Sports Psychology and Skiing
Sports Psychology and Skiing
So, how do the world’s top skiers maintain their extraordinary skiing abilities? How did they reach such dizzying heights in their sport in the first place? These things can seem baffling to the uninitiated, or even to those who ski religiously, but never seem to be able to quite manage the same feats as their idols. The answer may be simpler than you believe, and within easy reach of any skier. There’s probably no secret magic at work – merely good sports psychology, and that’s accessible to any skier who wants to achieve great results, and ski at the top of their own game every time they step out of their Verbier ski chalet.
Imagery
It’s become so popular as to almost be a cliché, but ask a sports psychologist, and you’ll discover it’s nothing to be dismissed so lightly. The practice of imagery refers to ‘imagined’ sensations, and you may be more familiar with the term ‘visualisation’ which refers to the visual aspect. It has long been theorised and accepted that successfully imagining a series of physical movements before performing them can boost the body’s effectiveness at performing the tasks, and many top athletes in a range of sports such as basketball, golf, boxing, and even football swear by its results. When next in your Verbier ski chalet, try setting a little time aside for some visualisation – the results may be surprising.
Attention Focus
While this is more easily applied to crowded sporting events, it can nevertheless have an impact on your skiing. The term ‘attention focus’ is used to describe the practice of – you guessed it – focusing your attention on a certain task, movement, or external stimulus to avoid being overwhelmed by distractions, such as the roar of a crowd that can throw an athlete off their peak performance. While this may not seem to be a problem in your Verbier ski chalet or actually during skiing, which can be quite an isolated sport at times, there are definite benefits to being able to focus on just one aspect of your skiing performance you want to improve – such as your body posture, your balance, or even a certain technique when it comes to slowing, turning, or performing a trick. The ability to set aside distractions and not be overwhelmed by the speed and the scenery of skiing, as well as other factors like the temperature or other considerations is definitely worth cultivating.
Internal Monologue
This is perhaps one of the hardest aspects of sports psychology to put into practice, but once it is, the results can often be incredible. Internal monologue relies on maintaining positive thoughts and a winning attitude in an athlete’s mind during a competition by holding a ‘conversation’ with oneself. Though it might get you a few funny looks muttering to yourself in your Verbier ski chalet, it works best when not spoken aloud at all, and often while actually practicing the skills of skiing. For example, two methods often incorporated into an internal monologue are constantly affirming your own skills and talents, or countering every negative thought that comes into your head with a positive one.
What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve – so get out of your Verbier ski chalet, onto the slopes, and become as good a skier as you can imagine!
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