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Table of Contents
Getting Stoked on Snowboarding explores the underlying essence of why people snowboard and how to create stoke in your students whilst keeping them safe and maximising fun. Instructors are responsible for introducing hundreds of people to the addiction of snowboarding each year and we play an important role in developing and shaping the sport’s future. The question we should be asking ourselves as instructors is: “How can we help foster and grow this passion in our students?”
Fun
“How was your lesson? Did you have fun?”
This is the most common question instructors hear when returning students to families, partners etc. Fun can be hard to define specifically and is unique to each individual. In the same way a meal can be delicious to one person and too rich or bland for another, a specific type of fun could be exhilarating to one student, yet mundane to others. A good snowboard instructor is aware of the factors that let people have their own type of fun.
Easy Fun
Just by snowboarding, being active and trying something new people can have fun. Motivating students to try something new, takes their mind away from other worries in their life, and can create easy, simple fun.
Hard Fun
Here, the act of snowboarding alone isn’t enough and people feel the need to be challenged. They want to progress, push themselves or achieve something new. Avoiding placing restrictions on your students will help to create this.
Serious Fun
Snowboard trips can take a lot of planning. When everything goes smoothly and expectations are met, people relax and feel a sense of relief, which may only happen on reflection at the end of a lesson. Discovering motivations and goals will help ensure that students get what they hoped for.
Social Fun
Humans are social by nature and get positive feelings through interactions with each other and being friendly. This is something that happens automatically for some, whereas others may need the instructor to facilitate this. Being talkative and encouraging interactions will foster this type of fun.
Identifying when students are enjoying themselves is important in understanding the different types of fun above. Smiles and laughter are the most obvious indicators, but be aware that some people may prefer to hide their emotions, so check in with people rather than trying to force them to have fun. Most of the time, when YOU are having lots of fun, this rubs off on your students. So make sure you enjoy the learning process with them too.
“If your students have fun during the lesson, they will probably take another one!”