‘Look Mom! No Poles!’ Tactic Puts Kids On The Fast Track

Savvy instructors long ago learned a trick to get novice cross country skiers on the track to good technique. Take away their ski poles.

“Kids do better without poles,” said Don Portman, Methow Valley ski instruction guru. “The only reason they want them is so they can be like the big guys. We don’t fight it. We let them have them if they want to start with. Then we do a lot of games where everyone puts aside the poles.”

Poleless ski instruction saves time getting straps on and off little hands that usually are dwarfed by bulky mittens. It eliminates the danger of an errant pole striking someone’s face.

And it gets a skier’s weight off his poles and where it belongs - on the skis and edges.

“Beginners want to ski with their poles straight up and down, interfering with the natural rhythm for striding,” Portman said. “Without poles, their arms move more freely. They don’t rely on the poles for balance.”

Dick Kendall, long-time cross-country instructor at White Pass, uses poleless instruction for novice adults, too.

Allison Owen, former U.S. Nordic Ski Team champion who runs a youth ski program in Sun Valley, requires her teenage racing team to begin every training session with 20 minutes of classic and skate technique without poles as a warm-up and balance exercise.

“The most important thing in teaching kids to ski is to keep it fun,” said Jo Ruoss, a Pacific Northwest Ski Association instructor examiner and specialist in teaching kids.

“Sometimes the best ski trip with a kid is very short. Maybe only 10 minutes. Try to keep reasonable goals and have as much fun as possible for as long as they like it.”

Parents, especially those who are athletic, tend to think of going out and skiing 10-kilometers, she said. Kids aren’t driven by the same motivation.

“Kids want to see animal tracks, look at the snowflakes or see what’s around the corner. They’re more interested in a destination than total mileage.”

She said it helps kids to be around adults who talk about how much fun they had skiing. This helps them anticipate having fun, too.

Thus, it might be prudent for parents to shield their kids from the few chronic ski-area whiners as they would guard them from barroom profanity.

Ruoss, too, relies on various games without poles to teach ski skills.

“It really does focus concentration to balance on their feet and skis rather than trying to prop themselves up,” she said.

Poleless ski training helps eliminate the classic novice skier’s “waddle,” in which the poles are used as balance outriggers rather than tools for propulsion.

“The wonderful thing about kids, is that they’ll just put their poles down and play without them if you give them a chance.

“If the parents have poles, the kids will want to try them,” Ruoss said. “That’s fine as long as they occasionally are encouraged to ski without poles.”

When starting kids on poling technique, use undersized poles, she said. Likely there will be some confusion when you introduce poles. But with a foundation built without them, the kids will quickly put the technique together.

Among Ruoss’s favorite teaching tricks are games such as “follow me and I’ll follow you.”

“They learn better when they’re not conscious that they’re being taught,” she said.

Similarly, Owen likes to build small jumps for the kids.

“They love getting air off the jumps,” she said. “They don’t realize it, but they’re learning to herringbone up the hill so they can go off the jump again.”

“You need a lot of cues to teach children technique,” Portman said. “In teaching them to go downhill, they don’t understand what you mean when you say ‘bend your knees and ankles.’

“But they understand when you you say ‘put your hands on your knees.’ Then they automatically bend their knees and ankles.

“That’s easier to do when they don’t have poles.”

MEMO: This sidebar ran with story: TEACHING KIDS TO SKI * Snow suits are fine for toddlers, who spend much of their time rolling in the snow, but older kids need layers they can shed to avoid overheating. * Kids will learn faster with equipment that fits. Some shops have tradeup programs to keep down the cost. Skis for small children should reach somewhere between the nose and the top of the head. * Teaching a child to ski doesn’t necessarily start with a lesson. Begin with games and outings with easily attained goals or destinations. * Keep the length of the outing appropriate to the child. Be sure child doesn’t get cold. * Carry snacks on the trail. * Kids of different ages can play certain ski games together, but it’s unrealistic to expect a 4-year-old to ski with a 7-year-old. Consider letting the older child bring a friend. * Keep verbal instruction brief. Never make kids stand on the snow around for long. * New skiers of any age benefit from skiing without poles to develop balance for both classic and skating techniques. When kids are skiing without poles, parents should put theirs aside occasionally, too. * Ask the kids what they want to do. Then let them do it.