Part II: Eileen Shiffrin offers insights

Insights from Eileen Shiffrin: Developing Skiers, Coaching Techniques, and Personal Choices

Jeff, Eileen, Mikaela and Taylor Shiffrin

This article delves into the fascinating story of Eileen Shiffrin, an accomplished skier and devoted coach. Part I explores Eileen’s skiing origins, while Part II focuses on her experiences as a parent introducing her children to skiing, her insights into the importance of fundamentals, tactics, and mental skills, and her valuable fitness suggestions for aspiring young ski racers. Furthermore, Eileen candidly reflects on her need to compete, sharing lessons she would repeat and choices she would now avoid. The interview concludes with a heartfelt message about personal choices and priorities that goes beyond the scope of skiing.

SRM started by asking her about her strength as a ski coach.

“One of my strengths as a coach is that I like to analyze, learn and teach movement patterns. I carefully look at skiing on the hill, videos, winning runs, etc. I search for movements that matter most. I‘m not always right but a lot of the time, I am. This practice keeps us current concerning technique. I often try and relate the feelings, movements and patterns to another sport that an athlete might be able to connect to. I have found valuable benefits in the sport-to-sport comparisons.”

SRM asked when and how she and Jeff introduced their kids to skiing and racing. 

“After Taylor was born, we had him skiing at two and a half. Then Mikaela was born two and a half years later and we started her skiing at two and a half. Both of them started in our driveway in Vail. They both began with little plastic skis we bought at Safeway. Also, the whole family spent time together at the Nordic Center. At the time, we were more committed to Nordic skiing rather than entirely to alpine skiing.

We got Taylor involved in organized ski racing when he was nine, and, of course, Mikaela had to do everything he did. So, we put Mikaela in a Ski Club Vail program called Carver Core. We started Taylor in the ski club program because a coach saw him skiing; Taylor was a beautiful skier and the coach told us he should join their program. However, before joining the ski club, both kids loved racing Nastar. Nastar courses were where they started running gates.”

Eileen’s first official coaching position was with a U8 group at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail. Ski Racing Media owner Dan Leever was her volunteer assistant; together, they started the first U8 Ski Club Vail group. The group included Mikaela, Alex Leever, Katharine Irwin (who all spent time on the national team), silver medalist Paralympian Thomas Walsh, and Winston Heuga, son of the Olympic bronze medalist Jimmie Heuga. 

She recalls, “We had a great little group, I coached and Dan helped a lot. Together, we kept them going; we mostly free-skied and did drills. We also tried to coach them in courses when we could. Occasionally, we had enough space to set a brush course or be included in some J5 training. I remember telling them to ensure their skis were sharp because we would practice edge setting on Pepi’s Face. It is steep and it was always an exciting part of the day. “

SRM asked Eileen her thoughts on a few different aspects of sports for developing athletes.

Technique

“I started with ‘knees to the skis,’ a saying Jeff taught me. It gets kids to pressure the front of the boot. 

I also loved using a drill I learned from Deb Flanders called the swallow. It was a drill with the poles straight out from their arms or no poles, but we asked the kids to keep their outside arm down and their inside arm up while keeping both arms and their shoulders in a straight line.

Also, I used the garland drill a lot. The drill required the kids to change edges and carve turns while traversing the slope. To do it successfully, the kids must use the separation of their upper and lower bodies to transfer their weight. They also had to use their ankles and knees to make the turns. 

However, the most important thing we worked on was outside ski to outside ski. When they were young, I used a form of the Javelin turn, but we made sure they knew not to counter their hips when they crossed the inside ski over the outside. If done improperly, it can cause skiers to become ‘hippy.’ The way we used it, we did not exaggerate crossing the inside over the outside. I still have Mikaela use a version of it when we want her to find the outside ski. I use any drills that encourage outside ski to the outside ski.” 

Tactical focus

“The most important fundamental is not to pinch the turn at the gate. They need to have room to ski well. Yes, World Cup skiers use a more direct line, but they have amazing timing, skills, feel, and strength and can make good turns in very little distance and space. Young athletes should first learn to give themselves plenty of room to ensure their apex is above and outside the gate. It is the only way they can make a nice clean turn. When they go too straight, they jam their turn below the gate, which is slow and tiring.”

Mental skills

“When Mikaela was around 12 and having a bad day or, worse, a lousy race run, we would go free skiing. I would have her think about very tactile things, something she could feel making a clean turn. We would have her roll her foot over at the top of the arch until her skiing flowed again. Inevitably, she would come out of that free skiing feeling better about her world. 

All racers occasionally get too nervous and don’t ski up to their ability during their race runs. Then they get disappointed. I suggest they should be taken away from the race arena and tell them, let’s go ski. It is a tool I used to replace a mindset of thoughts that will get in their way with an attitude, a feeling they can focus on that will help their skiing.

The first self-help book I ever read was recommended by Kirk Dwyer, The Inner Game of Tennis. I still review it; it is the best and one of my favorite books. It is a gift from Kirk that keeps on giving. He had all his athletes read it. I read it to Mikaela when she was ten, I think, in Mt. Hood when she got a bee sting on her arm and couldn’t ski. Her whole arm was swollen. It was a bit scary. Kirk had assigned the book to my son Taylor and suggested we read it too. It is so good; Mikaela loved it and so did I. It was the beginning of our formal mental training.”

Fitness suggestions

“I suggest body weight, anything. I don’t know why our kids tolerated us, but we had a bike ride with a long uphill section we used when we lived in New Hampshire. Jeff and Taylor would attack it together, attack it hard; it was impressive. Because Taylor was doing it, Mikaela had to do it too. It was always hot and humid. She often had to get off her bike and push it up the steepest section. She was very young, but everyone would get to the top and not complain. We usually would do it in the early evening before dinner; it was a fun family activity. However, I am a proponent of any sport. Doing sports is where our kids develop coordination, agility, strength, and, most importantly, explosive power.  

An interesting thing Mikaela’s soccer coach pointed out to us is that Mikaela had this ability to weave her way through the girls. Several girls would be in front of the goal and she could dribble her way through them and put the ball in the goal. The coach attributed it to her slalom skiing. He said she sees a line that nobody else sees.”

My suggestion for families is to do everything and have fun with it. I suggest introducing the kids to a little bit of grit. Our bike rides were an introduction to learning how to tough it out, but not over the top. Our bike rides were 40 minutes, not too hard but not easy. But we all know that succeeding in sports takes some grit, and starting early, challenging them to see what is possible, gives them a sense of accomplishment. 

The other thing we did as a family was juggle with a soccer ball. We would go for these runs around the block and pass the soccer ball to each other or juggle it because they were trying to improve their soccer skills. Those are the kinds of things we did, trying to combine anything. I am confident skiing is beneficial for other sports and other sports are helpful for skiing; water skiing and hockey are great for it.” 

Approach to competition

“It’s almost taboo to be driven or considered ambitious. Someone said that about me concerning Mikaela’s career. At the time, I felt like it was an insult. I’ve always been a competitive person when it comes to sports. Maybe I was born that way; I was around my brother growing up and was very athletic. I just grew up that way. 

That was my strength. I love moving, doing stuff, doing handsprings, gymnastics, running, sprinting, and anything involving movement. But I was competitive. I always felt like I could and should be able to do it better than everybody else. Yeah, of course, that wasn’t true. But I was competitive no matter what sport we were playing. And that carried over into adulthood, which was just my raw talent. Maybe it’s something other than talent. I do compete well but don’t have a process to share.”

What would you do over again?

“One of the best things I did with our young group was to prevent them from getting bored on the chairlift rides. We would bring games; I brought games like Brain Quest cards and books to read when they were even younger. When they were six or seven, I would have a set of Brain Quest cards and so would Dan Leever. We’d turned it into a little game. We gave them points or something. We would ask questions on the way up or at the top of the courses on race day. At the kids’ races, there are so many of them and they’re waiting forever to take their turn. I’d bring games to keep them engaged in their day.

Our group would play card games while waiting their turn, having fun with each other without spending much energy. We would have them sit down and they’d play cards, or they’d do something that kept them from getting into mischief with the other kids. Standing around bored is a recipe for disaster and takes away from potential fun time. There often wasn’t enough time to eat properly, so I always ensured they had something to eat. Back then, it was those little Snickers bars or something like that. I filled  their time with fun things to do and kept them fed.” 

What would you do differently?

“I wouldn’t over-coach and talk too much. Kids don’t want to stand still and they learn more visually. Most people learn visually. They don’t have the patience to stand there and listen to people talk a lot. So you have to have a concise message. Figure it out and get right to the point. Then be able to do a demonstration and let them do it. Let them ski. Just let them ski and keep moving. I suggest having them in the gates only some of the time. Go free ski. Free skiing is so crucial at younger ages. Heck, it’s essential at Mikaela’s age; she appreciates free skiing. It’s how she makes some of the biggest improvements in her skiing.

However, Mikaela was unique in her ability to work on several problems or think about a few things simultaneously. We would tell her to fix this and that and she would do it. However, most kids can’t do that. I know plenty of research has shown it is tough for the brain to do that. I can’t think of more than one thing at a time. But I have surely given her four or five things to think about and that’s just dumb; that’s not a good coaching strategy. So, I wouldn’t have athletes focus on more than one thing during a run. But sometimes, I did; remember to keep your hand up and then do this and that. I have gotten better.” 

Off-topic 

After accomplishing the article’s objective, we had a tangent conversation that may be interesting and valuable. We digressed when we talked about the different natures of individuals and how that determines what they prioritize. For 40 years of my life, I was a coach at all levels. I always realized that many racers want to be the best, but only some want to become the best. In other words, only some have the priorities and desire to do the work needed to become truly elite. It is not a virtue but rather a simple reality that team Shiffrin prioritizes being their best athletically. 

This led us to explore aspects that commonly captivate young adults but only piqued Mikaela’s interest much later than usual. One such example is alcohol consumption. Alcohol has long been a prominent feature of society, with many people enjoying it. However, Eileen shared that it held no appeal for Mikaela during her younger years. Notably, the word ‘sacrifice’ was never used, just a choice. 

She stated that Mikaela would enjoy going to parties but would come home early and sober. Remember, many of the parties she attended differed from what I have been invited to, meaning I am very much speculating. Fundraisers with the most influential people in the sport, events with a great party atmosphere, and consider the ESPY awards and Olympic winner parties. I can only imagine. Yet it wasn’t until after her father passed away in February 2020 that she began to partake. Again, her alcohol habits are only her business.

However, Mikaela Shiffrin, the self-described introvert, permitted us to report this because she wants other kids who are not inclined to drink alcohol when they are younger to know that it is okay to be different. She respects their choice to be outside the social norm. Again, there is no judgment or virtue attached, just recognizing that she understands the challenges of having unique priorities. If it’s not your priority, it’s okay to be different. Don’t be afraid to be true to yourself. 

SRM would like to express gratitude to Eileen Shiffrin for generously sharing her thoughts and experiences with our readers. She acknowledges that not everyone may agree with her, but she is comfortable staying true to herself. With her extensive involvement at every level of the sport, she is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished and knowledgeable alpine ski coaches in history, and it was a privilege to engage in this conversation.