As I have noted in past articles, Mikaela is a veritable fount of lessons on how to succeed as a ski racer (regardless of how you define success). In my last post, which I actually began writing before Mikaela’s Soelden victory (her first World Cup GS win), she demonstrated so beautifully what can happen when you shift from a focus on good skiing to a focus on fast skiing.
In this article, I’m going to talk about “mindset,” which I consider to be an essential piece of the “fast skiing” puzzle and a mental area that I have only just been exploring the past three years. This topic is also where Mikaela once again offers a wonderful example of how a change in how you think can lead to a dramatic change from good skiing to fast skiing.
Let me preface this discussion by clarifying that my use of the word mindset is different from the use of mindset popularized by the Stanford University researcher Carol Dweck (a perspective, I might add, that is consistent with my own and one that can also help ski racers achieve their goals).
When I talk about mindset, I mean what is going on in your head when you are in the starting gate just before your training or race run. What happens in your mind during that oh-so-important period sets the stage for how you ski and whether your skiing is good or fast.
I have found three mindsets that the best ski racers appear to use most. There may be others (and please let me know if you think of any), but I find these three to be the most common.
Aggressive
In an interview after her victory in Soelden, Mikaela indicated how “I’m trying to take more of an aggressive mindset” that helped her overcome her pattern of relatively sluggish skiing in the first half of race runs. This aggressive mindset is often needed to go from good skiing to fast skiing for racers who aren’t naturally aggressive (I was one of these). That is, their typical mindset is one that usually produces solid and clean skiing. A great example of an aggressive mindset in action is in a YouTube video of Manfred Pranger, the 2005 World Cup slalom champion. In it, you can watch him actively create an aggressive mindset.
An aggressive mindset can be so valuable because ski racing has become a combat sport, with armor (e.g., helmet and hand, arm, and shin guards) and weapons (e.g., poles in which you stab the snow and sharp edges in which you lacerate the snow). You are doing battle with the terrain, course, and snow conditions. It’s kill or be killed these days (figuratively speaking, of course) where if you allow the terrain, course, and snow conditions to dominate you, you’re done for. Only by skiing aggressively do you have a chance to overcome those enemies.
An aggressive mindset can be developed in several ways. First, you’re more likely to ski aggressively if your body is amped up a bit more than usual. You can raise your physical intensity with more activity during your training and pre-race routines and just before you leave the starting gate. Simply moving more and being more dynamic in your movements will help you shift to a more aggressive mindset.
Second, as exemplified in that Pranger video, you can use high-energy self-talk to instill that aggressive mindset. I don’t speak German, so I don’t know precisely what he’s saying (if anyone does understand, please share it with us). But I’m going to guess it’s something like: “Let’s go! Attack! Charge! Bring it!” Pranger also highlights a key point about self-talk, namely, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. So, your aggressive self-talk should sound, well, aggressive. No pussy cats here; only tigers, lions, and panthers allowed.
Third, you can ingrain fast skiing by incorporating an aggressive mindset into your mental imagery. Seeing and feeling yourself skiing aggressively helps create more attacking thinking, focus, and feeling. Pranger provides a great example of this use of imagery in another YouTube video of his course inspection.
Calm
A calm mindset is typically best for racers who get nervous before they race. Throughout your pre-race preparations and when in the starting gate, your primary goal is to settle down and relax, thus allowing your mind to let go of doubt and worry and your body let go of nerves and tension. Additionally, a calm mindset can be valuable for racers who are naturally aggressive and don’t need to take active steps to get into attack mode.
Based on my observations of Mikaela over the last three years, she appears to use a calm mindset before races in the past. As she readily admits, Mikaela gets anxious on race day and a calm mindset before her race runs in the past helped her overcome her nerves.
A calm mindset can be created in several ways. First, it’s difficult to have a calm mind if your body is anxious, so focusing on relaxing your body is a good start. Deep breathing and muscle relaxation are two good tools you can use to calm your body.
Second, you can use mental imagery in which you see and feel yourself being calm in the start area, before you leave the starting gate, and on course.
Third, calming and reassuring self-talk can ease your tension, for example, “Easy does it. Cool, calm, and collected. Chillin’ before I’m thrillin’” (I just made that up!). Relaxing self-talk can take the edge off of your nerves giving you the comfort and confidence to ski your fastest.
Clear
A clear mind involves having basically nothing related to skiing going on in your mind before your race run. Though I don’t know either Bode Miller or Julia Mancuso personally, my observations of them at races and feedback from coaches and racers who know them well suggest that they rely on a clear mindset before they race. Bode can often be seen talking to his coaches or staring blankly into space. Julia is often smiling, dancing around, chatting it up, or singing to herself. These two athletes can use a clear mindset because they are both incredibly talented natural athletes and have years of experience that allow them to trust their bodies completely to ski their best without any interference from their minds.
A clear mind is most suited for racers who are intuitive (meaning they don’t have to think about their skiing very much to ski fast), free spirited (meaning they go with the flow rather than being really structured in their approach to their skiing), and experienced (meaning they have a lot of confidence and trust in their skiing from many miles and successes).
You create a calm mindset by thinking about anything except your skiing. Talking to others around you, thinking about someone or something that makes you feel good, and listening to music in your head are several ways you can keep your mind clear, thus preventing it from getting in the way of your body skiing its best.
Mindset, like all mental states, requires several steps to instill and master. First, you have to experiment to figure out which mindset will work best for you. Second, you need commitment to adopting an ideal mindset. Third, an initial focus in training and races to create that mindset. And, finally, repetition in training and races to ingrain your ideal mindset so deeply that, when you’re in the starting gate of your most important race of the season, that mindset just clicks on and it enables you to ski your fastest.
