how do you keep ya nerves down

[dirt rider]

hey people

just wondering on all your techniques on how you keep your nerves down befor a race or a drop

i notice i always get them on the shuffle up to a dh track on a race

 

[S.]

Personally I find trembling/shaking/quaking/shivering works well.

 

[Kammy]

think about something totally irrelevent or think about what you are going to do this run

 

[intense rider]

hey
what i do is just to run through a routine and contantly think about the lines u have chosen to take. make thing is just concentrate and block everything else out. nirves are good coz they = adreniline which makes u ride faster

 

[Captain Blake]

Porn is always good.

 

[Kammy]

Porn is always good.

sitting on the roll in ramp for a race

 

[W2ttsy]

i find having a nice joking manner with the other rides works well. they are all shitting themselves too, so a dick joke or two is always welcome.

otherwise stick some music on while youre heading to the venue to clear your mind. this really works if its some nice aggressive music. gets you into an agressive frame of mind instead of a defensive frame of mind. that way you can attack the course instead of feeling affraid..

if youre unsure of a particular section. watch some others hit it, then just keep practicing it till you have it dialled..

also, track down a feb/march copy of amb. there was a huge artical on fear control in there.

hope this helps...

W2ttsy

 

[Kammy]

just thought of this after reading W2ttsy's post. if you are a while away ie. elites are going and your in the under 17's go down the track a little way and watch them fly through it. find that it helps me

 

[Mugger]

I get nervous before the race but once i'm off it's gone and i'm fully focued, though i still do quite shit.

 

[ajay]

have fun at the top of the run, heaps of people just stand there with their bike and get overtaken by nerves, if you're with your mates, just stuff around and have slow motion sword fights! it will take your mind off it and get you in a good mood, all nice and alert for a fast run! remember, racing IS fun, so enjoy it, dont freak out or you wont enjoy it - good luck at the races

 

[DWNHLR01]

Just act like its a normal day of riding with mates!! That's all I do...just enjoy yourself, the more fun you have, the less you will stress.

 

[dirt rider]

how bout in the last 5 seconds befor your off ???

 

[DWNHLR01]

Thats usually when I stress the fuck out and crash in a rock garden and come last

 

[Rik]

i find having a nice joking manner with the other rides works well. they are all shitting themselves too, so a dick joke or two is always welcome

As Ajay said, racing is meant to be fun, so some light chat and jokes all the way up to the final 15 seconds is a good way to clear the mind, then after that it's just a matter of keeping your focus on how you're going to clear each section, and not panicking if you do make errors.

 

[ridemotocross]

sometimes nerves and fear is a good thing, keeps you on the ball during your run or drop (thomas vanderham)

i believe that to the max, but yer, listen to some music or something before your run, i ended up talking to a mate on the phone before i went for my run at thredbo, that helped got me in a good mood (worst run ever but)

 

[demo man]

i am one who suffers from this badly. i, well atleast used to, totaly freak at the start, even before i'm on the way to the top of the track, one time i was ready to puke!

that just shows how nieve i was. i was mo0re interested in what others thought of my riding than what i thought of my riding, i still am to a degree, just not nearly as much. in my total of 5 races ever, i have leart a lot. i now think about, well, nothing really. im a little nervous, but concertrate on my breathing and heart rate, so i start the run relaxed and calm, with a good centre of balance.
last race (Batemans) i actually only arrived about 40 seconds before my run, so that was really rushy, and should have made me gone bezerk, but i calmly put on my helmet and gloves, and then just got into the right(ish) gear and then it was time to go. i did crap that run, but that was for a diferent reason.




so my summary of that huge bit of text about me (prob. mostly crap too) is that everyone will have their own way of doing things. obvious huh? i'd say just try thinking about your body and really focus on it, that way your body will be expecting orders. BUT, like i just said, do what works for you. try something different each race. you never know, simply thinking about which method to try might do the trick for you anyway!


sorry bout the long post, i tend to rable on a bit sometimes...

 

[blt2ride]

Just relax! I never think too much about it...you have to just charge it with confidence. Bad things happen to me when I think for too long about something. If I'm at a race, I pretty much just joke around with my friends before my run and go out and have some fun.

 

[dirt rider]

hey i am one of those guys that gets sleepy befor i do my run

am i the only one here

 

[Hopper]

This is a bit different but in both the races this season I have crashed during my timed run. I do excellent oractice runs and real runs, but just try to hard and end up crashing.... Both crashes had been pretty serious too one concussion and multiple bruised ribs. What should I do, I never had this problem last year but am very noticeably quicker this year while still upright.

 

[oz-freerider]

This is a bit different but in both the races this season I have crashed during my timed run. I do excellent oractice runs and real runs, but just try to hard and end up crashing.... Both crashes had been pretty serious too one concussion and multiple bruised ribs. What should I do, I never had this problem last year but am very noticeably quicker this year while still upright.

well thats just it pushing too hard. The only races i have ever crashed in are the ones i have set out to win. back off a bit try and keep focused.

In practise on your last practise run or 2nd last run try a race pace run try and pedal every where you will in your race and try and hit stuff as hard as you will in your race run just to see what happens.

i find this helps cause i normaly take it a bit easyer in practise than in my race run it's always good to know what might happen

also if you have time hit the line you dont want but you may get caught in just so you dont panic if you do get stuck in them.

hope this helps