Effect of the Different Ski Length on the Level of Anxiety at Novice Skiers

Abstract

An efficient teaching of alpine skiing at the beginning of the teaching process should be the main goal of every ski instructor. In our research we were investigating the influence of different ski length on alpine skiing teaching process efficiency as well as on the level of state anxiety during the alpine skiing at ski novices. The research was conducted on 34 participants (19 men, 15 women). Experimental group had skis of 130cm length and 7m radius from brand Lusti. Skis are specialized for very short and aggressive turning including funcarving. Mean height of participants from the experimental group was 178,07cm (±10,89). Control group had skis of standard length according to a person´s height. Meat height of participants from the control group was 177,33cm (±6,87). Mean length of skis were 158,6cm and 14,05m radius. For our research following data were collected: pre-test, continuous test and post – test of state and trait anxiety.  In this presented paper the main intention was to determine the effect of different ski length on state anxiety level at novice skiers. The data were acquired from the questionnaire STAI, which shows the level of anxiety (Künzell, S. & Müler, J., 2008; Koca, 2015). Based on the results we can say that teaching alpine skiing with usage of short skis might be less stressful for novice skiers than with usage of standard length skis.