11 Questions to Ask Yourself at the End of the Ski Race Season
After what was a long and demanding winter, the 2023-24 race season is now over. You’ve had some down time to catch up on school and get some much-needed rest and recovery, both physically and mentally. You may also be already looking toward next winter. But before you file the 2023-24 race season away, you […]
Read MoreSeason-ending Injuries on the World Cup are Alarming (and How to Prevent Them)
What do Mikaela Shiffrin, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Petra Vlhova, Alexis Pinturalt, Sofia Goggia, Corinne Sutter, Marco Schwartz, and several other World Cup ski racers have in common? They all sustained serious injuries that ended their seasons prematurely (except Mikaela who has missed several races so far due to a knee injury). As my title suggests, […]
Read MoreI Practice What I Preach: How to Deal with Minor Injuries
An unfortunate reality of being a committed triathlete is that you will likely experience minor, yet nagging, injuries with some frequency during the course of your triathlon career. You know what I’m talking about. Those little injuries that don’t involve serious physical trauma to muscles, tendons, or bones (usually just a pull rather than a […]
Read MoreAre Your Expectations Helping or Hurting Your Young Ski Racer?
Setting expectations for your children is an essential responsibility of being a ski racing parent. Expectations communicate messages to your children about what’s important to you and establish a standard toward which they can strive. But expectations can be double-edged swords. They can be a tremendous benefit to your children’s ski racing and personal development, […]
Read MoreMeet My Partners for 2024: Coming Soon!
I’m contacted frequently by sports and technology companies asking me to promote their products. In every single case, I have declined their invitations. I have only ever partnered with a company when I reached out to the company because I discovered their products, bought them, used them, and loved them. When I partner with a […]
Read MoreShift from Training Mode to Race Mode in Your Ski Racing
The 2023-24 alpine race season is now underway. From St. Moritz to Copper to Edouard to many other race venues in between and beyond, it’s “go time” for racers from juniors up to the World Cup. So, now is the time to shift from training mode to race mode. This transition requires several important changes […]
Read MoreMikaela Shiffrin has Raised the Bar for Everyone
Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed quite a bit of concern expressed in the ski racing community about whether Mikaela Shiffrin, the G.O.A.T. of alpine ski racing, still “has it.” She was beaten in two of the first four World Cup events this year (including an uncharacteristic 6th in the opening GS in Soelden […]
Read MoreRace Like You Train or Train Like You Race?
One of the first questions that I ask racers and coaches I work with is: Should you race like you train or train like you race? By far, the most frequent response is: You should race like you train. This answer seems perfectly reasonable if you think about it. When you train, you’re relaxed, feel […]
Read MoreDon’t Do These Five Things in Your Ski-race Training
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over my many years in our sport as a racer and as a mental coach, and one that many young racers don’t seem to get, is that training really does matter. Too often, I see racers pretty much wasting their time in training; all the things that are […]
Read MoreShould You Follow Live-Timing When Your Kids Race?
This article is my third and final in a series on the role of technology in ski racing (here’s #1 and #2). Today, I will focus on one particular technology that has become ever-present in our sport and is changing the way parents (and kids) follow races. I’m talking about Live-Timing, an online platform that […]
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