Skiing
How to find your anchor and use it to your advantage like Marco Odermatt
Skiing phenom Marco Odermatt shows the Mind Set Win podcast around his pre-race routine that’s helped him become the reigning World, Olympic and FIS Overall champion.
In the latest episode of the Mind Set Win podcast we’re provided with some professional tips to help us find and utilise our anchor, something we can tap into at any given moment to find comfort and focus.
As we hear in his interview with host Cédric Dumont ahead of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup returning on October 28-29, visualisation is the anchor that’s helped make Marco Odermatt the man to beat every time he clicks into his skis and takes the starting gate.
Listen to the podcast above and read on for a recap of how to find your anchor at home...
Whether he’s slept well or not the night before, whether the race is delayed due to bad weather, or whether he’s trying to gain time or not lose time, in the 10 minutes before a run the Swiss skier adopts a routine that revolves around his anchor of picturing in his mind what’s about to unfold.
“My only routine is 10 minutes before the start gate,” Odermatt says. “It’s the same every time.
“I do a warm-up, I inspect the run, I visualise it in my mind over and over again. This is important to have in my mind."
It's in the 10 minutes before a race that Odermatt mentally prepares
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer / Red Bull Content Pool
My brain has skied these runs many times, so if I make a mistake, it knows what to do
Episode exercise
As co-host York-Peter Klöppel explains, visualisation is the technique that Odermatt always goes back to when he’s trying to focus, and prepare his mind and body for going “all-in.” Here’s some expert tips and things to remember when discovering your own anchor.
- Ask yourself what routines help you perform at your best on any given day. Maybe it’s a cup of coffee in the morning? Or kissing your family members goodbye as you leave the door?
- Finding your anchor is about practice, patience, and trying out new things. A routine and anchor that works for someone else might not work for you. So as Cédric explains, “you have to test and experiment.”
- Remember, it’s not the duration or type of activity that’s important, but the effect it has on you. What makes you feel comfortable? What makes you feel good?
- Once you’ve identified a strong anchor, you can begin to consciously refer back to it the next time you face some adversity. Use it to ground yourself, return to your comfort zone, and perform your task to the best of your ability.
- Tell Cédric and York what has worked for you via email: podcast@redbull.com
Cédric and York will guide us through the series
© David Martinez/Red Bull
Get ready for the ski season
Few athletes dominated their sport in the fashion of Odermatt in 2023. Alongside World Championship gold in both the Downhill and Giant Slalom disciplines, his 13 race wins and 2042 points was a new FIS World Cup record in men’s competition. Add to that he’s the reigning Olympic champion and it’s no wonder Odermatt takes huge confidence from knowing he “can perform and win” at any given race.
An important contributing factor to his mental strength and consistent high-level performances is the trust in his psychological approach whenever he’s on the piste.
“I’m really not that guy who has so many routines,” the 26-year-old reveals. “I have the same routine 10 minutes before the start but I don’t train the same the day before or eat the same the day before for example.
“I’m open-minded. I like the challenge of trying different things, I think it's important that your mindset isn't too fixed within yourself.”
This way of thinking, of being open-minded and not too fixed within himself, ultimately was put to the test on the biggest stage of all in 2022 in Beijing.
Marco Odermatt flying in in Kitzbühel
© Stefan Voitl/Red Bull Content Pool
In what Odermatt describes as “the most important race I’ve had in my career so far”, he went into the final run of the Giant Slalom leading the standings.
Heavy snow and bad weather stacked everything against him and his run was delayed and delayed due to fog. He could have panicked, but instead Odermatt remained flexible and adapted to his new situation.
He took a nap between the two runs, something he never usually does, and only went to the start gate much later then he would do normally as it was so cold.
“In the starting area I was super calm somehow,” he remembers. “It was ugly weather, everyone was nervous, but I knew I had one goal to win the medal."
I skied all-in, took the risk, and luckily it went well. The relief and emotions were so big
Klöppel sums it up perfectly: “Anything can happen beforehand, but in those last 10 minutes he always finds the routines to unlock the right mindset that enables him to perform at his best on that day.”
Find out more – including simple exercises to do at home – in Mind Set Win.