An apparatus and method to facilitate training for skiing, skating, roller-blading and the like, where an experienced person may assist or direct a novice. The apparatus includes a stiff, curvilinear hoop or similar shape with a handle section and an adjacent padded frontal section. In one of several methods, one person is positioned within the apparatus and the apparatus is placed against that person's torso, and another person is able to grasp the apparatus and to control or lead the first person.