Prime Ski Racing

The aim of Prime Ski Racing is to assist racers in maximizing their athletic development and achieving their goals in their sport and in life. Prime Ski Racing means  racers skiing consistently fast under the most challenging conditions.” Prime Ski Racing provides racers with the information and skills necessary to allow their minds to help rather than interfere with their race performances. Prime Ski Racing offers the means for racers to enhance the benefits of training, optimize their race performances, and to facilitate their athletic and personal growth.

Rationale for Prime Ski Racing

Racers spend many hours each week in their physical and technical training. When asked how important the mind is as compared to physical and technical aspects of ski racing, racers always say as or more important. Yet little time is devoted to preparing the mind for competition.

On any given day, at a particular level of competition, everyone has similar ability, conditioning, and equipment. So what separates the winner from the also-rans, the racers who ski their best from those who do not ski up to their ability? It must be what goes on in their minds. Prime Ski Racing offers racers the framework and tools they need to develop a comprehensive mental-training program that will enhance their training efforts and enable them to ski their fastest when it matters most.

Prime Ski Racing Programs

Prime Ski Racing is comprised of a variety of programs that comprehensively address the mental needs and goals of racers, coaches, and teams.

Mental Training

Mental Skills Training prepares racers to ski their fastest in races by teaching them essential mental skills that impact performance. Areas that are addressed include motivation, confidence, intensity, focus, and emotions. Skills that are developed include positive thinking, mastering pressure, maintaining focus, mental imagery, and race routines.

Prime Ski Training

This part of Prime Ski Racing shows racers how to get the most out of their training efforts. The goal of Prime Training is to maximize the quality and benefits of training. Prime Training improves all forms of training including technical, strength, and aerobic. Key topics include goal setting, understanding skill acquisition, and developing good training habits.

Performance Counseling

Performance Counseling focuses on establishing a health perspective on competition, success, and failure. It also uncovers the psychological and emotional obstacles that prevent racers from achieving their goals. Issues that racers often confront that interfere with their competitive aspirations include over-investment, perfectionism, fear of failure, unhealthy emotions, and a preoccupation with results. The goal of Performance Counseling is to understand and remove the obstacles that keep racers from attaining success and happiness on- and off-now.

Team Development

Team Development provides a coaching staff with a framework and process for taking a group of racers and shaping them into a high-functioning high-performing unit. Team Development first creates the foundation of values and attitudes that establishes a team.  It then identifies essential themes and goals that will impact a team’s atmosphere, functioning, and performance. Finally, Team Development teaches practical strategies and techniques that guide a team’s  training and competitive behavior.

Coaches Education

This program assists coaches in addressing the diverse needs of racers whom they coach. Coaches Education focuses on showing coaches how to incorporate mental skills into normal training and race preparation. The emphasis is on offering coaches simple and practical techniques they can use to complement their physical, technical, and tactical coaching. Coaches also learn more about the significant impact that they have on the personal development of racers.

Ski Racing Parent Training

Ski Racing Parent Training offers parents the knowledge and perspective they need to ensure that their involvement in their child’s ski racing participation is positive and healthy. Parents learn about the roles that they can play to facilitate their child’s personal and athletic development. Important issues that are addressed include building self-esteem, expectations and goals, separating their needs from those of their children, and how much to push.

Prime Ski Racing Payoff

    • Better quality training.
    • More comprehensively prepared racers.
    • Strong mental muscles.
    • Well-stocked mental toolbox.
    • Increased ability to handle the pressures of big races.
    • Improved life skills for success and happiness outside of ski racing.
    • Improved relationships with family and coaches.
    • More skillful coaches.
    • High-performing team.
    • More effective and supportive ski racing parents.