5 Seconds. I ask all my athletes if they would be interested in taking 5 seconds off their times by the end of the season? Imagine your best run last year. Then visualize that run 5 seconds faster. Who wouldn't want to take a giant leap forward? 5 seconds per run faster than their best run last year would be a huge jump in any athlete's level of performance. So much so, that it seems unreasonable and unattainable at first glance. However, with the right perspective and a plan to achieve it you find that it is much closer than you think.

First, we need to separate the goal from the task. There are normally about 50 gates in an average slalom course. The goal in this case is 5 seconds. So we are looking to gain one tenth of a second per turn. So the task to the desired goal is an improvement of a 1/10 of a second per turn. If there are only 32 gates then the goal is 3.2 seconds.

5 Seconds = .1 Seconds X 50 Gates

Can you find .1 seconds in your skiing

The plan to find the tenth of a second improvement comes from a self analyzing your skiing, line and movement. You can download a copy of the Progression Self Assessment form here

Analyse your skiing to find and isolate your weakness first. Then focus on the weakness in your training and turn it into your strength. Create a list of the areas that you believe are your biggest problems. Video is a tremendous help when defining weaknesses and developing a plan to overcome them. Only after you have completed your self assessment ask a coach to review your conclusions.

A written list will give you a guideline to target your practices.