Freestyle skier Alex Ferreira on ‘praying to Lionel Messi’, eating blueberries, and Hotdog Hans
Visualisation has become a powerful skill in Ferreira’s career.
The Colorado native admits that he used to suffer from crippling fear before competitions.
In a sport that has come with painful consequences – which Ferreira knows only too well given his own lengthy injury list – he decided to bring competition intensity to his training sessions, which better prepared his mind for the big stage.
It’s a mindset that helped him become the first man to put down a halfpipe run consisting solely of doubles, at PyeongChang 2018, and secure back-to-back Crystal Globes in 2023-24, and 2024-25.
“I used to be really, really scared, absolutely terrified out of my mind. And the good thing about that is it means you care a lot and you’re really, really focused and you’re on your toes. The bad thing about that is that it takes a toll on you, and the nerves can eat you alive. Sometimes it doesn’t work out so well,” he continued.
“I was sitting by the pool with one of my best friends and he said something along the lines of, ‘victory lies within preparation’, and I stuck to those words like white on rice. I decided right then to go to the gym, do more trampoline, hit the sauna, take care of my body, start seeing a sports psychologist, never miss a day of training, and I’m gonna visualise all my runs. It changed the course of my life.
“So instead of embracing the nerves each and every time, this off-season training meant that when the time came for these high-pressure pinnacle moments, I was actually really prepared for them and I had seen them, I had visualised them, I had talked about them with my affirmations. I still get nervous. If you’re not nervous, you have a death wish. But I am nervous in a very prepared and healthy way.”
