Making Changes, Getting Faster
How I think about changing my skiing to compete at the next level.
This time of the year is always the hardest mentally for me with skiing because it’s the time of year I feel the most pressure to be making real changes in my skiing.
During the season, we don’t have long training blocks, and therefore the focus is more about reducing errors in racing or making small changes to our skiing.
During the summer and fall training blocks is when the work really happens to make big changes in your skiing to set you up for success for the coming season. Or at least that’s how I view it!
I think part of maturing as an athlete is realizing that the skill set that got you lots of success at one level isn’t always going to take you to the next level. And so, there is a bit of unlearning, or at least accepting this fact, that needs to happen in order to make the changes needed to not plateau.
At the end of last season, I asked a couple of coaches for their advice on what I need to work on in my skiing to help take me to the next level. Most of what they mentioned I was already aware of, and at the beginning of this camp I sat down to reflect on those areas and write down some thoughts on how to go about making changes. The main things I’m trying to change currently are
my hip position (I have always skied pretty backseat which has some advantages but makes my skiing very inconsistent and at times, not very safe. Getting my hips forward will help my skiing pretty much across the board),
getting to the new ski as early as possible in order to generate more power and speed in the turn (pretty much every skier is working on this in one way or another)
working on consistency over jumps and terrain (this one is tied to the first two technical focuses, but is it’s own specific focus because it lost me a lot of time last season)
staying aerodynamic as much as possible. As a speed skier this is huge!
Thinking about what I need to fix is the easiest part, as I’m pretty in tune (most of the time) with my skiing, my style and where I am losing time in the course. The hard part is actually addressing those areas and making change. This process gets a lot more stressful when I start to panic about what is the best and quickest way to make those changes. This is something I’ve struggled with for a while as I’m pretty hard on myself, and during this summer/fall time, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make as much progress as possible (after all we only have a short window to make those changes). But the reality is that progress isn’t always linear and days that feel really bad can still be learning opportunities. I chose to write this blog this week as I think I need a reminder on this now more than ever.
This is how I’ve gone about setting up and (attempting) to execute my learning process for making changes in my skiing. I have a training journal that acts sort of like a decision journal.
I first write down a goal for each training session, keeping it as simple and focused as possible. (ie work on holding low tuck) and then I think about why I’m trying to accomplish it (need to work on staying more aerodynamic for longer and at higher speeds) and then how I’m going to go about it (think about line differently, think about body position needed to be able to hold tuck, etc.) Sometimes I have more than one way to think about it in a training session and I’ll try a couple different cues.
Then at the end of the day I assess to see if I was able to execute the determined focus and if I was able, did it work? Did I accomplish what I was hoping them to accomplish? Why or why not? And then use this information as insight into what is going to make my skiing faster.
This process sounds pretty simple, but there are so many variables in ski racing that even focusing on one thing for an entire run is really difficult, especially if the focus feels awkward or hard or is making the rest of my skiing feel unnatural or the snow is bad or there are big ruts in the course (you get the point :)).
A couple things that make this process tough that I’m still trying to figure out (overthinking) are:
What should I focus on first? So much of skiing requires a super solid fundamental base, so sometimes I’m trying to work on things that I just might not be able to do on a given day. I’ve been struggling with prioritizing the most important things, and try not to get too frustrated with myself when I’m just not able to execute because I’m having a bad day or conditions are tough.
How long should I try something before I move on or switch to a different focus/ way to think about it? This is something I’ve changed recently because I think I panic when it doesn’t feel good right away. So I’m working on staying calm and open minded and giving it a few runs.
How to factor in variables out of my control like changing conditions or equipment? Both of these things can make a big difference and it’s really hard to know how big a role they are playing in my skiing or if it’s just me having a bad day.
How to stay as open minded as possible? Mindset can play such a big role when you’re trying something new, so it’s really important to not immediately freak out if something feels awkward. For example, the other day I was trying something in my gliding turns and was very convinced that it was not going to be fast, but I stuck to the plan and kept the focus (other days I might have just bailed and focused on something else). But at the end of the day, when I looked at times from those runs they were much faster! This was a huge lesson for me to make a plan and stick to it even if I think it’s going badly, and something I’m going to try to remember moving forward.
Overall making these changes is hard and can be really frustrating, especially when I feel like there is so little time on snow. But I’m trying really hard to not be as hard on myself (because it makes the training not super productive) and also to remember that having bad days is part of the learning process.
That being said, I think it’s also important to not try to do too much all at once, or completely try to change everything. As I mentioned in a blog last year, It’s good to focus on capitalizing on strengths vs. only working on improving weaknesses. So I’ve been trying to find a balance on changing the things that I think are preventing me from competing consistently on the World Cup, while at the same time staying in touch with my natural skills!
Wonderful post! Trust the process applies to so many aspects of life. We are all cheering for you and send our very best. The Crottys
Trish! Thanks so much for writing this. So true about improving at every sport. Those of us still trying to get better at golf can relate.
Love the last part about trusting the process even if it feels slow. Friend of mine has a license plate: ATTP. Always trust the process. Club champion at my golf club. All the best, Chris Patti and Hayley