With the off-season prep period for ski racers now underway, I will begin my series of articles about how to incorporate mental training in your summer training later this week. My approach to off-season mental training is the same as with physical conditioning and on-snow training: Your mental training must be comprehensive, structured, and consistent. [...]
It’s that time of the race season when results REALLY start to matter, the championship season. For many racers in the U.S., the REALLY important races of the year—Divisionals, Regionals, and Nationals—are upon us and it’s REALLY important that they ski their best. Yet, this is also the time of year when many racers aren’t [...]
In the first article in my four-part series exploring the psychology of tryouts, I discussed why tryouts can be so stressful for young athletes, and the mental areas that suffer the most when they put their athletic hopes and dreams on the line as they attempt to join a league, make a team, or qualify [...]
In my fifth of 12 vlog segments devoted to athletes and coaches, I describe the essential role that your physical intensity plays in your competitive efforts. When I talk about intensity, I mean the amount of physical activation you feel in your body before you compete. Intensity lies along a range from really low intensity [...]
It’s hard to believe the summer, what I consider Phase I of the ski racing prep period is over. Hopefully, the summer was devoted to building the foundation for your success next winter. In all likelihood, your efforts focused on two areas. First, you engaged in an intensive physical conditioning program. The reality of ski [...]
Photo credit: www.123rf.com It’s that time of the race season when results REALLY start to matter. For many racers in the U.S., the REALLY important races of the year—States, Regionals and Nationals—are coming up and it’s REALLY important that you ski fast. Yet, this is also the time of year when many racers aren’t [...]
Just a gentle reminder that the 10% discount for my Prime Ski Racing 101: Train Your Mind like a Champion ends this Friday, August 19th. So enroll soon and save! This 6-week mental training course, scheduled to begin on September 7th, focuses on the mental muscles (motivation, confidence, intensity, focus, and mindset) and mental tools [...]
Note: This article is an encore presentation of a previously published article that never gets old. The race season is finally over. After a long and demanding winter, you're probably tired of skiing (regardless of whether the season was a triumph or a disappointment). It's time to hang up your skis, pack away your gear, [...]
Defining success in ski racing is a difficult task. When I ask most racers and coaches how they define success, it is usually in terms of results, whether place, points, rankings, or qualifying quotas. Though, admittedly, results are the ultimate determinant of success, I have found that a preoccupation with them can both interfere with achieving those results and can produce feelings of disappointment and frustration (or worse). One problem is that focusing on results can actually prevent you from getting the results you want for two reasons. First, if you’re focusing on results before a race, you’re not focusing on what you need to do to get those results. Second, focusing on results, specifically, the possibility of bad results, is what causes you to get nervous before races which will only hurt your skiing. Another problem with ski racing is that your efforts don’t always lead directly to the results you want because you can’t control everything in a race. In other words, “S&%# Happens” in ski racing that can derail your best efforts. To help demonstrate this point, let’s compare success and failure in our sport to success and failure in school. Let’s say you have an exam coming up. If you study hard and are well prepared, assuming the test is fair, the chances of your doing well are very high, say, over 95%. Why? Because there are few external variables that can prevent you from doing well.
Most sport psychologists work with athletes on the mental side of their sport in an office setting (usually one hour per week), providing them with mental tools that they can use during training and competitions. This approach makes about as much sense as a coach offering their athletes technical instruction and then telling them to go out onto the field, course, court, or what-have-you and work on it in practice. In either case, the transfer from inside to outside isn’t very good. I have found the most productive work I do with athletes is during their actual practice sessions. I’m able to go to training with athletes and show them how to incorporate mental skills, such as intensity, focus, imagery, and routines, while they’re actually practicing. But, over the last few years, I have discovered an even better setting in which athletes can begin to develop their mental skills: the gym. Yes, using mental skills as a part of your physical conditioning program is a great way to begin to ingrain those skills that will be of such benefit in the quality of your training and when you compete.
