Skiing

Are you competing at the level that you’re capable of? Or do fears and self-doubts paralyze you and prevent you from skiing to your potential? Do you regularly go faster and perform better in practice than you do in important competitions? Are there particular opponents who you consistently lose to who have no business beating you?

If some of these questions bother you, then you probably already know how critically important the mental part of your sport is. If you want to take your ski performance to the next level, then you have to be willing to take your training far beyond where most skiers stop. Most serious skiers religiously work on the physical part of the sport. They’ll work on their strength, fitness, and technique. Is this stuff important? You betcha! You can’t become successful on the slopes without first “paying your physical dues” in this way. Hard work is definitely one of the main keys to your success. Without it, you’ll quickly fall behind and underachieve.

Unfortunately, this is where most skiers stop!

When they go into their BIG races, they hope they’ll be able to put together two good runs, they hope that they’ll have their “A” game with them today, they hope that they’ll finish well. You would never leave your strength, conditioning, or technique to chance. So why would you leave the most important part of your race performance – the mental part – to chance?

Think about this: Getting good as a skier in practice is 95% physical and 5% mental. Translation: You have to work hard on your conditioning and “physical game” to make it happen. However, once you get into that starting gate, the percentages flip-flop. Skiing to your potential is 95% mental and 5% physical. You have the conditioning, technique, and strategy; now you have to make sure that you stay calm under pressure and keep yourself focused on the right things.

You have to believe in yourself and have the self-confidence to focus on yourself and not the other skiers whenever you’re under pressure. You have to be able to handle last-minute negativity and self-doubts. You have to be able to master your fears.

With a little work, these mental skills – as well as a few important others – can be systematically trained to the point where you develop the reputation as a mentally tough ski racer.

Dr. Alan Goldberg is an internationally-recognized expert in the field of performance enhancement. As a Sports Performance Consultant, Dr. G works with skiers and other athletes across all sports at every level, helping them overcome performance fears and blocks, develop mental toughness, better handle competitive pressure, and perform to their potential. Dr. G writes on the subjects of peak performance training and mental toughness. He is the author of the revolutionary book, This Is Your Brain On Sports, as well as 30 other books and audio programs. Check out his most popular Mental Toughness Training Packages.

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