North Shore Boardriders

BE MOVED

The challenge everyone faces is to be MOVED, and maintain that movement, that momentum, towards what we want.
You know about the concept called ‘the comfort zone’ – and naturally when you’re comfortable, you usually stay right where you are! Inertia is the killer of goals and dreams, and all champions know how to get moved, and how to keep themselves moving. So how do we get moved? More importantly, what does it take to move YOU?

There are really only two ways to get someone moving – either through desperation, or by inspiration. The situation has to either get SO BAD that the pain of it moves them to change – or, by seeing someone else achieve something, they become inspired with a powerful vision that’s strong enough to motivate them to action.

Unfortunately, we often only move when we ‘have to’ – when someone else or some external factor forces the change upon us …..and this usually involves breaking through a pain threshold. This is the desperation approach, and it would be OK except most people have their pain threshold set way too high. Things have to get really bad before they do anything!

Champions on the other hand have high standards i.e. they have a low ‘pain’ threshold – a low tolerance for less than their best. They are uncomfortable with a poor performance, or a fall in their fitness level, or income, or whatever….. and because of this discomfort, they are moved to action. Champions are also inspired by their clearly defined dreams and goals, and these are appealing and powerful enough to provide the drive, the motivation, the movement to push through the inevitable inertia we all feel in the ‘comfort zone’.
Use the inspiration of others’ achievements to spur you on – remember the athletes demonstrating their commitment and training at the Commonwealth Games this year. The final important aspect that all champions have going for them is their coach ….someone to be accountable to. Think about times in your life when you had some of your greatest achievements (so far)….weren’t they when you were accountable to someone else, be it a coach, teacher, friend or partner etc? Many people will do for others what they won’t do for themselves. We do best when we have someone else to answer to – someone who can encourage us…and also get on our case if we let our standards fall!

If you are falling off the pace, slipping in the rankings, or if your performances aren’t what they used to be, if you’ve lost your motivation and drive…… then consider the following 4 steps to get moving again………

1. Get upset with your current situation/performance levels/ fitness/income/ whatever. If you’ve put on weight, if you’ve slacked off on your routine, if your training lately hasn’t been what it should…then get dissatisfied!! Be honest with yourself…..stop pretending that ‘its OK’. It’s not OK – you CAN do better. Stop being ‘comfortable’ – comfortable is the killer of peak performance.

2. Raise your standards. Reduce your pain threshold…..i.e. don’t settle for less than you know you can do. Don’t tolerate behaviours/ performance levels/ income/ whatever that are below your new high standards. Use this pain to drive you to action.

3. Get inspired by others’ example. There are many mentors and role models out there if you look around – use the athletes at the Commonwealth Games to inspire you to reach your own qualifying standard.. Create a personal dream or goal that is inspiring, and which will continually empower your daily actions.

4. Find someone to be accountable to. Ask them to push you, to stretch your boundaries this year, and enjoy being uncomfortable, enjoy being pushed outside the comfort zone on a regular basis.

Hope this helps you to achieve more than before.

Mind Games

Don’t Let Your Nerves Get the Best of You

As a competitor you have probably experienced nervousness. Maybe it was prior to your comp, during heavy conditions or even during your heat. Think about how you felt at the time. What effect did the nervousness have on your performance? For many athletes, the inability to control or manage nervousness leads to a decrease in performance. However, managing nervousness is a skill that can be learned. Here is some good information about nervousness and specific strategies you can practice to help keep things under control.

Nervousness – It’s not all that bad

People think being nervous is a bad thing, when in fact, some nervousness can enhance performance. You may recall some beneficial effects of pre-comp nervousness such as: increased focus, physical activation (feeling pumped), or slight doubts so as to not be overconfident. So instead of eliminating nervousness, you should try to manage nervousness so it is an asset to performance instead of a liability.

Nervousness – It manifests in two distinct ways

Nervousness can be experienced in one of two ways: physically (somatic) or mentally (cognitive). It is important to distinguish which one is dominant when attempting to control your nerves. Symptoms of physical nervousness include increased heart rate, tight muscles, butterflies and jitteriness. Symptoms of mental nervousness include worry, doubts, and racing or negative thoughts. It is easy to see how, if left uncontrolled, these symptoms can have an adverse effect on performance. You should ask yourself – What types of pre-competition nerves bother you? What symptoms are dominant?

Targeting the symptoms

While you may experience both types of nervousness it usually occurs that one type is more prevalent or has a more detrimental effect on performance. It is these symptoms that need to be targeted with anxiety management tools. Following here are two strategies – one that targets physical nervousness and the other that targets mental nervousness.

Managing Physical Nervousness with Diaphragmatic Breathing

• Proper breathing can be used to calm the body by providing fresh oxygen to the working muscles and relaxing the sympathetic nervous system. The secret is to take air deep into the lungs activating the diaphragm as opposed to only into the upper chest, which is what one does when typically anxious.

• Here are some steps to learning effective Diaphragm or ‘Belly’ Breathing.
1. Lay on your back with one hand resting on your stomach just below your belly button
2. Slowly take in a deep breath.
3. Concentrate on bringing the air deep into your lungs. Your stomach should expand or rise as you inhale – and the hand that is on your belly should also rise.
4. Slowly exhale – squeeze the muscles in your abdomen to get all the air out.
5. Now, bring some rhythm into your breathing by inhaling and exhaling using number counts.
6. IN 1-2-3….HOLD 1-2-3…..OUT 1-2-3……repeat this several times.
7. Try to be aware of the tension leaving your body as you exhale.
• With practice you will be able to use this strategy to control the physical symptoms of nervousness before or even during a competition.
• A good idea is to incorporate this practice during the cool down stretching phase of your workout when you are more physically in tune with your body.

Managing Mental Nervousness by using Positive Self-talk

• Worry and doubts about your ability are normal. The key point is to not focus on the worry but to use more productive thinking that will enhance your performance instead.
• Identify the productive thinking to redirect your focus to instead of worrying about being worried. Some things you can identify may include:
 Performance Reminders: These include instructional talk related to the process of performance such as “aggressive start”, “work from the core”, “keep the tempo”, and other technique related cues.
 Confidence Builders: Talk that reminds you of your preparation and readiness such as “you’ve trained hard for this”, “you didn’t miss a practice”, “your test heats are better than ever”, etc.
 Emotional Words: Self-talk that gets you emotionally focused such as “go for it”, “be strong”, and “this is yours”.
• Managing self-talk has a twofold purpose – it will get you thinking more productively and positively, and in doing so, will leave no room for you to worry about your worry. Plan your self-talk in advance so you know how and when to shift your thinking.
• Again during the cool-down stretching phase of a training session is a good time to practice positive self talk that you can use to control your pre competition thoughts.
Learning to manage your nerves can help you to achieve better performances during competition. So go on and practice these simple yet effective strategies to control your anxiety and achieve your peak performance.

By Ava Kerr B.Sc (Sport & Ex)