At high speeds on a mountain face, the gap between a flawless carve and a dangerous wipeout comes down to a fraction of a second. While physical technique and equipment are important, skiing self-efficacy—the internal belief in one’s capability to execute specific actions on the snow—is the ultimate psychological driver of alpine performance. In an environment shaped by gravity and unpredictable terrain, this specific cognitive construct decides whether a skier commands the slope or simply reacts to it defensively.
Self-efficacy and Perceived Effort
Perceived self-efficacy depends on the effort required. If achieving a correct performance required a minimum effort, our perception of self-efficacy may increase; on the contrary, if it required a greater effort, it tends to decrease. At deciding to improve our technique, we generally have a perceived efficacy that will allow us to initiate the effort involved. There is usually a tendency to assume that the amount of effort expended is related to our own capabilities: the greater the effort, the lesser the ability we perceived, and vice versa. To exert ourselves to the maximum when conditions are optimal and not achieve the proposed objectives would reveal that we have little capacity. This can have adverse consequences for self-efficacy.
At having a high perception of self-efficacy, we feel more confident and this is reflected in our level of motivation, effort and perseverance, especially in overcoming difficult moments. Instead, with low self-perception we may feel insecure and tend to give up when the effort does not produce the expected results. If the purposes to be achieved are not clear, we will not be able to count on the perceived self-efficacy since we would not know how much effort to dedicate and for how long.
The Self-discrepancy theory holds that when we become aware of a deficiency in our skiing competence, we tend to motivate ourselves to learn and reduce the discrepancy between what we know and what we need or want to know or improve. The anxiety generated between these two dimensions drives us to make the required effort (motivation) and change our behavior. If we are effective skiers, we are seen as proactive and self-regulating our behavior. On the other hand, by being ineffective we will be controlled by external forces and emotional reactivity. When we try too hard to achieve a goal, we doubt about our ability to keep trying or to strive even harder. The same is true if we have succeeded at the cost of hard work; we will hesitate before embarking on another goal. In order to achieve lasting effectiveness over time, it is necessary to apply persevering effort both in the achievement of the proposed goals and in the face of adversity.
Perceived Self-efficacy and the Role of Ski Instructors and Coaches
Perceived self-efficacy beliefs also influence ski pros’ thinking about their own ability to inspire learning in learners and athletes. Those with strong self-efficacy will orient them toward achieving attractive and challenging goals relative to each level. These should be attainable and with medium defined deadlines according to the reality of each skier.
Focusing attention on the control of results allows fostering the belief of control over the learning or the training situation. To achieve this, these professionals rely on the following:
- Previous mastery achievements since they create a strong sense of self-efficacy.
- The choice of role models.
- Verbal persuasion through feedback.
- Teaching the interpretation of physiological states that trigger negative emotions.
The skier who maintains relatively consistent achievement will increase his self-efficacy and will be more resistant to occasional failures. When these occur, the instructor or coach will let the learner o athlete know that they must be attributed to improper strategy or insufficient effort, i.e., to modifiable internal factors, preventing him from self-criticizing his lack of ability as it decreases his motivation and his own perceptions of efficacy.
Beliefs meet our need to hold on to certainty about ourselves and the environment around us. Eliminating a belief leaves us facing a crisis-prone void by destabilizing our own security. Gradually replacing a belief with a more functional one is a rational action. When the necessary conditions are met, and through the Socratic method, we can question ourselves the validity of our limiting beliefs. Here, the instructor and coach serve as counselors, proceeding to weaken our beliefs by pointing out the negative effects of the beliefs and positively valuing the newly incorporated beliefs.
If we believe that we are not capable of descending a slope, the instructor who guides us will implement an action plan aimed at gradually coping with the situation, remarking the focus of attention, helping to identify and replace devaluating thoughts, applying effective strategies, or graduating the level of demand. Success should be attributed to internal factors such as practice, training, effort, and persistence so that the learner perceives that the causes of his success are under his own control, keeping future expectations in mind.
It would be desirable for both the instructor and the coach to collaborate not only in achieving the proposed objectives and eventual successes but also in managing the mistakes and possible failures of their learners and athletes by turning them into ‘controlled failures‘, which are those experiences of frustration in which the skier perceives a reasonable self-control of the event without damaging the belief in his own efficacy.
The sense of efficacy also applies to the instructors and coaches themselves. Perceived self-efficacy is the best predictor of their commitment to the profession. The ski professional who is confident in his own ability to teach and transmit the concepts of the ski technique and training increases learners’ and athletes’ sense of efficacy as well as their ability to self-regulate. Conversely, those with little or no belief in efficacy demonstrate less commitment, generate negative academic environments, and tend to damage others’ sense of self-efficacy by generating stress.
The efficacy beliefs of instructors and coaches determine the learning environment. Perceived self-efficacy is an important focus of attention in ski teaching and coaching since it can impede or promote the development of one’s own self-efficacy beliefs in learners and athletes. For example, a novice instructor may have a high sense of self-efficacy in methodically developing a private lesson, but not necessarily in managing a group lesson. Those with high self-efficacy believe that, with self-effort, difficult learners or athletes are teachable, interpreting learning problems as surmountable; whereas those with low self-efficacy are problem-oriented and unconvinced that they can manage the situations they face. They interpret their learners and athletes as having limited capabilities, take this conclusion as an excuse for not being able to help them improve, and believe that they cannot do much if they are not motivated or are negatively influenced by the environment.
General Conclusions on Self-efficacy
The characteristics of a skier with diminished self-efficacy are:
- Considers himself ineffective in coping with challenging situations.
- Orients his attention toward self-evaluation rather than performance.
- Aspirations tend to be lowered.
- Commitment to effort is limited.
- In the face of difficulties, he highlights his deficiencies or the obstacles to overcome.
- Gives up early.
The characteristics of a skier with high self-efficacy are:
- Is motivated by interest and enjoyment of skiing activities.
- Increases personal achievement.
- Tends to reduce stress generated by challenging situations.
- Perceives that he is in control of events not by letting them happen but by anticipating their consequences.
