O-p8 Baz Roberts 11/17/08 9:31 AM Page 8
BAZ ROBERTS - Outdoor Talk
SGB
Sports and Outdoor
www.sgb-sports.com
Game, Mindset & Match
SGB columnist Baz Roberts looks at the power of the mind and how ignorance can
indeed be bliss
F
ast approaching the age of 47, I am more When it was time to land, I looked out over Threlkeld
qualified, knowledgeable and skilled in various village for the school sports field where I had been
disciplines now than when I was younger, even if I advised to land. In and amongst the houses and trees, I
have to admit that I am physically less able (cue spotted the school, then the goal posts and made out the
list of old and new injuries). Arguably, some physical distinctly rectangular pitch. The pitch looked small but
attributes are over-rated and mindset is equally, if not judging sizes on the ground is difficult from high up.
more, important, depending on your game. Some sports, Spiralling down, I continued on my approach, getting
and I would single out paragliding in particular, demand lower and lower, and the pitch still looked small. I
a level of currency to stay reasonably safe. The considered landing in the larger, open fields below me
implication is that after a lay-off enforced by the seasons but chose not to disturb the cows (or their owner). There
or other demands, it is wise to ease back into the sport. are fewer landing options the closer you get to the
This is more than just carefully judging the ground and eventually I was totally committed to putting then told me I should have used the proper, full-sized
meteorological conditions, flying familiar places and down in the pitch. As I was on “finals” I could now see pitch further out from the village along the main road.
undertaking less demanding flights to get reacquainted that the field was bounded by a hazardous stone wall Had I been making an emergency landing on the pitch I
with one’s kit (various toggles, emergency handles,
gadgets and buckles). This is vital – but useless without
re-engaging a risk-taking mindset.
Tennyson said “Those Himalayas of the mind are not
so easily possessed. There’s more than precipice and
storm between you and your Everest”. He was dead right.
If we have good training and the pukka kit, any
adventure sport or discipline would be easy – right? No
so. It’s our brains that get in the way of peak
performance; witness our GB Olympic heroes. There is
little the conditioning coaches can do for them on the
day but the input of their sports psychologists can be
pivotal. I have used many effective sports psychology
concepts in ski teaching to build self belief and to dash
self-limiting beliefs (such as “I can’t ski black runs”). It is
amazing how well people will perform when they think
they are on a red run (which they are normally
competent on) and they are actually on a black run. The
colour of the run is now one less excuse for poor
performance. The bar has been raised; self esteem and
self belief are fortified and we can move on to greater
enjoyment and challenges. laced with barbed wire. An end of terrace house butted may have reacted differently and been more stressed. As it
up against the pitch and I heard my glider wing brush was, I thought it was a “red run” when it was really black
I had my own red run/black run experience recently against it as I cleared the wall and wire and turned (if not off piste!) and it was just a matter of total focus
on a fabulous long paraglide flight on Blencathra in the sharply right. I braked hard and dumped myself and the and doing what I know how to do, without self-doubt
Lake District. It is an intimidating mountain glider firmly down on the ground, intact. Brilliant. It was getting in the way. How satisfying to finish the flying
environment and a “demanding site” according to the the flight of the summer. season with that experience, rather than to begin with it!
guide book. I had never flown this site and initially Baz Roberts
cautiously felt my way around the hill before flying I packed up the wing and hitched a lift back to my car.
higher and “running” the ridge, with walkers below “That was a postage stamp landing field,” I commented Baz is a sponsored athlete with The North Face (UK)
waving up at me. to the pilot that picked me up. He looked confused, and www.bazroberts.com
8 NOVEMBER 2008
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