t know.  Thanks for shining a light on that mystery.

Thanks Again,

Chris T (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

The basics pay off!

SkiMangoJazz

As reviewed on Epicski, December 9, 2010

I have now gone entirely through the first DVD in this series Basic Balance.  The 6 DVDs move to very advanced skills, but I have so far only worked on the basics (hence the review title.)

I’ve been skiing for over 20 years, so it ain’t what you think of as basic.  The progression of drills on this DVD start with fore/aft balance, then move to lateral balance.  If you stick to them (which I finally did) they develop a rock solid foundation that has allowed me to take my skiing to the next level.  I found many of them fairly easy to do, but when I got to the ones that I had trouble with I discovered a hole in my skill set that needed filling.  A few days on those drills and not only can I ski better on the inside ski, but it carried over immediately to my free skiing.  I will definitely be moving on to DVD 2 Basic Edging.

Rick brings his race coaching experience to these DVD’s.  As a PSIA Instructor I’ve always been impressed with what race coaches do – partly because they train the same kids for many many days, instead of us that get a lot of one shot lessons.  Taking this developmental approach works.

The on camera introduction is a little stiff, Rick is a great coach, but his talking to a video camera is not polished.  However his voice overs on the drills – the meat of the DVD’s – is fantastic.

I highly recommend these to any skier at any level who has the time to put in to them.  There is no quick and easy shortcuts on here, you need to be able to dedicate yourself to the progressions.  But if you do – it WILL payoff.

In addition the drill cards are a great addition.  I carried them in my jacket pocket and could review them on the lift, making taking notes while watching the DVD’s unnecessary.

Steve

Massachusetts USA

Hey Rick!  I will start by saying  “AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!” I watched the first two DVD’s, (three times) took some notes up the mountain with me, and worked through the fore/aft drills, and started on the lateral balance skills. I will be working on those for while, I think. … It was snowing hard and the wind was kicking up snow off the ground, visibility was terrible. Long story short, I was relegated to the tow rope area to do my drills for the better part of the day. I did ski several blue runs on the back side, out of the wind, and I learned some interesting things about my technique, and I learned a lot more, skiing slow on the gradual slopes. I ski aft, a lot. I hunch, even when I am on “safe” terrain. I throw the tails (which I knew). I ski counter, a lot. I pivot and dig the edges in whenever the speed gets scary. I was very surprised that turns to the right, even half turns to the right, were very difficult for me on the gradual slopes moving very slowly. I figured that out, but still, it was pretty embarrassing to be on nearly flat ground and not be able to shift weight to my outside ski. In fact, the fore/aft exercises were very difficult to perform smoothly, keeping balance, especially going slow. The “aft” exercises were by far the easiest for me to do, even the aft-to-fore drill came pretty easily. Anyway, between the weather and the slow progress, I was feeling like I might just be dead before i got enough days on the mountain to make any progress. It was a despondent drive home.

I went back today, however, and the weather was much better. Calm wind and light snow. I skied a couple of blue runs to start with. I haven’t done any of the edging drills, but just being aware of the problems I “felt” while I was skiing yesterday made a HUGE difference. Because my thighs were already burning from skiing aft yesterday (not the drills) I could really feel the relief when I straightened up and centered my stance. That helped immensely. Also, I found out that when I ski counter, because I am looking downhill, I don’t finish my turns. Instead, I pivot, and away down hill I go, too fast, so I keep having to counter, counter counter, which is exhausting. By skiing square and looking the direction I am going, or want to go, I can do 90 degree or even greater turns to control my speed, slow down, and ski more smoothly with less difficulty. My skiing improved in a lot of other ways too, but those were the most significant. Anyway, no falls today, and I had the best day of skiing I have ever had, and I skied more because I wasn’t exhausted from skiing aft, and skiing counter. Oh, and most important, I didn’t want to stop skiing when it was time to come home! My goal is to finish, with at least some proficiency, all of the drills on the Basic Balance DVD by the end of this season. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks so much!

Phil

Rick,

Thank you very much!  Yes, I have been looking for some sort of resource to help me learn to ski.  

I am currently a student and spent the last school year in the French Alps where I “relearned” how to ski (I skied when I was younger but, due to relocation, could not continue).  So, I have only really skied two seasons, this season and last season.  

The problem that I was having in my development was that I couldn’t find a decent resource to help guide me along.  I tried the “Sofa Ski School” DVD but found that it was more of a supplemental resource, not one that would teach you HOW to ski.  I know that I do certain things very well for only having skied two seasons (or so I’m told by more experienced eyes), but there are clearly flaws in some basic skills.  Having watched the entirety of the first DVD I feel certain that the next few DVDs (over the course of multiple years of course) will teach me what I need to know!  What I really enjoyed about the first DVD in the series is that you break down the theory of what one is doing as well as teach how to do it.  Anyway, I just wanted to inform you a little bit about myself and say thank you for building such a wonderful product!  I know that the DVDs are only as good as the effort I put into my own development, but I feel confident that you’ll help me discover new levels with my skiing!

Nick

Virginia

Building Blocks Instructional DVDS

keduco

As reviewed on Epicski April 6, 2010

I decided to buy this DVD set a supplement to taking private lessons.  They arrived two days after ordering them.  So far I have watched the Basic Balance and Basic Edging DVD’s. I have performed most of the exercises on the Balance DVD.  

These videos are set up in such a way that a series of drills are demonstrated.  An explanation about the drills and the benefits that they have in advanced level skiing are also given.  The drills start off easy and then progress in difficulty as they continue.  As the name suggests, “Building Blocks”, each drill teaches you a new skill that is then applied in the later drills.  This is not a “learn to ski fast” video.  It’s offers very in-depth instruction and the ability to learn a very large skill set. After doing most of the drills on the balance DVD…my balance has improved 10 fold! In private ski instruction, I was basically told to keep my weight forward and let’s move on.  

The drills and instruction on the DVD really touches every aspect in relation to skiing.  The drills are laid out in perfect sequence…..each small skill learned is one step closer to the big picture!  The video, production, and editing  qualities are very good. Each drill has it’s own chapter and menu selection, so it’s pretty easy and quick to find and  review certain drills when needed. I can’t wait to start working on the Edging DVD.  

Rick also has a website that is associated with his series.  If you have a question about any of the drills or need any type of help, just send him an e-mail.  He will respond. Trust me, I’ve already asked a bunch of questions! I wasn’t aware that there are also drill cards available. They can be taken with you as a reminder on how to perform each drill.  They would definitely come in handy.

 review

Keith

Pennsylvania, USA

Hi Rick,

So I’m looking back at last ski season and this season to date and it seems obvious to me what an important role your Building Blocks DVDs have played.

The beginning of last season was the first time I had EVER spent any snow time doing drills.  I had received your first two DVDs, watched them, studied them, made notes and went to the small hills of Michigan and worked diligently performing the drills.  I got the next two DVDs for Christmas and quickly got busy on the new drills.

Later in the winter when I traveled to Colorado I definitely felt a marked improvement in my skiing.  I want to thank you for providing the right information in the right format for me to understand, practice and implement into my skiing.

Over the summer I really looked forward to getting the rest of your DVD series so I could spend my skiing time in Michigan learning new drills and further upping my game before traveling to the mountains again.  However, just before the start of the season life got in the way and I needed to spend all my extra time tending to some serious family health issues.  I did finally make it out to the mountains but I never got the time to do any drilling at all beforehand.  What a difference!  I feel like my skiing has definitely slipped back a couple of notches.

A few short years ago I thought that spending time on the hill practicing drills was just for coaches, instructors and competitors.  I felt that I always had fun when I was skiing so what was the use of replacing ‘fun time’ with ‘drill time’.  Now I understand that mastering your drills leads to better, more efficient technique which leads to more confidence on the most difficult terrain and thus, MORE FUN!

Now I’m looking forward to my next opportunity to get out on some easy slopes and…. drilling!

Thanks,

Chris

Michigan USA

Hi Rick,

Wow, Wow, Wow,Wow and Wow and I’m only through the first disc. Was this ever needed !! I am a ski instructor in New York at Hunter Mtn. I really got back into things a few years ago and it’s been very tough to get a clear complete and detailed guide especially on disc to comprehend what for me is the “new” skiing. Even just the first disc is so fantastic, so clear so complete and comes from such depth of understanding it’s really mind blowing !! ………………

Wow, this is really great stuff !! I hope you don’t mind me going on but this is some really exciting territory you are venturing into on all fronts !! By the way I’ve now watched the Basic Edging DVD and I’m even more amazed. In one DVD you answered clearly and concisely issues that have been rolling around in my mind that I’ve been trying to articulate but weren’t even able to express clearly. What an incredibly clear presentation of the difference between carving, steering and skidding. Especially trying to grasp the “new” skiing it can get confusing as to whether you are carving, carving enough to still be carving even though your not purely carving and is it O.K to skid ever or will the “shaped” ski police come out and throw you off the mountain ??  Your presentation of turn radius and degree of turn is just too clear !! Really, really tremendous stuff !! I guess I’m a fan. 

Thanks so much for doing all this work to make available the fantastic benefit of your knowledge as both a competitor and coach to all of us out here. 

Alan

New York State

Regarding the article A Revival of the Steered Turn

Not only interesting but possibly the best “explanation” of “rotary” and “steering” I’ve ever read.  In my estimation Rick has his head on straight and nailed the true meaning and application of our most misunderstood primary skill in PSIA’s ATS.

While I personally use some different words or descriptions I found NO fundamental problems with Rick’s explanation.  For me to say that gives you an idea of how impressed I am.

I would like to point out that Rick’s explanation of passive rotary “allows us to assume different functional body positions” means that we are “guiding the C/M in the direction (and slightly lateral) of the turn to edge (or take edge away) the skis.  This steering (I prefer to call it guiding) also keeps redirecting the C/M continuously throughout the turn.  Obviously this allows us to have “total motion” eliminating “park and ride” and makes it quite easy to stay balanced against our skis.  Rick goes on to say that these movements have no actual (active) turning influence on the skis.  Wow!!  Right on!!  Remember what I’ve been saying about “guiding” all these years?  I’m confident that I’m interpreting Rick’s explanation correctly.

I would go further to say that we can become more “active” with our steering to create higher edge angles by actively using our quads to guide (allow) the C/M to move to the inside (and forward) of the turn…especially at the edge change.  But this should be a continuous movement throughout the turn and not “turned on and off” at different parts of our turns.

I also agree with Rick that one of our (as instructors) biggest problems is to get rid of that “pivot” of the skis by our students at the start of their turns.  Usually we see this as an upper body rotation or sometimes as a tail push.  Quite often this can be caused by an improper “stack” or balance over/against their skis.  One thing I’ve found is that as the balance deteriorates, so does the effectiveness of steering efforts to allow the C/M move efficiently.  A person can put 100% effort of steering into their turn but if they’re not balanced correctly they get a return of possibly 30%.  Depends on how far off they are with their stance.  With excellent balance it takes VERY LITTLE guiding to get the job done.  Almost effortless.

Bob Abbott

Bobs Credentials: Level III since 1974, ski school director for 10 years at Brandywine Ski Area (Ohio), on the ed staff of PSIA-C for 10 years.  Currently in-house clinician at Boston Mills/Brandywine ski areas and Snow Trails ski area.  

Bob says “All 40+ years of being an instructor I’ve ALWAYS worked with teaching (coaching) the public and one of my joys is helping beginners ‘get the skiing bug’.”

I am fairly new to skiing, but quickly developed a passion for the sport and have immersed myself in it.  I have a very strong desire to improve my skiing skills and in that pursuit have used many different resources to improve my abilities.  Many of those resources have come in the form of videos produced by varying organizations and skiing professionals.  When I watched your videos, I was simply blown away!  I was impressed with how you were able to present so much valuable information in an easy to understand and condensed format, but especially with the manner in which the progression you demonstrate can easily be followed by skiers of any ability level.  The videos reinforced what I had learned in private lessons, helped me achieve a higher level of understanding, and added skills I had not yet learned or was not aware were missing.  My Fiancée who just learned to ski several months ago has been using your drills to make very noticeable improvements.  A friend who has skied for 42 years watched the videos with me and said, “that was by far the best instructional video I have ever seen”, then wanted me to loan him the videos…sorry, I’m keeping them!  What I like most is your concept of bringing this incredible training and all of your vast experience in this sport to the recreational skier. After watching the videos, I can clearly see how you have consistently produced expert skiers, despite current level, ability, or athleticism.  Your videos are truly building blocks of fundamental skills that are necessary to achieve expert skiing.  I cannot thank you enough for taking your time to create these videos and bring this invaluable information to those that would not normally have access to this type of world class training.  I am very anxious for the next video to arrive!  PLEASE keep up the great work!!!

Andrew R

Yakima, Washington