The transition from U16s to U19s is an important and challenging rite of passage for every young ski racer. The year of FIS racing is also a crucible that tests racers physical, technically, tactically, and, especially, psychologically and emotionally. To continue to pursue your ski racing goals, you must “survive” and, in fact, find ways [...]
One of the most frequent comments I hear from the racers I work with is: “I had a lousy day of training.” This statement was almost always accompanied by a variety of emotions that are neither pleasant nor helpful including frustration, anger, worry, doubt, and disappointment, and, occasionally, despair. Moreover, I saw that this assertion [...]
Episode #6: Perspective of my Raising Young Athletes podcast explores the influence of perspective on how you as sport parents and your young athletes perceive, feel about, and react to their sports experiences. When I talk about perspective, I mean lens through you and your young children look at their sports involvement in terms of [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Hard to believe that we’re about half way through the race season. For some, you’re having a great season and want it to continue. For others, you’re having an okay season and want to improve on it. And for still others, it has been a disappointing season so far and want to turn it around. [...]
When most people in the sports world think of sport psychology, they think of mental training, that is, helping athletes prepare mentally to perform their best when it matters most. Mental muscles that help athletes strengthen include motivation, confidence, intensity, and focus. And mental tools I help athletes to put in their mental toolboxes include [...]
When most people in our ski racing community think of sport psychology, they think of mental training, that is, helping racers prepare mentally to ski their fastest when it matters most. Mental muscles that help racers strengthen include motivation, confidence, intensity, and focus. And mental tools I help racers to put in their mental toolboxes [...]
Over the last few decades, I have worked with many ski racers, from juniors to World Cuppers. One thing I have noticed is that the most powerful work I do with racers isn’t your typical mental training where I teach them about positive thinking, mental imagery, routines, and how to stay intense and focused (though [...]
