Summer is time to rest and rejuvenate. Time to prepare your body and rekindle your desire to get back on snow. It’s a great time to do different things for fitness and conditioning, paddle boarding, water skiing, enjoying the warmness and training in the sun and heat, and building up a drippy sweat that won’t eventually freeze.
But, what about keeping your mind tuned into skiing even just a little bit. This is where one of Mikaela Shiffrin’s favorite learning tools, as a youth competitor, is key and is a very formidable form of self-education when being on snow is not an option.
VIDEO! During the summer months when off snow and ski racing may be on the back burner it certainly wouldn’t hurt to watch video of some of the best of the best doing things right on the course and watching your best runs as well.
There are many elite athlete videos on YouTube as well as in the US Ski and Snowboard video library. Take a few minutes and research your favorite elite skier and collect videos to watch during the off months. Watching your own video is also very important. As summer starts to lure you into all different kinds of activities watching your own video may decrease but this is a good time to watch more.
“The use of video tends to decline during the off-season when athletes are focused on other activities they are engaged in. But its use should actually increase for the very same reason. Why? Because you may not be actually playing your sports as much or at all which means you can lose the feeling of playing your best. Video can keep you mentally sharp and allow you to develop your sports skills when you’re not training every day.” – Dr. Jim Taylor, Ph.D.
Make it a habit to watch some video every day, even if just for 10 minutes.
Below are some examples of some runs to watch, there are many options, the KEY IS to DO IT- Go on YouTube or the US Ski Team Video Library and pick your video, watch it. Don’t forget to watch your skiing videos as well!
US Ski and Snowboard Video Library - link
here
Key take - aways for summer video;
1.
Watch your own video
2.
Watch elite skiers’ video – pick skiers with your body type and build
3.
Watch with a purpose but don’t overanalyze
4.
Watch with a general focus on positive images, of what you are doing well, and recall a feeling from what you are viewing.
Below is a link to a great article by Dr James Taylor –
Sports Psychologist and BMA/Middlebury Alum
Link to article
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In this article you will find more info on the benefits of video and mental imagery and how they work together.
Take a break from Netflix and be the leading role!
Julie Woodworth
VARA Executive Director
