At BSF, you may notice that coaches encourage skiers to embrace failure. Why? Here's a good introduction by sports psychologist Jim Taylor.

"Fear of failure is the most common cause of performance difficulties for the young racers who come to me for help. Whether they experience low confidence and extreme negativity, pre-competitive anxiety, a preoccupation with results, or severe self-criticism, in most cases, when we dig deep enough, we discover a profound fear of failure at its root. Moreover, fear of failure among young people in America today is at epidemic proportions.

Fear of failure causes racers to experience debilitating anxiety before they race. It causes them to give less than their best effort, not take risks, ski cautiously, and, ultimately, never ski as fast as they can. Why? Because they are terrified of what will happen if they fail!" -Dr. Jim Taylor

Read the full article, "Fear of Failure - Part 1" on Skiracing.com.

"Fear of Total Failure - Part 2"

"The Real Fear in Fear of Failure - Part 3"

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