Using Sports as a Training Tool
Skiing is a fabulous sport and activity and hobby all at the same time. Ask any ski instructor what they do on their day off and you can guess what the answer is; “ski”. And like any sport, whether you do it all year round or just when you can, you can get so much more out of it if you are physically prepared. Indeed the preparation is often a part of the pleasure but when training starts the fun does not need to stop, and certainly when training becomes year-round and the planning long-term.
Off-season training often only occurs in the gym with a few ski-specific exercises, and a trip to a glacier. But is this really what creates a champion; skiing, and only skiing?
In a recent interview with Marcel Hircher he stated:
“I think there is too much stress and focus on that [glacier skiing]; you don’t become champion…and in any case not just by skiing extensively on the glacier during the summer; which I never really enjoyed anyway. Yes, it’s true [I won a lot as a child] but it was by practicing all-round sports, not just by focusing on skiing...”
Spending time training doesn’t necessarily means practicing a single, specific movement. Skills can be transferred across (with correct training and time) from one sport to another, and one sport can develop a skill as well as, if not better, than it could be developed in the discipline where it is needed.
Where coaching become decisive and where the good coaches distinguish themselves from the average ones is being able to plan ahead and working today to pick up results tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and beyond, without burning out because “glory can’t wait”. This where a good coach will look at the season, at the athlete, their likes, other interests, hobbies and come up with an off-season training plan.
We’ve highlighted just a few but the options are endless.