Last week, I introduced a common scenario among ski racers in which, after a great first run, they ski much slower the second run. I explained what caused this sudden drop in performance and how this problem could be solved so you can have as strong a second run as your first run, the outcome of which is a great race result and a goal achieved.
There is a second scenario that is the mirror image of the first scenario, just as common, and equally as frustrating. This second scenario involves having a lousy first run and then a really fast second run. The typical reaction after the first run is: “Why did I ski so slow?!?!” and the usual reaction after the second run is: “Why didn’t I ski like that my first run?!?!”
Let’s start with what usually leads to a poor first run. Most often, it’s all in your head. And very similar to what causes a poor second run after having a great first run (as described in my article last week):
Outcome focus (thinking about the result you want)
Expectations (to have a good race)
Pressure (to fulfill your expectations)
Overthinking (a lot of unnecessary noise in your head)
Future (thinking about what might happen in your race)
Excessive intensity (really nervous)
Tentative skiing (cautious and slow)
No fun (you feel constrained and weighed down)
In a sense, you are entering your first run with a mindset of “everything to lose.” This attitude toward your first run results in a threat reaction which prevents you from going all out and taking the risks necessary to ski your fastest. With this mindset, you are pretty much guaranteed of having a slow first run because everything, physically and mentally, that is required for fast skiing goes against you.
So, what happens on your second run after such a slow first run? Basically, you decide that you have “nothing to lose.”
A “nothing to lose” attitude is the exact opposite of the “everything to lose” attitude:
No expectations (which means no pressure or fear of failure)
No conscious thinking (you trust your body to do what it knows how to do)
Total process and present focus (in the moment)
Attack the course and take risks (because you don’t care if you DNF)
Have fun (you feel free and light)
How do you feel and ski when you have nothing to lose? You are fired up physically. You adopt an aggressive mindset. You ski to your limit. The result is that you either lay down a really fast run and have a great second-run time or you go down fighting which still feels far better than how you skied the first run (to paraphrase the old saying about March: “It’s better to go out like a lion than out like a lamb”).
Marcel Hirscher’s race in the Schladming World Cup slalom in late January is a great example of this nothing-to-lose attitude. Hirscher had a horrible first run, due to fogged goggles, and was in 22nd place, more than two seconds behind, a seemingly impossible amount of time to make up. Yet, as you can see in this YouTube video of his second run, Hirscher just “brings it!”, wins the second run, and jumps to second place overall. As he said after the race, “It was a completely aggressive run. I decided that it would be better to not finish than ending up with two points, for example. I tried my complete maximum to ski in the second run.” In other words, Hirscher had nothing to lose! Unfortunately for him, Henrik Kristoffersen found himself in a similar, though not quite so bad, situation after the first run, sitting more than a second behind the first-run leader, Felix Neureuther. And, again unfortunately for Hirscher, Kristoffersen adopted the same “nothing to lose” attitude and, though he didn’t win the second run, Kristoffersen did win the race (after a second-run DNF from Felix Neureuther).
So, it’s pretty clear now that skiing as if you have nothing to lose is far better than skiing as if you have everything to lose. Here’s a realization that you need to have: You should always ski as if you have nothing to lose! Why? Because the reality is that you really don’t have anything to lose. Sure, if you lose, you’ll be disappointed, but you’ll get over it. If you lose, you will still be a good person, you will still be loved and valued by others, and you will still find success in your life. In other words, if you lose, you will be okay.
What’s the lesson here: Ski as if you have nothing to lose every time you get in the gate. Ironically, by skiing like you have nothing to lose, you are far more likely to find the success that you want so much.
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Last week, I introduced a common scenario among ski racers in which, after a great first run, they ski much slower the second run. I explained what caused this sudden drop in performance and how this problem could be solved so you can have as strong a second run as your first run, the outcome of which is a great race result and a goal achieved.
