Marta Bassino reveals a secret of her routine
Marta Bassino Speaks
After her second place in the giant slalom in Killington, the third World Cup race, Marta Bassino gave a long interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport, in which she also revealed a secret of her routine.
“I owe so much to my dad and mom for the passion they were able to transmit, to me as well as to my brothers. Dad as a coach, he taught us to ski from an early age, convinced of the idea that the sooner you assimilate certain movements the better. So in every sport. Everything was always a game, never any obligation or pressure. I have so many memories of playing in the snow, skiing with my brothers, laughing. Dad and Mom were always there when I first started in the ski club, then in the regional committee, in the ranks of the national team. To them I owe the teaching of perseverance, dedication, commitment, my ability to take the world of snow and racing lightly. It has become my job, but passion and the ability to reset at the end of each result, positive or negative, have always been part of my way of living and facing the routine as an athlete: everything is beautiful but at the base remains my game, my favorite game.”
“Alpine skiing is a special sport because it needs the combination of coordinative and physical qualities expressed at the highest level. You have to work on all expressions of strength: maximal, resistant, explosive knowing how to use them in each of the disciplines practiced. Each turn made at the maximum possible results in high forces that must be resisted and together transformed into speed. This requires a high level of muscle structure and ability to express and manage force. The technical disciplines differ in tracks and speed of movement: special slalom requires more explosive strength than a giant slalom, while in super g-descent you also need endurance strength skills,” Bassino continued.
“The skier must have endurance skills in order to cope with a long and tiring season. He has to be strong, agile, quick in his movements, he has to be able to adapt to the different types of snow and slopes, and to finish he has to have a broad ability in coordination and stability,” she said about the physical qualities a skier needs.
He then revealed a secret of his preparation, “For years I have approached meditation, which is now part of my life and routine. Athletes need to learn to nurture and train the mind as well as the muscles. We don’t always understand the importance of the effects certain techniques can give us. I can’t do without them anymore.”
