A typical day on a Level 1 clinic
Performance Breakthrough
Ski with more power for less effort!
I’ve been asked what we actually do on a Level 1 clinic, so here’s an outline of what we get up to.
While the structure of each day is similar, the content changes as we expand to cover more topics and as we develop individual performances.
The typical daily structure looks like this:
Establishing each persons objectives, (Day 1)
introduction of safe methods of skiing as a team (Day 1)
introduction of the activation process - a process we use to enhance performance at the beginning of each day
Delivery of some specific content (see below)
Questions & clarifications on that subject and feedback on the performances.
Development of performance - using many methods to achieve this - all based on active skiing.
More topics are introduced, clarified, performed and developed as above
Intrinsic feedback cues are developed so you can tell for yourself how things are going, in real time.
Summary of the day and individual highlights that could form the basis of the activation phase of the next session.
There will be a morning coffee break in there somewhere, and a lunch break
Subsequent days follow a similar pattern, while the activities change.
We ski on well prepared pistes for most of the course - much of the time on Mt Chery. Re-configuring the structure of performance means that relatively simple environments are best. This process is used even by the best skiers on the planet.
The work that we do will improve all round performance, including off piste skiing - one of our key objectives in the whole Performance Breakthrough programme. We will take advantage of the extraordinary off piste conditions that we often find on Mt Chery, if conditions permit.
The objectives of the whole Performance Breakthrough programme are described here
The course objectives for the Level 1 clinic are listed in the Level 1 description here
and can be summarised as:
Learn to influence your performance with subtle, accurate inputs.
Learn to elevate your performance from the mechanical to the intuitive.
Ski with more power, for less effort!
Introduction to skiing off-piste, if the conditions are suitable
How we work to achieve those objectives is described by all of the entries on the main Performance Breakthrough webpage
Especially, scroll dow to the section “ Why is Performance breakthrough so effective? There are 5 articles there that discuss different components.
The specific techniques and solutions we work with are so numerous that it takes all 6 ebooks in the Performance Breakthrough series to discuss them, plus the free ebook on the Learning process. While the details are numerous, the structure is simplified and summarised by the 6 ebook titles:
Centred balance and athletic movement
Steering part 1
Steering part 2
Control of speed and line
Freedom
Skiing off piste
There is more material there than we have a chance to cover in the Level 1 clinic, of course, so we use what we need from each of those sections for the specific clients on each course and the conditions that we have during the course.
And the process of Learning how to Learn runs as a thread through the whole Performance Breakthrough coaching process.
Summary
While the course structure and the course content are there to give us the opportunity, the main focus is on how we work to create change and development during the process.
Everyone finds their way to change during these clinics, as new opportunities present themselves and old obstructions fall away.
That’s what makes it fascinating for me and that’s why I keep doing it.
Stay well and please stay in touch.
Best regards,
Hugh
