Why the alpine ski stars handle small plastic balls before the start
This is what it often looks like in the starting area of alpine competitions: athletes let their trainers throw egg-sized balls at each other
Source: zdf.de / gym
There are a few tricks that athletes try to get their brains on track for competition. In the Alpine camp, many used colorful plastic balls. The game is called “Life Kinetics” and is said to have a positive effect on the brain.
Dhe surface has to slide, the edges have to grip and the legs have to ensure that the skis go to where a supposed ideal line runs between the goals. But for skiers, another factor is becoming increasingly important on the fastest route from the mountain to the valley: the head.
Skiers sometimes have to overcome themselves to tumble down slopes at 140 km/h that have fearsome drops or jumps that go up to 60 meters. They also have to memorize a course of 60 poles in the slalom, like a musician memorizes the melody. They often talk about the balance between attack and safety, as the chance of being the first to finish and the danger of not getting there at all. If you’re not focused, you often don’t make it very far.
There are a few tricks athletes try to get their brains on track. More and more colorful balls are being thrown around in front of the starting hut, a few minutes before the athletes push themselves out of the gate. A supervisor throws, the athletes have to catch. The game is called Life Kinetics.
Felix Neureuther was one of the pioneers
The aim is to manage different tasks at the same time. In addition to throwing and catching, you have to cross your legs. There are countless possible variations. An exercise is never carried out until an automation kicks in. The aim is to stimulate the brain and create new synapses. This is important for athletes because it improves their coordination and allows them to react more quickly to external influences.
One of the first to use the method in skiing was former slalom skier Felix Neureuther. The method is now an integral part of the training work, including at the German Ski Association. Olympic starter Simon Jocher explains: “That’s not bad, especially for the slalom, so that you’re fully on the dam in terms of coordination. We have a lot of very good coaches. They all work together. We keep building stuff like this. It is a very diverse training.”
Dürr missed out on an Olympic medal by a hair’s breadth
Ski racer Lena Dürr just missed out on a medal at the Olympic Games that was within reach. As the leader after the first run, the 30-year-old from Munich finished fourth in the slalom. She was only 0.07 seconds short of bronze.
How important mental freshness is is currently being proven in a bitter way for superstar Mikaela Shiffrin. The 26-year-old usually cuts her curves with the precision and safety of a robot. But at the Olympics she has only missed twelve goals so far – giant slalom and slalom combined. She seems completely out of character. Twice she simply slipped, completely inexplicable for what is perhaps the best skier the technical field has ever seen.
But the colorful balls at the start house are not for everyone. For some it is enough to just shake their legs a little, stretch and warm up a little or jump.
Germany’s former biathlon queen Magdalena Neuner, after all a two-time Olympic champion and twelve-time world champion, said when asked whether Life-Kinetik also took place in her preparation: “No, unfortunately not yet. But my grandmother advised me to do it.”
