Watching videos of yourself and World Cup racers is a valuable tool for improving technique and tactics, getting inspired, and increasing motivation, confidence, and focus. If you’re like most racers, you use it a lot during the winter as part of your training. Video enables you to more clearly understand and see what you need to work on and you can learn a great deal by seeing fast skiing demonstrated by your favorite World Cuppers. Video is also a form of mental imagery that can help you generate the image and feeling of skiing your best.
The use of video tends to decline during the summer when racers are focused on other activities. But its use should actually increase for the very same reason. Why? Because you aren’t on snow as much or at all which means you can lose the feeling of fast skiing. Video can keep you mentally sharp and allow you to develop your ski racing skills when you’re not on snow.
But just watching video isn’t going to maximize its benefits during the off-season. Instead, you can use video in specific ways to help you gain the most benefits.
Common Mistakes
If you’re like most ski racers, you are probably not watching video in the most effective way. For example, there is a tendency among racers and coaches alike to focus on your mistakes. This emphasis seems to make sense because if you watch your mistakes, you can learn from and correct them. But watching only mistakes ingrains a negative image and feeling into your mind and body much like physically practicing bad technique or tactics will instill bad skiing into your mind and muscles.
You may focus also too much on the details of the video, for example, stance or hand position. Video is used mostly for analysis, so it’s easy to obsess about every little detail rather than absorbing the whole image. Just like with actual skiing, if you focus too much on the minutiae, you lose sight of just skiing fast.
Watching World Cup videos is fun and motivating. I’m sure you have your favorites and you like to watch and fantasize about skiing like them one day. But watching too of them and not enough of yourself may cause you to imagine yourself skiing like one of them rather than the way you ski. That sounds good in theory, but the reality is that you can’t ski like the top guys and gals (at least not yet!).
You may also watch World Cuppers that you have no chance of emulating because they are so physically different from you. For example, if you’re tall and thin, you shouldn’t imagine yourself skiing like Marcel Hirscher (who is short and stocky) or Anna Fenninger (who is short and petite).
Rules of Video Watching
When you watch video follow these rules:
Take in the whole image rather than paying too much attention to details. Allow the over-all image of good skiing sink into your mind rather than getting obsessed with every little detail.
Though you learn about what you need to work on by watching your mistakes, I recommend watching at least 75% “highlight” videos of yourself skiing well.
To maximize the benefits of watching World Cup footage, identify racers who are physically and technically similar to you so you can more easily incorporate their technique into your style.
Rather than imagining yourself skiing like your favorite World Cuppers, take what they do so well technically and tactically and incorporate those into your own skiing.
Video as Mental Imagery
As you may know, I’m a huge believer in the power of mental imagery. And video, though not often thought of this way, is a powerful type of mental imagery. You can incorporate mental imagery into your use of video by including it in your video sessions. Here’s how:
Watch a run of yourself on video identifying what you did well and where you need to improve.
Immediately close your eyes and see and feel yourself skiing just the way you want. Ingrain the positive images and feelings from the video into your imagery.
If you made mistakes in your video run, “rewind and edit” the video in your mind’s eye by redoing the videoed run and making the necessary corrections.
I encourage you to commit to a consistent program of video (and mental imagery) this summer. If you do, I can assure you that you will be mentally and physically better prepared to ski your fastest and achieve your ski racing goals next winter.
Watching videos of yourself and World Cup racers is a valuable tool for improving technique and tactics, getting inspired, and increasing motivation, confidence, and focus. If you’re like most racers, you use it a lot during the winter as part of your training. Video enables you to more clearly understand and see what you need to work on and you can learn a great deal by seeing fast skiing demonstrated by your favorite World Cuppers. Video is also a form of mental imagery that can help you generate the image and feeling of skiing your best.
