How to Know When You Have a Bad Skiing Instructor

For many skiing novices, the decision to let a ski instructor help you out with your technique is a no-brainer. It’s always good to have someone evaluate your talent and hone your skill so that you’re better prepared to handle the slopes. But that doesn’t mean every skiing instructor will be ideal for you, or even all that good. Here are some of the warning signs that will help you realize when you have a bad skiing instructor on your hands.

When they’re all skill and no teaching. Sometimes, seeing a ski instructor’s talent makes you feel like they must be a good teacher – after all, they seem to have been a good student! But when it comes to teaching you, it’s an entirely different skill. A ski instructor might be world-class when it comes to riding the slopes himself, but that doesn’t mean they know all that much about how to teach a student of their own. If a ski instructor is too invested in himself and too eager to impress, you should consider that a red flag for a bad ski instructor.

When you don’t receive direct answers to questions. For students, there should be no questions that are too dumb to be asked. So if you notice that your ski instructor isn’t answering your questions directly, forcing you to ask them again, there’s a chance that they’re not exactly in tune with your needs. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a bad instructor, but you should let them know that they’re not answering your questions clearly. Remember, since you’re paying them to teach you, they’re essentially working for you. Get your money’s worth.

When the lesson is suspiciously easy. Listen, skiing isn’t always an easy sport, especially for beginners. So when your lesson is too easy, there’s a good chance that your skiing instructor isn’t challenging you enough. Maybe they’re too eager to be your friend rather than your teacher, but whatever the reason, you should feel that your skills are being pushed. Without that “push,” your body won’t have the incentive to adapt and improve at skiing. If your ski instructor is too light on you, ask them to take it up just one notch.

Be on the lookout for a bad ski instructor, because they won’t come out and tell you that they’re not very good. Instead, ask yourself whether you feel both comfortable and challenged in your ski lessons.

Photo Credits: Jasmic

This post involves:

answering your questions, answers to questions, brainer, easy sport, good chance, money, red flag, ski instructor, skiing instructor, slopes, warning signs

... and focuses on:

ski basics, ski tips

Posted by Ski Snowboarder on January 26, 2010 in ski basics, ski tips. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.