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My theory in life is that if someone does something to help you, you need to give them all the thanks they deserve. Maybe somewhere down the line they’ll then get good karma for doing that good deed. Whether that’s a true theory or not, I can’t tell you, but I’d rather keep the karma flowing in this world – and if anyone deserves a massive dose of karma, then it’s Dave Seeley from Grounded Freestyle Coaching.
We spent last Saturday (5th November) at the all-day GFC freestyle training session alongside Dave, Mikee, Smithy and Chris – all who have made me stoked beyond words, again.
Words Kaz Willmer |
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The night before the training session we hit up Hemel Snow Centre’s freestyle night, which got us warmed up for the full day of training ahead. The park setup was sweet as always, but once again I realised my main issue is confidence. There are some immense riders at the Snow Centre and I just went weak trying anything new. Stupid I know, but 24 hours later and I’ve a different frame of mind – all thanks to GFC.
We were on slope from 10am-5pm, with an hour off for lunch, and after a few warmup laps, we split into two groups; one who focussed on box tricks, the other on the kicker. At lunch time we switched over, but with the small groups we got continual attention and we were never waiting for features – partly because once we’d lapped the park, they were clear again, and partly because the features were closed to the public, so were there just for our use.
Everyone was encouraged to push themselves depending on their level and experience, whether it was tail slides, boardslides, spins, grabs or ollies. But what every one of us practiced was technique behind the tricks, which is the most important thing in developing snowboarding.
The patience Dave, Mikee, Smithy and Chris had was amazing, from meeting all 13 of us at 9am right through to leaving the snow centre that evening. They’d been up late the night before shaping the features for us, and were still able to make sure every one of us were motivated through to the end, and for us all to take something away with us from the day.
The first time I’d successfully ollied the pole on the kicker, it was such an immense feeling – it may seem simple but to get the technique right after practicing, it reminded me why I was there in the first place – to learn and develop my riding from scratch, and learn the right techniques to take to the mountains with me. On top of that we all were fed with a dose of that epic feeling you get when you stomp something new. And that’s all thanks to GFC – if karma exists, you’re due 13 helpings, with more coming your way next time.
http://grounded-coaching.co.uk/ |
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