preparation

[Horton]

 preparation skidawg I am interested to know what type of pre ski preparation different skiers go through (i.e. immediately before a practice/tournament set) mental and physical.

 

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3/28/07 8:35 am

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preperation cliveousslalomtweakers I like to arrive reasonably early so as I can relax as I hate being rushed, I have five to ten minutes on spin bike doing various exercises so as I can raise the heart rate. I then have five to ten minutes streeching, not only does that help prevent injuries but it also allows me to get my brain in gear, I normally do this somewhere quiet and on my own as I find it difficult to concetrate if someone's talkikng to me.

 

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3/28/07 10:32 am

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Good topic MS I need a new approach to this. I like to talk and BS everyone, but I think I need a little down time. I just try to mimic what I do daily at practice. But with my scores Horton like scores at the nats the last few years, it is time to rethink my approach.

 

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3/28/07 10:35 am

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a bit more indepth skidawg I was interested in the mental thought process as much as the warm up, i.e. imagery, technique, positive self talk, etc.

 

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3/28/07 11:27 am

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preparation Joe Darwin One of my habits at tournaments is to visualize going thru the gates and around each buoy at MY site. I picture what I see at my site as I get up, as I pull out for the gates and when I'm in the glide for the gates. I keep this mental picture with me once I'm up and maintain until I begin my preturn for #1. This provides some relief from the anxiety of skiing at different sites. It also allows me to concentrate on my technique. Afterall, the buoys are always in the same place once you are in the course (unless you're Dr. Michaels) so the surrounding visuals are the only difference.

 

jhd

 

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3/28/07 11:44 am

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preparation Bruce Butterfield There are numerous books on this topic and by far the best one I've found is by Charles Garfield called "Peak Performance, Mental Training Techniques of the World's Greatest Athletes". It was published in 1984 and I believe its out of print. Search Amazon or other on line book stores and you should be able to find a copy, at least a used one.

 

There is far more to your question than could ever be covered here.

 

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3/28/07 6:37 pm

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Re: preparation http://www.ezboard.com/image/cscicon3.gif John Taylor Horton I highly recommend the book “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Tim Galloway. (not his other books like “Inner Tennis, playing the game”, “Inner Course; the Road to 5 ball” or what ever he has written). The Inner Game of Tennis is all about the mental games we play with our selves under pressure and when learning new skills.

 

Galloway talks a lot about conscious and sub-conscious and calls them SelfOne & SelfTwo. SelfTwo knows how to ski (or walk or type or chew gum) and SelfOne is a distraction (that voice in your head). Generally in a tournament situation I try to shut SelfOne up and let SelfTwo do his thing.

 

If SelfOne is doing anything it is focusing on finding my Happy Place. My Happy Place is where I am focusing on the one thing that I am working on in practice that smoothes me out. It could be where I am looking, tight elbows, handle position, whatever.

 

In the end it is skiing with a quite mind (SelfOne). This is not the same as what MS does, that is skiing with a empty mind.

 

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Edited by: John Taylor Horton at: 3/29/07 10:22 am

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3/29/07 10:20 am

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Re: preparation tsixam For many years I was a lousy tournament skier. I was skiing pretty well in practice on our small wind protected lake with absolutely no backwash. But my performance dropped a lot if I thought the driver was not good, even if my buddies skied well behind the same driver. I even had problems skiing if there was someone in the boat I disliked. At competitions my skiing level was about 2 shortenings longer than in practice. At that time I was at 2 @ 35 in practice and in competition at 28 off and sometimes I even missed my opening pass. I clearly had to do something about it. So I started to read books about mental training, I visualized; I did relax drills and tried everything I could find in my books. It helped a little but I was not satisfied. What really made a big change was when I joined a new company. In my new job I had to travel a lot, so my only chance to ski was to ski in the local clubs in the cities I was visiting. I had to ski behind less than perfect drivers, in a variety of different lakes and conditions, with people I did not know and so on. But I found out that, the more I skied in different condition the better my performance in competition got. Today my practice performance is in line with my competition performance. The difference is about 1-2 balls.

 

Mental training is good and I believe that the higher level you are skiing at the more important the mental skills are. But the most important thing that will help your skiing the most is to ski in every condition you face, with all kinds of drivers, different lakes, different spotters, wind, and cold, warm and so on, as long it is safe. Knowing that you can ski well in any condition, behind any driver, will build your self confidence and you will perform better both in practice and in competitions.

 

By the way I have ordered the book. I will read it as soon as I get it and give you guys a short rewiew.

 

Tsixam

 

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3/29/07 11:23 am

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http://www.ezboard.com/themes/space/unread.gif Unknown Unknown (This post is missing and can not be restored)

 

5/10/07 10:53 pm

 

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5/10/07 10:53 pm

 

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Re: The inner game of tennis http://www.ezboard.com/image/cscicon3.gif John Taylor Horton by the way . . . nobody has to ask about posting here. I really wish this forum was less of a "John Horton Blog". Post to your hearts desire. Until I see anything ungy or way out of place I am happy for all of it.

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4/25/07 8:59 am

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ungy? six what does ungy mean? i don't want to cross that line

 

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4/27/07 7:23 am

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Re: ungy? http://www.ezboard.com/image/cscicon3.gif John Taylor Horton "ungy" means Horton can't spell. I assume you are joking but all I ask is that we keep it friendly and mostly on topic. You are pretty safe as long as you do not talk religion or call anyone an Ahole. A lot of what goes on at SkiFly is way beyond . . .

 

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