Teaching Snowboarding Challenge (Day 42)

On Monday, I taught my friends’ kids from scout to snowboard and they finally got it.

Kenny is a big nine-year-old kid. Last season, his dad asked me to teach him. We started from the beginning on one-foot skating. He said he already knew. He didn’t want to listen to what I was trying to teach him. He wanted to start snowboarding straight away. I let him. We walked up the slope. He strapped on both feet. As soon as he stood up, he fell on his butt. He got up again. The board slid down, he caught an edge, fell on his stomach. He cried and said he hated snowboarding. He unstrapped his board and quit. I felt bad even though I was not getting paid. I failed as an instructor. I should have taken control of the lesson instead I let him choose what he wanted.

Francis is a skinny eight-year-old kid. His mom asked me to teach him how to snowboard. A month ago, I gave him a private lesson. He was a good listener, but lacked confidence. When I asked him to try something, he simply said, “I can’t.” He didn’t want to get on the magic carpet. He was afraid of the chairlift, but I reassured him that he would be fine. I was there by his side. He didn’t get very far, but at least he didn’t hate snowboarding and he gained more confidence.

On Monday, I taught both of them together. As soon as we began, Kenny started with his yes-I-already-how-to-do-this attitude. I said to him firmly, “If you are here to learn, you need to start listening and quit running your mouth.” That was it. He started to listen as we went through the progression. They both could slide-slipping on both their toes and heel. They could make their toes turn and they both said they loved to snowboard. They wanted to do 100 runs. We did 5 and called it a day. They told their mom and dad they wanted to do it again next week.

They were both challenging to teach, but I always took on challenges. I learned that I needed to establish the rules. On the slopes, I was not Uncle Donny, I was Instructor Donny.