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STOP THINKING SO MUCH!


APPLY SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY TO GAIN YOUR PEAK PERFORMANCE By Mark Aiken


W


hat beliefs do you have about your skiing or riding? As an instructor, you’re confident enough in your abilities to know you can teach and model solid


technique. But that doesn’t mean niggling doubts don’t creep


into your consciousness. Do you sometimes think you’re not aggressive enough? Tat you’re fluid on the groomers, in the pow, or on rails, but have trouble in moguls or on ice? Bob Kriegal, sports psychologist, commentator on National Public Radio's "Marketplace", and author of Inner Skiing, says there’s probably evidence that refutes these self-limiting beliefs. “If you’re like most skiers I know, he writes, “you’ve had a run, or at least a few turns, in which your performance contradicted your self-image.” But who do you believe – your experience


or your self-image? You might make excuses for that especially good run or session – the conditions were perfect or you just had your equipment tuned. Regardless of why, you rocked it once. So why don’t you believe you’re capable of replicating that every time? Tese are the kinds of questions that come up in Inner Skiing, which Kriegel co-wrote with W. Timothy Gallwey, author of Te Inner Game of Tennis.


when terms like “student-centered,” “guided discovery,” and “learning partnership” first appeared in PSIA doctrine. During my re- read of both books, three reflections kept cropping up in my conscious thought: 1. Tis is about more than just tennis and skiing.


2. I should apply this stuff to my life in general.


3. Tere is information in here that could still be helpful to today’s instructors.


I therefore reached out to Bob Kriegel and to Tom Walker, a rolfer and telemark instructor at Colorado’s Steamboat Resort, who – during his 46 years of ski and telemark instructing – served as a clinician at Inner Game programs that Kriegel and Gallwey held at resorts across the country. Te Inner Game of Tennis and Inner Skiing explore how people learn; how they deal with fear; the limitations of language in teaching; and concentration, focus, and performance.


With a coach like Self 1 hovering over every SRLQW LWȇV D ZRQGHU 6HOI


KDV DQ\ VHOI FRQfiGHQFH concentration, or self-esteem at all.


Originally published in the 1970s and revised in 1997 to include the “new” sport of snowboarding, Inner Skiing has garnered rave reviews through the years, as has Te Inner Game of Tennis. I recently treated myself to re-reads of both. “Skiing technology and techniques have changed since the books came out,” says Kriegel. “Te inner game – the mind-and-body relationship in regard to performance – is still the same.” PSIA first developed the American


Teaching Method (which evolved into its current American Teaching System model) at the height of Inner Game fame, and that’s


54 | 32 DEGREES • SPRING 2017


KNOW THYSELF... BOTH OF THEM According to Gallwey in Te Inner Game of Tennis, within each athlete are two selves: Self 1, the “teller” and Self 2, the “doer.” As described in Te Inner Game of Tennis, as a tennis player is working on a stroke Self 1 typically sounds like this: “Okay, dammit, keep your stupid wrist firm.” As ball after ball comes over the net, Self 1 will remind Self 2: “Keep it firm. Keep it firm. Keep it firm!” Although Self 2 does all the work, Self


1 has zero faith or trust in Self 2’s ability to get anything right. With a coach like Self 1 hovering over every point, it’s a wonder Self 2 has any self- confidence, concentration, or self-esteem at all.


Bob Kriegel Tom Walker


Tink of your own skiing or riding experience. Has anything like this ever gone on inside your mind: “It’s going to be icy today. I never was that good on ice. Remember to relax when you see an icy patch. Tere’s some now… You idiot! Why are you leaning back? You’ll never ski like Mikaela or ride like Seth if you lean back like this! I hate ice. I shouldn’t even bother coming out on days like this.” “Te inner game teaches you about


getting your mind and body in harmony and working together,” says Kriegel. Te books cite example after example of Self 2 achieving success when Self 1 gets out of the way and lets Self 2 do its thing. Tink of a baby learning to crawl. Babies and children learn through observation. Tey don’t judge whether an experience was positive or negative; they just file away each experience – be it a step or a fall – for the next time the situation arises. Removing the distractions, fears, and insecurities of Self 1, Self 2 becomes a true experiential learner. In other words, someone who learns by doing and reflecting upon the doing. Have you heard people having a great day on snow say they’re skiing or riding “out of my head”? Tat pretty much sums up where you want to be. For Tom Walker, the goal is to park the mind and increase awareness of the body. Stop thinking, doubting, fearing, instructing, and judging. Instead, become more aware of what your body is doing in the moment.


GETTING STUDENTS TO PARK THEIR MIND Both “inner” books go into depth about the value of parking the mind. Even more valuable are examples of how to get


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