The fifth episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast explores the importance of having a long-term attitude on your athletic development. With this perspective, you aren't focused on quick improvement or short-term results. Instead, you know that the path toward your sports goals is long and filled with setbacks, plateaus, and failures. [...]
One of the questions I’m asked most frequently from racers, coaches, and parents is: What does it take to be a successful ski racer? For any racer who wants to be their best, this is no easy question, yet one that is worth asking and worth even more to answer. First, let me address how [...]
The fourth episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast focuses on how a threat attitude ensures failure and a challenge attitude sets you up for success. A threat attitude involves a cascade of psychological, emotional, and physiological changes that causes you to want to flee the sports situation and makes failure an [...]
I have three favorite sayings when it comes to being the best ski racer you can be. First, “If you want to ski like everyone else, be like everyone else.” In other words, if you want to be a decent ski racer among many, do what they do. Second, an old Texas adage says, “If [...]
The third episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast focuses on the costs of having an outcome attitude and the benefits of a process attitude. An outcome attitude involves a preoccupation with results, competitive success and failure, rankings, and comparing yourself to others. Contrary to what most athletes, coaches, and parents think, an [...]
Greetings from Stubai Glacier in Austria! I’m here with an outstanding group of PG athletes from back East. My work with them includes both off-snow and on-snow mental training. Though the indoor work is valuable for laying the foundation for mental training, the on-snow work is the most directly powerful (and the most fun!) because [...]
When you read the title of this week’s post, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about. You condition your body in the gym, not your mind, right? Well, yes, the gym is where you get your body stronger with hang cleans, squats, bench, core, and many other strength exercises. But here’s the really [...]
One of the most indelible memories I took away from the 2018 Winter Olympics was from the start area of the alpine events (and, in fact, every ski and snowboard event). Time after time, we saw the best ski racers in the world with their head down and eyes closed, moving their hands and their [...]
It happens every winter. In December, January, and February, I get calls from national team athletes and parents of young racers who are struggling mentally in their ski racing and they have big races coming up. They want me to somehow fix them quickly. Though I think I’m pretty good at what I do, I’m [...]
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. [...]
