Achieving Recovery in Elite Alpine Skiing – with Darrell Gray, Burke Mountain Academy – Ep. 12

Welcome to the Firstbeat Sports Podcast where we talk with coaches and sports scientists to explore the latest in performance monitoring and how it is making a difference in NCAA and pro sports alike. We’re going to connect you with practical advice from the best in the business to help you take your athletes to the next level.

On the line today is Darrell Gray. Darrell is the High Performance Director at Burke Mountain Academy, the leading ski racing academy in the United States.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Spotting and developing Olympic-level athletes
• Balancing training and academics
• Informing coaching through data
• Eight key domains of high performance
• Factoring in recovery into training/competition

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Timestamps:

• Darrell’s background (0:52)
• What it means to be a High-Performance Director (1:45)
• How the sport/industry has changed in 20 years (2:30)
• Dealing with brutal weather conditions (5:30)
• Tailoring programs for high school athletes (6:30)
• How does Alpine Skiing training differ from e.g. Basketball or Football? (7:26)
• Key abilities to develop in Alpine Skiers (9:12)
• Finding the balance between academics and training (10:25)
• Quickfire questions (11:38)
• Driving force behind Burke Academy‘s success (12:28)
• The reason Burke introduced Firstbeat (14:14)
• How Burke uses Firstbeat (15:31)
• Utilizing overnight recovery data (17:20)
• Effective methods to boost athlete recovery (20:05)
• Data-influenced training decisions – examples (22:32)
• Athlete and coach buy-in to Firstbeat (24:26)
• Technology in Alpine Skiing now and in the future (25:35)
• Eight key domains in high performance (27:07)

Thanks for listening. Catch up on all previous Firstbeat Sports Podcast episodes here!