Welcome to SITS®: A Completely New Approach

The purpose of this book is to deliver a complete understanding of how to ski better, using a simple approach that will generate results quickly.  To keep it simple, we use our breakthrough teaching method, SITS. This new teaching method is anything but traditional. It is an all encompassing approach that applies a combination of tools yet to be utilized as a total package by anybody in the ski industry. SITS (Simple Imagery Teaching System) gets you to the next level of skiing using a unique imagery based method of instruction, in combination with mental and physical engram development, easy practice drills, muscle relaxation techniques, and goal setting (to encourage continuing motivation to succeed).

For most people, the least familiar concept of this new method is engram development. Reiterating from this book’s Introduction, an engram is presumed to be an encoding in neural tissue that creates a persistence of memory linked to a subconscious record of physical movement. Simply put, through engram development, your mind and body are able to memorize specific movement sequences and accurate body positions so that you don’t have to think about it every time you do it.  Really good news here – developing engrams is easy, and we give you a simple step-by-step process to ensure success so you can relax your way to better skiing. 

You will become a better skier the very first day you use SITS, our four part teaching system that begins with the use of simple imagery to create insight into proper ski technique, and ends with safe and dynamic on-snow drills for skiing through the bumps, crud, powder, and steeps.

In Part One, you will learn that imagery development is one of the most powerful tools available for leading a person to the “aha” moment; turning simple images into discovery on skis. It has been said that awareness precedes meaningful choice, and with SITS you are able to quickly become aware of what it is your body should be doing to ski correctly. This is accomplished by showing you simple images or illustrations of everyday objects to create pictures in your mind that you can easily remember and take to the ski slopes. Once on the slopes, you will transform the images into  actual body positions that will instantly begin to improve your skiing.  Before you hit the slopes with your new body position images in mind, you will need to actually learn these positions.  It is not enough just to imagine each position.  To facilitate learning how your body should be positioned when skiing, we have developed the VME (Visualize/Mimic/Evaluate) training drill.  VME incorporates a three step process beginning with an illustration.  As you review the illustration, notice the general outline and every detail.

Next place the illustration near a mirror that allows you to look in the mirror and view it at the same time.  Now, with your eyes closed, visualize the shape precisely and then move your body into the position you have pictured in your mind. Without moving, open your eyes and evaluate your position compared to the illustration. This is the VME approach to beginning mental engram development. This simple exercise will allow you to start creating mental engrams of images in your subconscious, preparing you to practice good skiing techniques as you begin on-snow drills. The drills will help you convert the mental engrams you have learned into physical engrams. This enables you to replicate a technically correct ski stance without thinking about it as you carve turns down the slope.

Objects used to create our imagery for the SITS teaching method include: a beach ball, a teacup, a common spring, balloons, and other recognizable objects.  This may sound weird to you, but just read the following examples and you will see the extraordinary value in using such objects to teach skiing. 

In skiing, body relaxation starts with the hands, making it imperative that you grasp your poles with a relaxed grip exactly like holding a teacup. Think of a relaxed hand grip as starting the chain of relaxation in the body and preparing you to become an aggressive skier without using excess muscle tension or a static body position. Learning not to grab your pole grip tightly with all four fingers and your thumb is the first on snow drill you will need to do, requiring about 30 to 45 minutes for engram creation. This amount of time will actually allow you to make about 1000 pole plants using the correct grip. I would like to mention here that repetition is a major part of the secret to engram development.

In the next example, imagine you are holding your arms at chest height as if you are hugging a large beach ball (think 25-35 inch diameter, depending on your height and reach) and instantly, you have your arms correctly positioned for all types of skiing. Holding the beach ball against your chest illustrates the correct arm position when skiing; arms at chest level and wide apart, palms facing toward each other, and elbows held high. It’s that simple! It is also easy to remember the beach ball imagery when you are on the slopes and working to position your arms like an expert.

After hands and arms, you will move on to proper head positioning, and so on, until every part of your body is reprogrammed. This assures you will come away from Part One with a complete image of the correct stance over your skis. This will give you the foundation necessary to begin training to ski like an expert.

            Part Two will introduce you to the elusive carved turn, and a surefire way to learn it. Then we will hit the slopes and build on the imagery development from part one, giving you more on and off snow drills that enable you to learn carved turns, combined with proper edging technique. Remember these drills develop the physical engram for each correct movement and body position. They are designed to combine the previously studied images, now stored in your mind, with your muscle memory to finalize the formation of each mind/body engram.  Completed engrams allow you to involuntarily perform the body movements necessary to ski like an expert. 

Whoa! This is starting to sound all too complicated, not unlike a typical ski lesson. Not so, there is good news as it is all explained in this section also using those everyday objects to illustrate proper body positions for edging and carving turns. This is combined with simple drills on and off snow to create the physical memory patterns. These drills are progressive, and each one must be mastered before you move on to the next engram drill.

Part Three builds on your learning from part two by supplying you with new information on how to create an advanced turn.  We call it the RAT turn, which stands for relaxed aggressive turn, and introduces you to a carving technique developed through aggressive skiing, as apposed to tension based skiing. You will use your relaxed and correct body positions, combined with a new understanding of the carved turn, to put it all together and begin powering through turns aggressively on many different types of snow. Instruction will also include more advanced training on becoming a proficient skier in the crud, through the bumps, on the steeps, around the trees, and in the powder. In addition, we will give you the secrets to training for all these conditions. These training techniques utilize an approach that allows you to ski advanced slopes without experiencing fear, anxiety, or apprehension; all of which so frequently take front stage in our minds as we peer down a long steep, heavily bumped, or deep powder run.  You will learn the tips, tactics and secrets that keep you out of trouble when skiing difficult terrain. 

In Part Four you will gain the tools necessary to ensure you stay on track to becoming a great skier. We are going to share with you what it takes to stay motivated, create attainable goals, visualize success, and prepare for specific ski challenges.

Finally, to help put your skiing over the top we have included a Bonus Section where you will learn how to maintain and increase your ski conditioning during the off-season. This is achieved for you by utilizing ski specific dry land training activities that mimic the ski experience.

Come late fall, when you are ready to ski again, you will also be armed with progressive muscle relaxation techniques explained in this section. You will learn to prepare for any ski run you may choose to attempt. When you arrive at the moment of truth, standing above that legendary run, which has reduced so many skiers to a jumble of flailing arms and legs, you will be relaxed and able to completely focus on the daunting task in front of you. All of this creates the desired outcome of making you a well rounded, all mountain skier. 

Keep in mind skipping ahead in the book is not the fastest route to becoming a better skier.  Even if you think you have the basics of skiing under control, it is still best to do a review and make sure nothing is missed.  Learning the fundamentals first is the only successful path to skiing a variety of conditions on any slope.  When conditions are difficult even one weakness in your body position, technique, or equipment will reduce your descent from a euphoric experience to one of a fight for survival.