The Covid-19 crisis has certainly presented me with new challenges in my work with ski racers, whether U14s or World Cuppers. It’s as if the pandemic has taken all of the normal challenges that racers face and turned their volume up several notches. Whether motivation, confidence, fear of failure, expectations, or anxiety, whatever athletes are [...]
Episode #28: Focus Tools of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast is the second of two episodes in which I explore the impact of focus on sports performance. This podcast will introduce you to a variety of focus tools that you can add to your mental toolbox that will help you to stay focused [...]
Episode #27: What is Focus? of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast is the first of two episodes in which I explore the impact of focus on sports performance. Focus is the most misunderstood mental factor among athletes. Most athletes think of focus as concentrating on one thing for a long time. Simply [...]
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 [...]
Episode #19: 5 Keys to Quality Training of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast is the last of six in a series that examines the ways in which you can maximize your training efforts and the benefits that you gain from those efforts. This episode will explore five practical ways in which athletes can [...]
There is nothing more important to achieving your sports goals than what you do in training. It is during training that you ingrain the physical, technical, tactical, and mental habits that will come out in competitions. If you establish good habits, you'll have a good chance of having a good competitive performance. But if you [...]
In a recent post titled, My 5 Biggest Pet Peeves in Gate Training, I introduced you to the common training habits of young racers that really irritate me (and, more importantly, prevent them from getting the most out of their training!). There is nothing more important to achieving your ski racing goals than what you [...]
I've been in the ski racing world since I was six years old. The first 20 years, I was a racer learning the ups and downs of ski racing the hard way, mostly through trial and error, and sometimes painful failure. That, I can say with 20/20 hindsight and absolute certainty, is no way to [...]
In my sixth of 12 vlog segments devoted to athletes and coaches, I focus on, well, focus in your training and competitive efforts. When I talk about focus, I mean two things. First, your ability to pay attention to things that help you perform your best including technique, tactics, your mind, conditions, or your opponents. [...]
I have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to ski racers when they’re training including leaning on their poles shortly before a training run (no intensity), chatting it up with teammates when they’re in the starting gate of a training course (no focus), and half-hearted effort to the first gate (easing into the [...]
