Greetings from Loveland, Colorado, where John Hale and his crew have done another remarkable job of creating mid-season training conditions by the middle of October. As I am out here helping prepare a variety of racers for a very busy early season of races, I have been thinking a great deal about what it takes [...]
In my many years in ski racing, first as a racer, then as a sport psych consultant, I have studied and tested what I believe are the most important mental contributors to ski racing success including motivation, confidence, focus, and emotions. But there is one that I have recognized quite recently as being really important, [...]
I just returned from Zermatt where I spent a week working with a group of highly ranked U.S. tech skiers. After a few days, the feedback I was getting from them was that I was really getting into their heads and causing them to think a lot, in fact, to a few of them, a [...]
Note: This article is another encore presentation of an article that never gets old. If you do anything to work on the mental side of your ski racing during this off season, it better be mental imagery. Why, you ask. Because there is no more powerful mental tool than mental imagery and it can have [...]
Note: This article is an encore presentation of an 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, kick back, [...]
It’s mid March and the end of the race season is in sight. Most of the big races, including U16 and U18 championships, are in your rearview mirror. A few of you may still have U.S. Nationals or Whistler Cup to look forward to. But most of you may be inclined to think of your [...]
Great article about the 17-year-old alpine ski racing star Mikaela Shiffrin in the NY Times today. Worth a read to learn about the wonderful attitude and humility she has about ski racing.
One of the most important ideas I emphasize in my work with racers is consistency. In fact, it’s consistency that makes the great racers, like Tina Maze and Ted Ligety, so great. Day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, and year in and year out, they are [...]
Over the past six weeks I’ve worked on- and off-snow with a handful of top juniors individually and four of the leading junior programs in the U.S. As usual, I learned things in my work with the athletes and coaches that always remind me of what I would call the “little big things” in ski [...]
Many racers I’ve come across don’t seem to believe that training is that important because it doesn’t really “count,” meaning there are no results or points gained from it. But, the reality is that training is hugely important because whatever you do in training is what you will do in a race. Another way to [...]