rj24
November 3, 2009, 1:32pm
57
First off, I am a former World Cup team member and can offer you a lot of insight into the sport. My advice to you is not to worry about numbers, especially lift numbers. Too many guys on the team get bogged down on who does what in the weight room or on the track, but when it comes down to it all that matters is what happens on the ice at the top of the hill. The reason for the combine is that the USOC requires objective criteria for determining an athletes potential for success in order to be funded to stay in the training center. If you do not meet the criteria it doesn’t mean you can’t participate - you’ll just have to pay to stay at the training center. They’ll get splits at 15m, 30m, 45m, and 60m and extract a flying 30m, broad jump, shot scoop throw, back squat and clean. The only thing anyone will ever mention is the 30m. But if you’re interested in stats there are several guys on the current roster with 10.5x FAT 100m, sub 21 200m, and 40+ inch verticals (all weighing between 210-225lbs). But by the same token there are successful pushers who can’t break 11sec. The nice thing about trying out right after the Olympics is that it will be a very relaxed atmosphere and a lot of the veterans will be retiring or taking time off. This gives you a much better shot at landing on a quality sled. Sadly, politics also plays a part in team selection (as it does everywhere), so staying on a drivers good side is always a good thing. The best way to do this is to always help out (i.e. moving sleds) and push whenever possible. The more you push the better you’ll get, pretty simple, and don’t hold back even in practice. I know that goes against training theory, but somebody is always looking at push times in practice and you can make a name for yourself there. One last piece of advice - save some money. Unless you can grab a spot on USA I or II, you’ll be paying your own way all season. And during team trials everybody pays their own way for flights to and from Lake Placid and Park City. Sponsorships are next to impossible to come by as a pusher, especially if you’re not on a top team and in an Olympic year. Unfortunately, a lot of guys (myself included) have to quit the sport for financial reasons. Hope this doesn’t scare you away, it’s just some things that I learned over the years that would have been nice to know from start.
Thank you very much. This is helpful.
I won’t worry too much about lift numbers once I max out the charts. This should be in a few months, so after that I’ll have a while to focus on my sprint speed. And if the only thing they care about is the 30M, I’m golden. I don’t have the structure for top speed, but I can run a damn fast 30M. It does sound like I’ll have some competition though.
Thanks for the rest of the advice too. I will take it all to heart.