Article originally published on the now defunct UrbanFreeflow.com. Follow Jussi Tarvainen on Instagram for more insight. Also, check out FormSupreme.com for more great training articles and Instagram.com/formsupreme for more amazing content from Jussi.
Jussi was a professional Snowboarder for 8 years. Having dealt with the greatest fears, struggles and pressures of being a pro athlete he is now dedicating his life to helping committed action sports athletes master their mental game.
“I want more athletes to be able to get access to their full potential and not be cut short from their dreams because they were missing a crucial element to consistent progress.”
Now Jussi is gladly sharing some of his secrets on Urban Freeflow so you can master your mind and excel as Traceur and Freerunner.
Master Your Mind – Even Pros aren’t Fearless
I think it’s important that you are aware of the major misconception that fear is a bad thing and that it disappears once you get to a certain skill level.
Most athletes mistakenly think that pros have it easy. They think that pros aren’t afraid because they’ve passed through the threshold. The truth is that even pros are afraid. And they have the confidence to admit it. They know progress takes effort and requires you to face your fears strategically and continuously.
Even pros aren’t perfect. They are always pushing themselves to the next level. Honing their skills. There’s always the next level. New levels, new devils, new heights, new frights as the saying goes. What separates a pro from an amateur is not just what they do differently but how they THINK DIFFERENTLY.
Your body will not move unless you give a command with your mind. And if you don’t have mental skills and mental techniques to overcome the internal obstacles, you freeze and get stuck on the plateau.Without mental strategies and learning how to harness your fear to your advantage, pushing through to the next level is pretty much impossible. But when you learn how to master your mind and how to take advantage of fear, you’ll be able to consistently push yourself through your limitations and reach the freedom to consistently surf at your full potential.
WHAT’S THE BENEFIT OF FEAR?
So why do we even have fear if it prevents us from making progress?
Fear’s job from an evolutionary perspective is to protect you from the ultimate game over. When fear comes up it’s because it’s wanting to save you from getting injured physically, or mentally, or from dying. Your brain is constantly searching for things that are potentially dangerous to your well being. That’s one of its primary purpose.
When you push your limits, try new tricks, maneuvers, bigger waves or perform in situations where you might hurt yourself, or get laughed at, fear is there to prevent that from happening. Fear is like an internal home security system that alerts you to when he burglars that might harm you are trying to get through the window. Check yourself so you don’t wreck yourself as they say.
FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT (OR FREEZE) RESPONSE
Fear in psychology is often referred as the “Fight-or-flight response”. It is how you respond to stressful situations where you are at the edge of your comfort zone or beyond. Fear was developed through evolution as an internal survival mechanism when we were still hunter gatherers in the wild fighting for our lives. Fear is an emotion and as such more powerful than logical thinking. When fear takes over the rational thinking flies out of the window. Fear clouds your thinking and primes your body to act based on these three primal survival methods.
Three Responses to Fear
1. To Flee
Run away like hell and hope the source that scared you doesn’t catch you and have you as lunch.
In Parkour and Freerunning this is when you can’t make yourself do the trick or move and you decide to give it a go another day. Pros are extremely good at knowing when to quit and come back when they are ready for it.
2. To Freeze
To freeze in place and hope the predator isn’t hungry and disregards you or doesn’t notice you. Freezing often happens either before you’re about to try a too advanced or dangerous move or in mid-air. Mid-air freezing is often a result of going for a move as an encouragement of your friends or because of overconfidence and then getting paralyzed when you face the reality. There are two solutions to this:
One is having a bail out plan, Plan B. Knowing what you’ll do when things go wrong. The other is using advanced visualization methods to prepare and prime your body and mind prior, to respond in a correct manner.
Always be aware of your skill level and risks involved before you go for moves that you feel nervous about or second guess.
3. Fight
To face your fear and fight it. But you better make sure that you are fighting in the same weight class or you’re bound to get eaten.
This is what pro’s are very skilled at. Knowing their skill level and when you are ready to push through the fear to the next level.
______________________________
Check out more mental training articles at: