Progression Ski Racing

Parents impact their children’s lives like no other people can—in skiing as in every other aspect of their lives. Parents, even those who coach their own kids, do best by their children when focusing on skiing as a growth and developmental opportunity, rather than a do-or-die, win-at-all-cost proposition. The journey is the most important part of ski racing. Every athlete at some point has had the dream of being The World Champion. Medals and trophies are great, but they pale in comparison to the memories and lessons that the journey of ski racing provides. Here are some tips for the parents.

 

“If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves of praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.”
― Carol S. Dweck

 

 How to Talk to Your Athlete

The way parents talk about ability and learning can have powerful effects on their children’s beliefs about themselves and their skills, or more correctly, the source of their skills. Below are three ways parents can instill a growth mindset in their children. Remember, developing a growth mindset in yourself and in your kids is a process that takes time. Have a growth mindset about developing a growth mindset!

• Recognize your own mindset: Be mindful of your own thinking and of the messages you send with your words and actions.

• Praise the process: Praising kids for being ‘good’ suggests that innate talent is the reason for success, while focusing on the process helps them see how their effort leads to their success.

• Model learning from failure: When parents talk positively about making mistakes, kids start to think of mistakes as a natural part of the learning process.

 

Disconnect Winning and Losing from the Athlete's Performance

One of the main purposes of the ski racing experience is skill acquisition and mastery. Defining ski racing as winning and losing is a sucker bet. Every ski race has only one winner and a multitude of people who did not win (losers). When an athlete performs to their potential and loses, it is criminal to focus on the outcome and become critical. If an athlete skis to their very best and loses, you need to help them feel like a winner! Similarly, when an athlete performs far below their potential but still wins, this is not cause to feel like a winner. Help your athlete make this important distinction between success and failure and winning and losing. Remember, if you define success and failure in terms of winning and losing, you're playing a losing game. Sports are a vehicle to learn the tough lessons in life regardless of the outcome or the scoreboard.

 

 

BE SUPPORTIVE, DON'T COACH!

A parent's role on the parent, coach, athlete triangle is to Support! You need to be kid's best fan, unconditionally! Leave the coaching and instruction to the coach. Provide encouragement, support, empathy, transportation, help, etc., but... do not coach! Most parents that get into trouble with their children do so because they forget the important position that they play. Coaching interferes with your role as parent, supporter and fan. The last thing your child needs and or wants to hear from you after a disappointing race or crash is what they did technically or tactically wrong. Keep your role as a parent on the team separate from that of a coach; if you also happen to be your child’s coach, make a clear distinction between on and off the hill roles.