Workshop-- Building Raceday Confidence Using Imagery & Positive Self-Talk with Coach Putman

Winter Term athletes had the chance to sit down with NYSEF U-16 Coach Kevin Putman at the Olympic Training Center this morning for their first of several workshops on improving their mental game.

Coach Putman has nearly 20 years of coaching experience and has worked extensively with athletes on the FIS and Nor-Am circuits. He has coached athletes who have moved on to win NCAA and National Championship titles as members of the US Ski Team, US Olympic Team, and Division I collegiate programs. In addition to his coaching experience, Kevin recently obtained his Masters Degree in Sport Psychology and has helped numerous athletes to up their mental game.

Coach Putman outlining confidence-- what it is and why it matters in sport. 

During the lecture, Winter Term athletes learned how to create confidence on raceday through anecdotes from Kevin's experiences working with US Ski Team athletes Tommy Biesemeyer and Thomas Vonn on the FIS circuit. We then learned about two great tools to boost performance-- positive self-talk and mental imagery. Kevin played a great clip for us featuring top racers from the Canadian Women's Team in which several athletes showed how they used imagery and postive self-talk in training, in the starthouse, and during a race run.

The highlight of the session was when Coach Putman had all of the athletes practice using mental imagery to recreate their best race run from the current season.

It was a great workshop, and coaches and athletes alike learned some great tools to help boost confidence on raceday.

Weekly educational sessions such as these are a major part of the Winter Term experience, and topics addressed will include further lessons on sport psychology and mental preparation, nutrition, recovery, tuning & wax clincs and more. 

For additional reading, check out the great article Kevin handed out highlighting 20 tips to build confidence. 

Thanks Kevin!