Physical fitness is associated with better technical performance in adolescent alpine ski racers after controlling for practice time: A retrospective regression analysis

ABSTRACT

In an effort to evaluate the mechanisms underpinning performance in alpine ski racing, researchers have focused on the predictive validity of measures derived from fitness assessments. However, a limitation of this literature is the absence of practice time, since prolonged training may naturally develop specific fitness capacities, making some tests of physical ability less predictive of performance. We examine the relationship between fitness tests, practice, and performance using linear regressions with fitness test data, practice history data, and performance results from adolescent alpine ski racers attending professional development academies in the United States (N = 82). Only aerobic capacity (i.e. 20 m shuttle run) was significantly associated with more practice time. After controlling for practice hours, 5.5–6.5% of variance in ski performance was significantly explained by assessments of lower body power (i.e. standing long jump, triple jump), anaerobic capacity (i.e. 60 s box jump), and upper body strength/endurance (i.e. push-ups). Findings highlight the important role of anaerobic power on alpine ski racing performance, which may be developed outside of regular practice, possibly through weight training or physical maturation. The small variance explained by physical/physiological measures suggests that superior ski performance is likely a product of various skills and characteristics (e.g. technical, tactical, perceptual-cognitive, psychosocial).

KEYWORDS:

• Aerobic
• anaerobic
• jump
• sport
• training

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Keith R. Lohse for his guidance on the statistical modelling procedures, as well as United States Ski and Snowboard (USSS) for their assistance with participant recruitment, data aggregation, and explanation of the fitness tests and scoring procedures.

Disclosure statement

USSS staff only facilitated in the collection of fitness measures, while minimally involved in other measures and study design. USSS had no involvement in the analysis, interpretation, dissemination of findings, or submission decision. There are no other conflicts of interest to declare. All results of this study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. Interested readers can reach out to the corresponding author for a copy of statistical outputs and copies of de-identified data for meta-analytic purposes.