"PPARVIC" Using the stages of learning.

One of my coaches once used this acronym to describe the stages of learning new skills.  The acronym stands for the following stages in order:

P (preceiving):  Watching and understanding
P (patterning):  Copying and replicating it.
A (adapting):  being able to perform in different situations.
R (refining):  Working on perfecting the newly acquired skill.
V (varying):  making small adjustments as needed, depending on the situation.
I (Innovating):  Creating something different with the newly acquired skill.
C (Composing):  taking the newly acquired skill and integrating with your repertoire of skills to create something fluid on a large scale.

Whenever you are focusing on your skill development, I think it is important to keep in mind where you are in this hierarchy of learning with your racing skills.  For example if you are new to using inclination in the beginning of your turn to set up an edge angle, you might be in the first stage of "perceiving" or "patterning."  However if you are not new to the skill of inclination, you might be further along in this hierarchy.  Maybe in the Varying or Innovating stage.  Where you are in the hierarchy depends on how you will train this skill from a technical and tactical perspective.  It is also important for your coach to understand where you are on the hierarchy with respect to each of your skills.  Sometimes what may appear as a "gross technical error" to your coach might actually be an "innovation" of one of your skills.  Here is an example of what I mean using my own skills as example.  With the skill of inclination, I am in the "innovating" stage.  I have three different ways of creating inclination at the beginning of the turn.  Sometimes I generate inclination using only impulse, by angulating abruptly at the end of phase three which throws my center of mass down the fall line, leaving my feet behind.  Other times, I simultaneously roll the ankles and knees inside the arc in and push hard off the outside ski which moves the body laterally towards the inside of the arc, in phase 1.  And sometimes I combine these two methods.  For example I initiate inclination using an ankle knee rolls and a slight push, but it is also facilitated using the impulse generated from phase 3 of the previous turn.  Which method I use to create inclination depends on a number of factors: snow conditions, course set, terrain, visibility, wind speed and direction, how crowded the hill is, and how my muscles feel on that particular day.  Sometimes my inclination is "aggressive" and I end up with too much weight on the inside ski.  This is usually considered to be a technical error, however in some cases it can be useful, especially if the conditions are very icy.  This is an innovation of the skill of "inclination," not necessarily a technical error.  On the other end of the scale, I am in a different stage for the skill of angulation.  With angulation I am somewhere between the adapting stage and the refining stage.  I understand what angulation is and I know what it looks like.  I also know how to create it and what it feels like when I use it properly.  Where I start struggling with this skill is in using it all situations, and also being able to perform it "on command."  I also don't always know what affects my ability to perform it.  Although I learned more about it today by talking to some ski instructors on the chairlift.  They provided me with some clarity which helped me in understanding why sometimes I struggle a little with performing it in different situations.  I think I might be able to move fully into the "refining" stage in the near future.  PPARVIC is a great concept.  I think is really useful for a racer to keep this acroynm in the fore front of their mind when focusing on skill development.