American Downhiller Podcast - Episode #7

Start Routines, Training Runs & Youth Speed!

In this Episode of the American Downhiller Podcast, LEW, Marco, Daron and AJ give out great advice to junior racers, parents and coaches about the elements of a Start Routine and how it can help prepare the Racer mentally and physically for success in training and racing. From early morning warm-up jogs to dialing in your equipment to breathing techniques to handle stress, they share what they learned worked for them on World Cup. They also share some funny stories about the craziness of the starting gate area during their careers. Additionally, they talk about how each has nightmares still about missing their start!

Then they transition into their thoughts on Training Runs and how each of them approached training runs. Marco was all about learning the terrain and gaining confidence. AJ could dial it in quickly and really only needed one run. And Daron was full gas every run! And then they tell a few stories about the craziest Training Runs they had on World Cup. All great advice juniors can take into their daily training.

Finally, they share their thoughts about how Clubs and Regions can teach Speed to U10/U12/U14s so when they progress to Super-G and DH later, they already LOVE speed and have the skills necessary to excel right away.

The podcast is 45 Minutes long and can be seen exclusively here at SkiRacing.com or you can listen to the Podcast with Spotify or Apple. Just search American Downhiller.

Next week, they will cover the Lauberhorn Downhill in Wengen, the site of Bill Johnson’s first EVER Downhill Win for the Americans back in 1984! It is also where LEW, AJ, Marco and Daron had historic races and will share those stories!

SHOW NOTES:

For Episode #7 of the American Downhiller Podcast, Lew, AJ, Daron and Marco tackle a couple important topics

Start Routines:

-The boys share their stories about close calls in the starting gate of races and how that stress never leaves you.

-Lew talks about studying the times of lifts so he could plan out his start area arrival.

-Daron talks about the importance of having your equipment prepped at the start and shares his routine of getting his equipment perfect.

-Sully shares that his physical prep on race day started before breakfast and ended right before his exploded out of the gate.

-Then the boys share the craziest stories from starting gate on World Cup.

Training Runs:

-Daron always pushed on Training Runs as that was when he learns the most, but also, he was skiing DH and who would not want to go all out!

-Marco looked at Training Runs as more of a learning experience and had the confidence that he could dial it up on Race Day and not worry about training run results.

-AJ talks about how he would ski a bit rounder on training days, but always knew he could “pull the string” on his line on race day.

-Lew tells the story from the 80s when the officials turned a training run into a skier cross at St. Anton.

How to Train Speed for Young Racers:

AJ, Daron and Marco talk about how easy and safe it can be to train speed as a young racer whether at your Club or at the American Downhiller Camp. Speed training does not have to be dangerous, scary or time consuming. It can be safe and easy just on a closed, fenced-in trail.

The podcast ends with a question from a listener about which World Cup Downhill race to go to as a fan in Europe!