Hey everyone, 'fng' here checkin' in from Southern New England...please send snow! I've been teaching skiing & snowboarding (no tele though, gotta nail that for the trifecta!) for around 6 years now, and I've had just about every imaginable combination of personalities, abilities, & ages. While the techie-lecture style may not appeal to everyone, it does work for some. People learn differently, and I'm oversimplifying this, but oh well, here goes...There are 3 basic "styles" of learning -- Auditory, Visual, & Kinesthetic (sp). The first two are somewhat self-explanatory, i.e. by hearing or by seeing. That K word though, means to feel. Combinations and variations about, of course. For example, I am strongly visual/kinesthetic. If you tell me something, even if I'm looking you in the eye and nodding, I will immediately forget it (if I ever truly process it) the moment a pretty girl walks by. Or I get distracted by a shiny object. Or I'm really thinkin about dinner...SHOW me something, however, and I begin to get it. Ultimately, however, I have to physically DO IT to connect the visual w/ the feeling. Straight auditory learning styles, however, may be more inclined to listen to detailed explanations on the side of the trail. When you find an instructor whose style fits yours, or even better, an instructor who is half athlete/half shrink, you will be capable of learning not only more, but faster.If this sounds crazy, I've been studying/taking exams all week & haven't slept much! Only 48 hrs, 1 Economics Exam, & 1 day of work stand between this frazzled student & a solid 3 week stint in Vermont, teaching roughly 40% of the time...What goes down during the 60% of my time not spent teaching is a story for another time, unfortunately!