What Lindsey Vonn Can Teach You About High Jumping
Hey Jumpers,
I don't think it would be going out on too much of a limb to say
that many (if not all) of you watched at least part of the Olympics.
Some of you may have even heard of a US skier named Lindsey Vonn...
maybe. I think they mentioned her once or twice ;)
If you saw any of her downhill skiing runs, you may have seen her,
and other skiers, with their eyes closed doing sort of a strange
dance with their hands and upper body.
What were they doing? visualizing.
Skiers are famous for this method of practice. Because they only
have a certain number of training runs and no chance to survey the
course once competition has started, they visualize the course in
their minds to help them prepare as much as possible for the moment
they enter the start gate.
High jumping is very similar. You only want to jump so much during
warm-ups to keep your legs fresh, and once the competition has
started, no more practice. Don't just visualize the jump as one
long sequence, picture each part in your mind going perfectly, just
as you had practiced it all week.
By visualizing you can prep your muscles and mind to be firing on
all cylinders the moment they call your name.
You may look as goofy as a ski racer when you do so, but trust me,
it will help :)
Gregg
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