CROSS COUNTRY RACING RELIES ON 5 PILLARS OF SPORTS PERFORMANCE BY DAVID LAWRENCE
ross country ski racing represents a captivating combination of fitness, technique, competition, tactics, strategy, and camaraderie. Te trail is the expression of thousands of hours of work, sweat, and passion, with each corduroy line etched in the snow a salute to the athlete daring to step up to the start line, test their mettle, and find the best parts of themselves.
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PLAY ON STRENGTHS, WORK ON WEAKNESSES Optimal performance is sacred, at least to a cross country ski racer who wants help with the five pillars of sports performance: speed, endurance, strength, mindset, and technique. Te “typical” athlete usually possesses more of one attribute that overshadows the others. Te athlete’s strongest quality is the one they usually develop and practice the most. If strength is the most developed quality, the skier races with strength. If speed is the racer’s greatest quality, he or she races with speed. So the typical athlete needs development where they are weak. In our weaknesses lie the greatest obstacle and the greatest opportunity.
ASSESS THE SKIER TO DETERMINE READINESS To assess readiness, observe how the athlete combines those five pillars of sport performance well in advance of the race – at least eight weeks but twelve is better. In that time, a structured training plan will allow the athlete to cement physiological adaptations. Elite athletes take an entire year to make these adaptations, but I believe significant impact for most recreational and junior athletes can be achieved in much less time.
WARMING UP FOR RACE TRAINING Stretching is out, and central nervous system stimulation for optimal sport performance is in. Te brain must sling signals throughout the body as fast as possible; the faster the better. Stretching doesn’t get you there. Jumping, sprinting, balancing, moving, and coordination drills do. To warm up for a race or even for a ski lesson, skiers should excite the central nervous system. Get the body primed and ready so the brain can move it!
3 AREAS OF FOCUS ADD UP TO SOLID PERFORMANCE Te three most important elements to coach when preparing a cross country skier to race are as follows: 1. Mindset. Help skiers learn to focus on what they can control – their application of technique – and let everything else go.
2. Whole body mobility. Encourage skiers to strive for fluid, powerful, and coordinated movement of the arms, legs, and core. Keying on certain movements – say, favoring the glide at the expense of the pushoff or weight transfer – diminishes overall effectiveness. Whole body mobility goes a long way toward shoring up the endurance, strength, and endurance pillars of sports performance.
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3. Speed. Rather than concentrate on going all-out, all the time, skiers should work to master their technique at all speeds. Tat way, they’ll be strong in all phases of the race.
IT’S NOT OVER AT RACE’S END Post performance, whether during training or an actual race, I ask two questions to help the athlete assess: What did you do well? What could you have done better? It’s important to acknowledge and recognize success, but it’s equally important to identify opportunities to grow and develop.
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR OWN BEST PRACTICES Want to take your coaching up a notch? Here are two top ways to go about it: 1. Learn how to move with optimal functionality. Tat means learning how to crawl properly, how to jump properly, how to fall properly, and how to push, pull, stabilize, and squat properly. If you have to master just one of these, learn how to squat! When you know proper mechanics, you’re in a better position to demonstrate them effectively (and pursue your own mastery of racing).
2. Have someone observe you coach or teach and give you feedback. Be sure to check out this great New Yorker article by Atul Gawande about a surgeon who invited someone into his operating room to film and analyze his performance in the operating room: “Personal Best: Top Athletes and Singers Have Coaches. Should You?”:
http://www.newyorker.com/ magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best
David Lawrence is the new coach of the PSIA Nordic Team.
SCOTT D.W. SMITH
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