Myth #1(Mother Nature killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked

Myth #2(NCAA killed the sport of ski jumping) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Myth #3(The US doesn't have the talent) Debunked Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Mind Of A Ski Jumper Part 1, 2, 3, 4

The Ultimate Coach - Ski Jump Training Device

Jumping Season Digest: (see bottom of this page)

Friday, January 13, 2006

Jumping Journal: January 13, 2006

Day 21.  Friday the 13th.  Today is definitely a harbinger of something to come, something not very pretty.  Weather forecast for tomorrow is about as ugly as it gets around here during the winter months.  RAIN!  The low for tomorrow night is suppose to be 40.  I guess I won't be jumping tomorrow unless a miracle on snow occurs.
 
Took eight jumps tonight with the famous Dr. J.  I first spent the evening helping Cannonball get the inrun of the 50 covered with plastic to hopefully keep the rain and wind off that is coming tomorrow into Sunday.
 
The action then moved over to the 25 that already had some of the plastic showing at the very top of the inrun.  I doubt very highly that it will make it through tomorrow unscathed.
 
Each of us took eight jumps.  It was Dr. J's first jump since crashing on the Andover 38 last Saturday.  His first jump was the most skittish I've seen him jump in a very long time.  My first jump wasn't much better.  I had figured a little more speed on the inrun since everything had iced over as the temperatures dropped.  It wasn't as fast as what I had expected.
 
Each jump the rest of the evening got better and better.  I did crash on the third jump thanks to sitting back too much through the transistion.  It seems right now that if I keep my head up on the inrun that I have less worry about getting my butt down at the takeoff which kills the rest of the jump and helps lead the way into the crashes in the transistion that I have been having the trouble with all winter long.  I'm going to have watch out for this over the next several jump session and do some experimenting and see what I find out.  I know you should keep your head down but it seems to work better for me with the head up.  Time shall tell.
 
Crash

Myth #2 Debunked, Part 13

As I have pointed out throughout this entire series ski jumping has caused its own demise over the past several generations.  The sport has turned its sole focus on competition that it doesn't know have to fun anymore.  I listen to the junior jumpers all the time.  I jump with them practically on a daily basis during the winter months.  I hear what they have to say, things they would never say around their coaches.  Since I'm a fellow jumper they will say it around me.  What I hear is priceless and quite often very disturbing.  To put it simply, this sport is too competitive for its own good.
 
This sport has turned its complete attention to the kids.  It has forgotten the only way to build a sport is with an adult base.  If you want to get more money, have more help on the hills, get more acceptance so the kids can get the parental permission to jump, then the quickest way to go about it is to get the adults out here jumping.
 
So how do you go about get adults out here.  There are three ways to go about it, two of which are feasible and one that isn't:
 
1. Get the former competitors to put the skis back on.  Okay, I hear and see the flames coming my way.  This idea will never happen.  They only ever knew how to compete, they never really learnt how to jump.  They won't come back out.  I've talked with several former jumpers and they are so flat out against the idea of ever putting the skis on again its incredible.  They make it sound like putting the skis back on would be the most dastardly crime man could ever commit.
 
2. Pull out the old high school yearbooks.  Look through the pictures of the ski teams.  Find out who use to jump as kids in high school.  Look for the kids that never jumped the big hills, and never really found themselves do any competing other than for high school.  Put together a list of the former jumpers and find out which ones still live in the area.  Contact them and ask them if they would like to give ski jumping a try again.  Put the bug in their ear and invite them out to the hill.  Most of them probably feel that they don't belong out here ski jumping their too old for this sport.  They need to be told otherwise.
 
3. Cold call.  Whenever you see people around the jumps looking at the jumpers jumping, ask them if they want to give it a try.  Sure you do this all the time already, this time do it with the adults and not just with the kids.
 
Here in the east we have picked up two former high school jumper.  One hadn't jumped in around 30 years and he came back out for a winter before work and other health issues took him back out of the sport.  He was torn between loving to ski jump and loving his job, he is a self-employeed sculpurist.  He had only jumped one or two years in high school.  Never jumped anything much bigger than a 35 meter jump.  The smile on his face each time he was out jumping was priceless.  You could tell that he loved being back out jumping again.
 
Then their is Bill Ryan.  He jumped for one year in high school while jumping for one of the prep schools near Lebanon.  He had never jumped anything much bigger than a 35 meter jump.  He hadn't jumped in around 18 years when he came back out and took up ski jumping once again.  If it wasn't for hurting himself while jumping this past summer he would be out here jumping with the rest of the Lunatic Fringe group this winter on the 50.  He's had quite a few jumps already off the 50 last winter and is planning on heading out to St. Paul at the end of the month for US Masters, even though he won't be jumping.
 
Go after the former ski jumpers, instead of the Olympians go for the ones you never heard much of, if you ever even knew them.  Get them talking about ski jumping at the workplace and watch the numbers grow.  Encourage them to bring out their kids as well and then you can start seeing growth in the juniors class.
 
One final point to ponder on.  If you keep doing what your doing right now you WILL keep getting the same results.  If you want to get different results then you need to change what you are doing.  Ski jumping is broke, and it needs fixed.  By constantly doing the same old, same old, you will keep getting the same results.  It's time for a change, A BIG CHANGE!  It's time to stop blaming everyone else and it's time to start looking at yourself to see who really is killing ski jumping.  It's not the NCAA's fault, by any means.
 
Until next time
Keep the ski tips up,
Crash
Winter 2010
DateLeb 25Plymouth 25Leb 50And 38
Dec 121
Jan 056
Jan 063
Feb 024
Feb 032
Feb 046
Feb 073
Mar 063
Totals133102