When I attended the pilot of Naomi Grigg's slalom retreat week in November last year I was a complete slalom novice; I went because I wanted to learn more control in my skating but found myself becoming completely addicted. After being enrolled to compete in SkateLondon this year, I thought it would be good to attend it again and work on my skills. The experience was different from the first time.
The structure
Briefing the troops, via Law Cheung on Facebook.
The daily structure of the retreat remained the same as the pilot: a session for working on Naomi's tenants of slalom, one for learning new tricks, a theory session, followed by a more free form session tying everything together. Each day focussed on a particular theme, one of the tenants of slalom that Naomi feels all slaloming has.
The skill levels of the people on the course varied quite substantially: there were 5 people who had little-to-no experience, like I did last time; then there was a couple of us with some exposure; with another couple who clearly had a lot of slalom knowledge. On the Monday evening, where we all chatted about what we wanted from the course and Naomi gave an overview of what was to come, we discovered that Jake had almost become Naomi's stalker, having attended the retreat week in 3 or 4 cities prior to London! It showed in his skating: by far the most experienced and natural slalomer of the group. Megan, one of Naomi's SkateFreestyle team, was also hanging round during the retreat but was working on her routine for the Shanghai competition that was coming up; she did help with the technical sessions where we were learning new tricks, being an assistant to Naomi.
So we were split into two groups for the rest of the week with group A, including myself, learning more advanced tricks that we'd specifically asked for, and group B working on the basics I learnt as part of the original retreat pilot. If you're new to slalom expect to learn The Sun, Mahbrook, Nelsons, Volte and Swinging Basketweave. For us in group A we got to do things like Fan Volte, Moonwalk, Screw, Reaching-back Snake, KSJ & Zimmer Voltes, and Muno Leap (got to say, that quickly became a favourite for me); Jake and Yves also did the Seatbelt. So there's lots to learn and, I think, Naomi appreciates people turning up on the course with an idea of where they want to get to, although expect her to alter that once she's seen you skating.
You get a considerable amount of Naomi's time during the retreat and, I'm sure, she'd like to give more, like any instructor would. Don't think that you're sold short on her time but understand that, like any group course run by an instructor, you're not going to get individual attention. What you'll find is that the group works more like a team, considerably more so than any group course, and will tackle any problems together. I was actually kind of glad for the moments when Naomi wasn't around: it's almost impossible for me to do any kind of slalom when she's watching as I'm so nervous about messing up!
Naomi's graffiti, via Law Cheung on Facebook.
I think it's safe to say that if you attend this retreat, expect to lose your cool on at least one day: Ali lost hers doing the Crazy (pretty much the same move where I lost it during the pilot) and I got very angry (to the point of actually being quite rude to a few people) after struggling with a move that I should know by now, the Backwards Nelson. What you have to understand when you sign up for this course, is that it's going to push your abilities; you wouldn't want it any other way really, otherwise you'll never learn new things.
The most obvious change to the retreat from the pilot was in the theory sessions: originally these felt like the weak link, but this time round they were definitely the more informative. Part of that is because of my slalom experience since that original pilot but, undoubtedly, this is also down to Naomi's drive to make this an intensive and informative week. The theory on days 2 and 3 were the most interesting to me this time round, with day 2 discussing the history of slalom and competitions, and day 3 covering practice and combo building techniques. I think it's these sessions that show just how passionate Naomi is about slalom, and how knowledgeable she is about not only the techniques but also the history.
From my perspective
I had told Naomi I wanted to learn two moves in particular: the Screw and the Swan. They're basically the same move, with the slalomer spinning round a cone on toe wheels with their legs crossed, except that they rotate in different directions. They're way, way, outside of my abilities but I thought I'd like a real challenge to push me. I didn't get to learn the Swan because nerves for SkateLondon pushed me to work on putting together some kind of routine for the competition, but I can say that the Screw is really difficult: I got the closest to getting it when Megan was watching me and I was actually trying to get it wrong to show her where I was struggling!
If you want a real success story from this retreat, how about this: Leo, who admittedly has been skating for 15-or-so years, went from almost zero slalom experience to winning the Rookie Slalom competition at SkateLondon! He took everything Naomi teaches on the retreat to heart and really pulled out an impressive performance. Maybe next time that could be you?
After doing the pilot I came away having met several really friendly people, and this time was no different. There's something to be said for a week long course like this, where people spend so much time with each other; it's even more true when Naomi runs this course outside of London, where the people on the retreat also live together. Not only do you get to learn new stuff, you get to meet people you're likely to run into again, and again, as you go to competitions (trust me, you'll be bitten by the bug and will enter them!)
I still can't recommend this week long course enough: it felt more polished this time, as I would have expected, and was far more informative now I know a little slalom. When you think about the cost of £200 it might see expensive, but work out the hours you're doing (9am - 5pm on each of the 4 days) and you'll realise you're getting a world class slalomers experience and knowledge for about £7 per hour: try finding an instructor that charges that!
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