Do you have a slalom “happy place”?

[Horton]

I am pretty sure I have written about this before but here it is again….

Do you have a slalom “happy place”? I define a happy place as that one thing you focus on that seems to always recenter your skiing. It is not the new thing a coach told you, it is not the thing you know you need to fix. It is that one thing that whenever you think about it your skiing gets back to baseline. Your happy place would likely not be my happy place. In fact, your happy place could be totally illogical to another skier.

I am honestly perplexed that more skiers do not have this in their mental toolbox. Everyone should have that one focus that is basically a “Get Out Of Slalom Funk Card”. It is a reset to baseline focus. Maybe it can not instantly solve a slump but it gets you in a familiar mindset or position. 

Do you have one? If not why not?

[Jibbo]

My "Get out of a slalom funk card" is to focus on where I am looking.

1. Looking down course prior to the ball keeps me balanced and my shoulders up coming into the turn
2. Coming out of the turn and heading towards the wakes I have my eyes and head looking ahead of the next buoy or even looking at the boat  ensures I am balanced on the ski through my lean

[fu_man]

Try something else. Ride the trick ski.

[Horton]

@fu_man missing the point 

[Mastercrafter]

This advice was given somewhat recently by a friend and coach, and it’s become my go-to for a mental reset when things aren’t working:

Feed the handle out slowly, bring the handle back smoothly.  

If I can concentrate and make this happen, everything else falls into place. 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Mastercrafter

[coach3]

Putting my weight over a straight front leg well before the buoy and ....gently rolling in just before the buoy. (I imagine turning the curved tip of the ski around the buoy).

I can have crummy wakes, lose connection, and tilt, but if I do those 2, I usually make the pass.

[2Valve]

Trailing arm straight. If I do that, my buddies say I've got the biggest spray. 🙂

[VermontSkier]

 

[SHungerford]

I'm with @coach3, nice smooth pull out, focus on weight forward and well stacked on the glide and then a smooth pull helps me refocus. 

[Dano]

Less is more.  And patience.  

[kmenard]

The pull out. When I am 'right' it all starts there, pull out, glide, and the world stops for a moment.

[DW]

From my racing - slow down to go fast -> focus on finishing the turn and not rushing..

IMO - the key in the toolbox is my mental focus, nothing physical (injuries aside) separates a good day from a bad one but mindset makes a huge difference.  My happy place:  when everything clicks, the world slows down, you notice everything, it takes an hour to cross the wake in 2.1 seconds and it's all so easy:-)  Reading some of Ayton Senna's descriptions of his happy place is really interesting.

[Horton]

You guys get it. The real point is to have that one thing you focus on when things are off to get you back to baseline. To all the skiers who do not use this concept I encourage you to consider it.

[BobF]

Keep my vision upcourse, and keep the handle up in my reach.

[Menzelskier]

Patience into the entrance gates. Lots of patience.

[BrennanKMN]

Mine is to focus on nothing! Generally when I think about something, everything else goes out the window. 

Mine is to try as hard as I can to just shut off the brain and let muscle memory take over. Otherwise, when in doubt calm down - stop trying as hard. 

[pcmcon729]

My, "back to basics" plan is to ski at home with my wife Jen driving. No noise, no egos, no competition.  I usually start by running 6-8 easy passes at -28 to find my rythym. We chat on the ends of the course about anything but skiing.  Ramp up slowly from there with confidence. Out injured for a week or two. This will be the plan for this Fri I hope.

[101driver]

Skiing in Space. (outer space)

My Daughter and I call it mind of no mind, we stole the idea from a shotgun coach called Simon Rynold quote "To move into that zone of peak performance almost complete relaxation and complete focus at the same time" he adds "its very hard to do"

So when over thinking and I have been focusing on the latest fault and the harder we try the worse it gets.............To reboot the brain. I Stop thinking and relax. 

I don't think I just feel. My brain then reboots to a happier place. It feels like you could be skiing in space, everything slows down and the bouys are just things that pass by.

We just say to the crew "don't say anything I don't want to think" Anyone who doesn't respect this gets chucked off the boat.

[139]

Going thru exit gates at 38 off!

[RichardDoane]

I took notes a few years back while listening to a Chris Rossi interview, and also one time when Chet Raley was addressing a ski club meeting. They’ve gotten pretty faded on my office wall as you can see :

 

 

[RichardDoane]

Wide, Strong, Center. Words to live by according to Chris Rossi. 

[RichardDoane]

It takes discipline to improve says @Chet

[6balls]

Lots and lots of 32 off

[vtmecheng]

Go to an easier pass and forget the buoys. Focus on just getting a solid body position through centerline and then add back in the buoys while I can maintain that position. I get caught up with the shiny object (buoys) and sometimes need that position reset.

[503Kento]

@twhisper voice in my head “just lean” followed by awareness of where my hips, elbows and chest are. 
 

At the the suggestion of my son, I’ve been reading “The Inner Game of Tennis”.  Lots of great headspace stuff in there similar to what @101driver posted.