A Racing Mindset

In an era when smart phones never leave our side, information travels instantly, and we accomplish tasks faster than ever before, what I’m about to say might come as a shock. We can’t multitask, mental multitask that is. 

Athletes try to multitask all the time and more often than not it leads to poor performances and missed opportunities. However when Jessie Diggins rounded the corner during the Olympic sprint relay and pulled up alongside Stina Nilsson of Sweden, I can assure you she was not mentally multitasking. She had one thing on her mind. She wasn’t thinking about the crowd, she wasn’t thinking about the skier next to her, she likely wasn’t even thinking about the medals. I’m not Jessie so I can’t tell you exactly what the one thing going through her mind was but I can tell you that it had a singular focus. That focus kept her in the moment and not even the burning in her legs could distract her from it. 

In the world of athletics, people throw around the terms being “present” or being “in the zone” all the time and they more or less mean the same thing.  Champion athletes all have an incredible ability to focus during competition, to “get in the zone” for peak performance.  What separates the good from the great however is the ability to shift this laser focus with both ease and purpose to maximize performance. 

Is it possible to train this focus? Jon Hammermeister, longtime psychologist of the US Ski Team and legend in his field, would say yes. Jon has helped me over the years come up with specific ways to train this focus during competition using a focused mindset grid. (image)

We created the focused mindset grid to visually identify the different types of focus required during a competition. Sometimes during a race, you need a very Specific Focus and other times you need one that is more Broad. Sometimes your focus needs to be completely Internal and sometimes you need to be more aware of what is going on around you, Externally. The key to success is being able to glide seamlessly in and out of each quadrant without getting stuck. 

As Jessie sprinted down the finishing stretch on her way to winning a gold medal, her mental focus fell strongly in the Internal Specific quadrant. Internal, meaning she was focused entirely on herself, and Specific meaning she had a narrow, singular focus.

In sports like cross-country skiing that deal with managing pain tolerance, athletes spend a lot of time in the Internal Specific quadrant. Athletes use this type of focus to distract themselves from pain by focusing on something else like a specific cue word or their breathing. For example, a skier might count their breaths or focus on a short phrase like “keep your hips up,” “quick hands”, “get to the line”,  or “strong push” to maintain an Internal Specific mindset. 

A Broad Internal mindset can also be beneficial during competition keeping a skier present in the race. Positive self-talk is a perfect example of a Broad Internal mindset. Simply remembering to have fun while racing or reminding yourself that “you can do this” or that “you’re doing great” can cue this mindset. A Broad Internal mindset is great for calming the nerves and can put racing in perspective by reminding an athlete why they love to ski and that a race is just a race. 

In a sport like ski racing that includes a lot of external noise from mass starts to other competitors changing trails and unpredictable weather, the ability to transition to an external mindset is also very important. Technically and tactically-savvy skiers are perfect examples of athletes who benefit from an External Specific mindset. These athletes pay attention to the feel of the snow under foot, how their skis glide relative to their competition, and where the fastest snow is on the track. An External Specific mindset also allows a skier to focus on the little things going on around them and recognize tactical opportunities like when to pass, when to draft, and when to slingshot around a competitor. 

Finally, the External Broad mindset allows a skier to draw motivation from external factors like the roar of the crowd, the thought of making your coach and teammates proud or beating a rival skier. Although, Hammermeister recommends using this mindset the least, it is still important to know when it can be used most effectively. For example, taking a big picture view of your competition can be beneficial but channeling motivation by thinking about others can sometimes backfire in high-pressure situations. 

I can’t tell you exactly how much of each mindset to use during a ski race but being more aware of how they might improve performance will make it easier to implement during training. Just like the muscle memory we develop through countless hours of ski training, our mindset muscle memory can be refined through practice.  The more we shift between the quadrants of the mindset grid the easier it will become to do so in race situations. Meditation and being cognizant of what our mind is doing during hard workouts is the best way to become familiar with the skiers mindset grid.