The Fall Matters: Make it Count
If you’re at all serious about your ski racing, this past summer should have been devoted to the process of making yourself the best ski racer you can be. There is one thing that you better have done and another thing that you likely will have done this past summer: engage in an intensive physical […]
Read MoreMaster Your Frustration This Summer
Frustration may be your most significant obstacle to achieving your ski racing goals. Every ski racer, from juniors to Olympians, has experienced the feeling of frustration when you’re not able to do something, whether physically (e.g., lift a weight), technically (e.g., maintain a wide enough stance), tactically (e.g., be patient with your line): you feel […]
Read More“Money in the Bank, Baby!”: Start Making Confidence Deposits This Summer
In one of my final post this past season, I exhorted you to buy into the notion that Next Season Starts…NOW! With the start of June having just arrived, the summer is now officially upon us. The summer is an immensely important time to pursue your ski racing goals. You can get stronger, improve your […]
Read MoreNext Race Season Starts…NOW!
Note: This article is an encore presentation of a previously published 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, […]
Read MoreThere is No Formula or Timetable for Ski Racing Success
Wouldn’t it be great if ski racing had a formula that you could follow to be successful? Imagine if you had a list of things you simply needed to do (for example: get into shape, hone your technical and tactical skills, get your equipment dialed in, tune your skis) and, voila, you would have a […]
Read MorePoints aren’t the Only Criterion of a Successful Season
With the season drawing to a close, it is, for every racer, a time of reckoning in which you look back and evaluate what kind of season you had: one to be proud of or one to reflect back on with disappointment and perhaps regret. One of the primary criteria that racers use to judge […]
Read MoreFinish the Season Strong (No Matter How it’s Going)
Note: This article is an encore representation of a topic that never gets old. It’s hard to believe, but there is only about a month of the race season left. After many days of training and racing, the end is in sight. At this late point in the season, you will have fallen into one […]
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 More5 Reasons Ski Racers Don’t Do Mental Training
Over the many years that I’ve been working in the field of sport psychology, I have championed the benefits of mental training for our sport to thousands of ski racers. This work has ranged from talks to junior programs to ongoing consulting with individual athletes and teams. As many of you know from my dozens […]
Read MoreBattle the Course, Not Yourself
Ski racing has become a combat sport in which you’re armored from head to toe and carrying weapons (razor sharp ski edges as swords and pointy ski poles for spears) to do battle against the course, terrain, snow conditions, and weather. You are also doing battle against the other racers in the field. Unfortunately, too […]
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