Rod Davis
Doing no wrong
It’s a fact: there are regattas where you can do no wrong. As if you had the Midas touch and every- thing turns to gold. Confidence breeds confidence, so once you are on a roll you tend to keep it rumbling. This rumble can be so strong that when you get a less than perfect start you end up being pushed
the way you didn’t want to go, and finally look under the boom and say ‘hello hello, this is pretty nice!’ It seems like such a simple game at this point, not sure why others
struggle with it! Of course, you can have regattas that are the other end of the
scale, where you can do no right. Good solid moves that should work just don’t. Sometimes to the point where you wonder if you are any good at this sport at all. It could be alignment of the stars, biorhythms, what you had for
breakfast – who knows? But it happens, both ways. What if you could hedge your bets? What if you could make it less random and set the environment to enhance your odds of winning the Midas touch? Sled, in the last TP52 regatta of the year, won six races out of nine,
and five of them on the trot at the end. Unheard of in the 52 series. That is what made me start thinking, how can that be? How can we repeat it? There is no one magic trick that will ensure a great performance,
but there are some things you can do to increase your chances. First, get control of expectations. That is a very hard thing to do
sometimes, more like most times! Often you are not in control of the expectations though others can be. Team mates, supporters, owners or the public can place the pressure, thus the weight of expectations, on your shoulders. That weight can switch a team from the golden touch to lead fingers. There are a few tricks that might help with expectations: Process, not scoreboard Don’t think about your performance as race finishes or the final score; think of performance in terms of the
34 SEAHORSE
execution of how you raced your boat. You know people say you need to visualise yourself crossing the
finish line first, or standing on the podium – that is bullshit. Don’t do that. It all reminds me of a true story I have used many times in coach- ing. It goes like this: years ago, at the American Football Super Bowl, the team heavily favoured to win lost, and lost badly. They interviewed the losing (bummed) quarterback, asking what
happened? How could you lose when everyone thought you would win? He responded, ‘We came here thinking about winning the Super Bowl, they came here thinking about playing football.’ I use this quote to illustrate: ‘leave the dreams and goal on the dock, it’s show time’. Time to play the game. I have changed my mind, next time you want to ‘visualise’, just
do it. But visualise doing your job perfectly. What it takes to be perfect, the little details that mean an inch gained here or there. Do it over and over until you have it ingrained in your mind. That gets you a whole lot closer to standing on the podium than dreaming about it… or visions of glory. Get the basics of sail boat racing right firstStarting, speed, tactics
and no f*#K ups. Get the basics right. Don’t worry about the little stuff until you have the basics fully covered. That fancy new jib sheet system won’t overcome bad starts. Fancy last second spinnaker or A-sail drops don’t mean Jack if you leave one in the water every so often. Basics mean no crew work disasters first, as in ever, then you can move towards the tricky stuff. Yes, I know it all adds up, but only after you have the basics down
pat will the ‘fluff on the side’ make any difference what-so-ever. Set the stage for success A list of +/- that lead to a good, bad
or ugly regatta. l Thinking about the regatta as a whole too much; you just work yourself into a lather. Think the sailing part not distractions. l Expectations: in terms of results. l Being well prepared, and knowing that you are. l Clear the decks: get your other work done and don’t be
MAX RANCHI
NICO MARTINEZ
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122
