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MID-SEASON
JOSH SMULLIN
Contributing Editor for the Master Skier
Josh skis for XC Oregon and Rossignol elite. He will receive his Masters degree in Sport Psychology from the University of Utah this Fall. He also has degrees in kinesiology and psychology from the University of Colorado.
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In ski racing, we experience a wide range of feelings and emotions such as fear, anxiety, butterflies, despair, excitement and anticipation that can be quite intense. Research has shown that performance improves with increased arousal up to a certain point, and then declines steeply if an athlete becomes overstimulated.
As a skier’s arousal increases, their attention narrows. Attention narrowing is good up to a point, but can become disastrous if a skier’s focus becomes too narrow for them to take in relevant cues (skier’s next to them or signals from their body).
Each skier has an individual, optimal energy level where they perform best. Think back to some of your best performances. How did you feel? Nervous? Relaxed? Anxious? Energized?
If you are unaware of your ideal arousal state, begin to record how you felt before and during a race along with the result. Your ideal energy levels may be different for sprints than for 50-kilometer races. Soon you will learn how you want to feel before and during races.
Sport psychologists have developed techniques that help athletes learn to manage their emotions and arousal levels in order to attain their ideal energy state. Energy management techniques are usually the first area that a Sport Psychology consultant will cover when working with an athlete. If an athlete is able to control their emotions and energy levels, they will be better prepared to concentrate, focus or apply any of the other techniques that a consultant might teach them.
The first step towards learning to relax is learning how to breathe correctly. I recommend lying down somewhere comfortable with your back on the floor and eyes closed. Inhale deeply through your nose. Put your hand on your abdomen and feel it rise.
As you continue to inhale feel your chest rise and fill with air. Relax as you exhale slowly from your mouth. Continue to relax more and more with each exhalation.
It may help to imagine that you are sending waves of relaxation through your body. Scan your body for areas of tension and bring the focus of your breathing and relaxation to those areas.
If you become distracted by thoughts, gently let go of them and bring your focus back to your breath. Focusing on the breath alone should improve your ability to relax in many situations.
When I first learned this simple technique, I was surprised to learn how strongly my mood, stress level and tension were connected to my breathing.
Two other feelings that are often associated with feeling relaxed are warmth and heaviness. This is a good exercise to practice every night before going to bed, or any time you begin to feel too anxious. The purpose of the following dialogue is to increase your awareness of where you store tension and stress in your body and to give you a means of relieving it.
Try repeating this dialogue as you continue to breathe in the aforementioned manner:
I am putting on a relaxation mask
It removes all of the tension in my forehead, around my eyes and my jaw
My right arm feels heavy and relaxed
My right arm is getting heavier and heavier
My right arm is completely heavy and relaxed
(Repeat with left arm, right leg and then left leg)
You can also continue the cycle by substituting the word WARM in place of the word heavy in the above dialogue.
My chest feels warm and my heart is beating slower and slower.
My abdomen feels warm and relaxed.
My forehead feels cool.
At this point, I like to imagine a moment in my life when I was completely happy, warm and relaxed.
Enjoy the feeling of relaxation.
Some skiers complain of feeling tired and lethargic the morning of a race. Perhaps they are dreading the pain, or not feeling good. Instead of relaxation, these skiers could benefit from using an energizing technique that will activate their mind to be ready when the gun goes off.
In addition to low arousal levels, many athletes struggle with self-confidence issues, especially before races. This can lead to anxiety and negative thought patterns.
In my own experience as an athlete, I have had success using imagery to energize and improve my self-confidence. In my imagery, I remember a successful performance just before the start of my race. Reliving these moments reminds my body of what it felt like to succeed and I begin to feel self-doubt fading.
To accomplish this imagery, think back to your most recent and greatest ski racing moment. Try to remember how you felt during this experience with as many of your senses as you can. What were your thoughts? What were you focused on? How did you feel? What did your arms, legs and body movements feel like? What did it sound like (your breathing, the skis and poles hitting the snow)? Were there certain smells associated with this experience? Remember how exhilarated and energized you felt.
The more detailed you can relive the peak experience you had, the more confident you will be as you approach the start line.
I recommend using this technique any time you begin to have self-doubt and especially with less than five minutes to go before race start. This technique also works as a great last-minute reminder of how you want to be thinking and what you want to be focused on during the race.
Just as you would practice V2 in training, try practicing this imagery technique before an interval session or a time trial. Try reliving a number of experiences and find which ones work for you.
Just like the body, the mind needs to be trained to respond the way you want it to. These techniques require a lot of practice before they can be used effectively. In time, you will find that your ability to use these techniques in high-pressure, race situations will improve.
I have given you one technique to lower and another to increase energy and arousal levels. Try using both to find your own ideal race energy level!
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