Professional athletes use visualization to improve win their game. You can use it to improve your skiing and snowboarding skills.
My friend, Steve Hultquist, who works as a guide for the Over-the Hill gang at Copper Mountain, recently started a discussion about "skiing in the theatre of the mind." He was talking about the use of visualization as a means of improving ski technique. Albert Einstein tells us "Imagination is more important than science." Professional athletes have known this for decades.
A 1984 survey of 235 Canadian Olympic athletes preparing for the Games found that 99 percent of them were using imagery. According to Rebecca Smith, a clinical research assistant in sports psychology at the U.S. Olympic Training center in Colorado, professional athletes spend a good deal of time visualizing their victory by telling their minds exactly what they want their bodies to achieve. Rumor has it that Jack Nicklaus never hits a shot without visualizing it first. Watch Olympic or World Class ski racers prior to a race. You will often see them with their eyes closed, moving their hands. These skiers are actually visualizing the racecourse and the moves they plan to make in order to win the race.
You don't have to be a World Class ski racer to use visualization. This powerful tool can even be used as a means of improving your basic ski skills. Begin by watching a video of your favorite skier. Some people find that it works best if you choose a skier of similar height and body type to their own, but that is not always the case. As you observe the skier on the video, imagine that your body becomes his or hers. In order to make the experience as real as possible, make use of all of your senses. What is the outside temperature? How does the snow feel? Can you hear the wind, or the crowds cheering you on? As you approach the bottom of the hill, can you smell the food that is cooking at the restaurant or cafeteria? (Avoid this image if your local resort features unsavory food!)
Creative visualization works had in hand with positive self-talk and affirmation. Too often, when we are skiing down a steep slope, we say to ourselves, "Don't fall!" Invariably, we end up falling. Why does this happen? While the brain does not have an image for the word "don't," it sure does have an image for the word "fall." So down we go. The next time you find yourself on a steeper slope, say to yourself, "Stand up," and see what happens.
In a 1992 Canadian Journal of Sport Sciences study of Olympic gymnasts, Michael Mahoney, Ph.D. and M. Avener, Ph.D. found that the more positive the self-talk, the easier it was for the gymnasts to achieve athletic excellence. In another study that was published in Cognitive Therapy and Research in 1977, the researchers discovered that athletes who made the U.S. men's gymnastics team were more likely to use positive self-talk than those who did not.
It is interesting to note that negative self-talk can have worse consequences than no talk at all. In 1987, psychologist and founder of rational emotive therapy Albert Ellis, Ph.D., found that irrational beliefs such as "If I don't do well, I'm an incompetent person," or "I must do well to gain the approval of others" could have an adverse affect on athletic performance.
Although summer is approaching, before you know it, ski season will once again begin. Horst Abraham, the famous ski author and ski instructor trainer once made this remark: "You can learn to ski in the summer, and you can learn to swim in the winter." What he meant was that by using you imagination as you participate in other activities, you can find the connections that may enhance your ski skills. Play on the balance boards at the gym and imagine that you are carving perfect turns. When you go out for a run, choose a hill and run various turn shapes as you descend. Imagine that you are running on soft snow as opposed to hard concrete! You might be surprised to discover that your running becomes "softer," which in turn will be easier on your knees. In the meantime, as we await the snow, think lovely turns!
