Your Problem Could Be Mental
The drawbridge effect
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In this article, jumps will be used as a point of reference, since those are typically the hardest tricks we do, and where fear and confidence is tested. But you could apply it to any dangerous trick or situation, say skiing or skating down a very steep hill, doing a slide at high speed, dropping off a wall onto a bank, skating up a steep bank, and numerous other tricks that verge on the dangerous.
I first started thinking about the drawbridge effect when I was studying figure skating jumps, which are done at high speed and at a good height, and are very complex and technical while in the air. It takes total committment and concentration to make the harder jumps. I have since used this theory with inline skating, surfing, and skateboarding. With skateboarding there's the added danger of pavement. I had already experienced this danger because I adapted most of my figure skating jumps to in line skates, so the jumps had to be performed at high speed and good height over pavement. Lately I've been working on skateboarding jumps, so I've had to think about this again from a new perspective.
When performing hard and dangerous tricks, there's a drawbridge effect, where at first it seems impossible, like an open bridge across a river you can't get past. You keep trying and failing, then suddenly you hit it, and after that the difficulty level drops greatly, as if a drawbridge had been lowered. This same drawbridge effect I find in situations where fear and difficulty both are to be dealt with. At first some daring feat you're about to do scares you to death. You just cant pull it off. You're approaching the gorge of fear and difficulty, and the bridge is out. There's no getting past it. All of a sudden you make it once, and then there's a bridge over it. It seems easy, and you wonder why it ever seemed so hard.
What I find strange is not that there's a learning curve, but why there's a gap at the top, and why it closes so suddenly and permanently. First this gap is impassable, and some skaters are never going to make it past that one trick. But if you make it, the gap is closed up. What was hard suddenly becomes easy. It's happened to me so many times that I was looking for something to do, like an acid drop say, or skiing or skating something really steep, or a jump I was working on, and I couldn't stand it, it was so scary. Then I kind of worked through it and made it once. All of a sudden it seemed easy, and in fact, boring. Next thing you know I was off looking for something else to do, that gorge bridged.
The drawbridge effect stems from the battle for confidence, and the problem that confidence is not deserved if you have not yet succeeded. When you pretty much know you can do something, but you haven't proven that you can, there is reason enough for your mind to totally mess with you, and rob your confidence. Some mental techniques can help overcome that robbery, and I'll get to that later. First I think it's important to get your sports trick making technique improved, as technique is usually the better part of overcoming lack of confidence.
Fear is intertwined with technique. If you've bombed a hill a thousand times and you can carve, slide, and scrape off speed, you're not afraid, because you have the skill. If you're a novice you're in over your head if you're going to bomb a hill with no speed control skills.
Is the trick just above your level, or way above it?
First check your level and try to figure out if you're not just jumping levels. No mental technique can prepare you if you're trying something two levels above your current ability. You have to be on the verge of success, attempting to do something that is just above your current level. If you're skiing blue level, you want to go try to ski a black. Not a double black diamond. If you're trying something two levels above your ability, you are just screwing around, in my opinion. Back off. Not all the way to below your current level, but just above it.
Don't overdo the pep talk
Some coaches are way into the mind over matter theory, and think if you get all pumped up you can do something that you didn't think you could do. I am in the school of thinking that getting pumped up with the pep talk is pretty counterproductive. It's not going to make a blue square skiier into a double black diamond skiier no matter how much a coach yells "go for it", nor can that skiier pep talk himself into doing something above his ability. If you want to use pep talk, like "I'm gonna make it", you must put limitations on it. I know some people build confidence that way. Fine. Just shut up with the pep talk and think technique when it gets critical. You can give yourself a pep talk while you're standing there before you've pushed off, but don't ever, ever, pep talk while in the middle of a jump. Talking to yourself is very powerful and must not be frittered away. It's ok to talk to yourself to build confidence, but remember that it also blows your concentration.
Personally, before a trick I prefer to not pep talk myself, and I use techniques of deep breathing, hearing my surroundings, and clearing my mind to build confidence. I believe the best confidence will not come from words, it should just exist as a force in your mind, and all talking to yourself should be prioritized for technique first.
During the trick I use my method of giving myself cues. This is descibed in the "story" section of the article on practice.
Section One: Prepare technically
Reverse break down a trick end, middle, beginning
If you have read my practice article and use my methods, you should already have an easier time getting past drawbridges.
One way I prepare for a difficult jump trick is to back up over the three parts, beginning, middle and end, starting from the end. I will find a way to practice the landing, or I will do another trick that is very similar to the landing. If there's a spot where I will land, like a ramp or bank, then I'll practice-land right there. Then I will practice the middle without the beginning, say by grabbing my board and jumping off the ground up onto the board, or some easy version of the jump that eliminates the hard takeoff. Then I'll practice the takeoff. Once I've practiced the takeoff, flight, and landing, all separately, then I will try to put them together.
Of course, breaking down a trick is no substitute for doing it all at once. You'll never do something until you actually do it, and that's the challenge of the drawbridge effect. But practicing all the things that you would encounter in doing a trick should improve your chances of making it, and should give you enough confidence to give it a good try when it's time to commit to the big attempt.
Progress and regress your speed and height
This is another technique from my practice pages, and it will help you get over drawbridges. I find that there's some harsh reality in attempting hard jumps, like a Catch 22 maybe. Say you're doing a rotating jump. You need extra speed and height to make a whole rotation in the air, or a double rotation, but there's no way to practice it without actually doing it. You need so much time in the air, that it has to be a huge jump, but you cant do a huge jump because it's too risky if you dont make it. Catch 22; you need the experience to get the job but you cant get a job without experience. The best solution is to go up in speed and height, practice it roughly, and then back off and try to hit it just right. You progress then regress your speed, and height. You're going big, looking for a miss, but an in control miss. So you go fast and way up, get the rotation (or flip or whatever you're doing in the middle) done, and come down and sort of bail or do a very dirty landing. Then you back off, or regress, meaning you go less big; fast but not as fast, high but not as high. In this regressed jump, you should have the experience of having done a big sloppy jump almost sucessfully to give you the confidence. You should have a good chance of landing the smaller big jump successfully.
Beware of dares: you're not a stuntman
This is all assuming the trick is doable by working up to it, and not just a dare that you just go for impulsively. The two above techniques should work for most jumps, whether you're going over an object, onto a target, onto a bank, over a gap, off a ledge, and so forth. The situation must allow you to work on the landing first. Likewise it should be possible to safely make a dirty attempt and bail and go back and clean it up. Now, this is not going to work for a "must make" or dare situation, like a jump where the landing area is very sketchy or narrow. Or where the gap is full of spikes, barbed wire, or piranhas. Some situations that pro skateboarders do are in the realm of stunts, where you have to make it on the first try or eat it badly. I don't condone doing these kinds of stunts. I will say, that the same techniques would probably be used by Hollywood stuntmen, tightrope walkers, disciples of Evel Knievel, Jackass TV, and other professional nuts. Stuntmen will work up to harder stunts, and will test landings and so forth. They also use stunt practice gear not available to the average skateboarder, like safety nets, suspension wires, and even swimming pools to test landings. If you're interested in really hard stunts, that's what you have to get into.
At this point you're technically ready for a big effort, and you can give it a good shot. Now it's time to try some mental preparation.
Section Two: Prepare your mind
This section is meant to be for skaters with normal fear. That means you are not foolish and willing to do anything, and you're not super timid and prefer not to deal with speed or jumping. It's for normal skateboarders who are daring, but encounter normal fear when trying to reach a new level. It's natural, and happens to everyone. For the timid, I would say you can still push your level. Just limit that level pushing to tricks where you absolutely can't get hurt. And wear pads and protective gear. For fools, there's nothing I can do for you, except to advise you to make sure your insurance is paid up.
At some point you have the skills, yet you still can't do something you know you should be able to do. You've hit the drawbridge effect, and these methods I am laying out are now appropriate for you.
Realize that more speed and height makes a trick easier as well as scarier
Get it in your mind that the extra speed and height has about as good a chance of helping you as it does of scaring you into bailing out or missing. I think that many times a big effort at speed will make it so much easier to do a trick that some mistakes in technique can be tolerated. The extra air time from the height and stability from the speed usually lends a hand. Try to be aware that the extra effort can only help you. This should be part of your self deception in the first big attempt. See if you can focus on the help that the extra speed/height will give you, and maybe you'll be less rattled by it.
Designate the right place in your mind for failure
Before you do this, you have to have practiced an escape. Say if you think you're likely to fall on an attempt, then, practice that fall. Now you're ready for what might happen in the event of failure.
There's a problem with preparing for failure, and that is the thought of that failure can screw you up. You need to go about preparing to fail by practicing falling, but when the time comes you have to put that bailout where it belongs. What I mean is, it's nice to know how to fall and be ready to take a fall, but thinking about falling too much is going to hinder you. You can't put the thought of failure up front, yet that thought has to be there. You need your fear to get you out of trouble, so you can't block it out completely. That would be stupid.
What you do is to put your fear and escape plan right where it belongs, in the corner of your mind, ready to grab in an instant. The knowledge that you've practiced your escape is what gives you the assurance that it's ok to really go for it. The fear in the background is the trigger that will get your escape in action if you need it. What you put up front in your mind, is the confidence you have that you've done everything to prepare and all you need to do is to give it a good shot.
Don't blow up when you go big
When you "go big" is when you apply more speed and force to an attempt. One problem when you go big is that you often lose your mind. You get caught up in "going for it", taste the thrill of the speed and height, and you blow up. "Go for it" can be kind of a bad attitude if it's all about being pumped up and not about execution. Try to make the trick big, but still keep calm, and keep your mind on what you're doing. Going big should give you more time to think. Don't waste that time not thinking. Think beginning-middle-end, or visualize them, while you're doing it.
I guess there's some irony in this. There's nothing like the first landing of a big jump. But if I ever was thrilled by a first jump, I probably didn't land it. The appropriate time to get caught up in the thrill, and just enjoy the sensation, would be on about your fifth success, when you're starting to get in the groove. Trouble is, the thrill may be gone by then! All I can say is, for that first attempt, some small part of your emotions should be allowed to enjoy the thrill of the first big attempt. But keep it small. I think for the success of the mission, you have to play it down, suppress it a bit. You have to learn to postpone your thirst for thrills until a few good, solid, big, complete tries have been attained. I've trained myself to enjoy the sensation of doing a jump big, fast, and hanging, about ten tries into a run. There's a tradeoff, but I think it's worth sacrificing the thrill of the first try for increased odds of making it.
Dont let success cloud the second try
Make the second try good. This is important, and tough. Making a successful trick fills you with emotion, and often the second try is a miss. Try to focus. With one successful attempt made, you are at a tremendous advantage. You now have confidence and don't need to fool yourself that it can be done, for it has been done. Try to make the second try as big as the first, but cleaner.
Pretend you're "used to" the feeling, first try
This is something to think about. Success in pulling off a maneuver means the drawbridge is suddenly closed, and it feels comfortable. Before success it felt uncomforable and unknown. The only difference is the way you feel about it inside. Maybe there's some way to try on that feeling before you've ever worn it. Maybe it's possible to outsmart the unknown.
Perhaps there is a way to feel used to a trick before you've ever done it right. You can try to get comfortable with the idea of just trying it. Or envision what it's likely to feel like if it goes well. Then try to do it, step into the unknown, but with an attitude of feeling used to it. This doesn't mean you get overconfident, or just boldly launch with no fear. It's more of a sense of trying to anticipate the future, of how you would feel had you already done this trick a few times. It's not daring, or confident, it's more ordinary, just accustomed to the sensation.
It's hard to feel accustomed to doing something you've never done. It's a sort of mental game. It won't always work, of course, but it's worth a try. I believe that is how very spontaneous athletes get through spur of the moment moves. They feel "why shouldn't this work? I'm gonna see." You may not be a spontaneous genius athlete, but still, why should you feel as if something new won't work? Treat it as if it will work. Try not to act too surprised when it does work. That can throw you off, after a success.
Here is a recap of the techniques to get you over a difficult hump:
Use a sequence of cues while executing the trick. Think in short verbal cues, or visualize sequential image cues.
Back up to it. Practice from end, middle, to beginning. Practice the landing alone.
Vary the speed and height. Progress then regress. Practice it slow and small, then big, high, and rough. You can blow it on the big attempt, just to get the feel. Then slow down and make it smaller, and try to clean it up.
Utilize your fear, but put it in the corner of your mind. Or think of it this way: suppress your fear, but keep it handy.
Plan and practice your escape, your bailout. Don't think too much about bailing, just know you can do it.
When you add the big effort, don't explode. Keep your mind on the technique. Go big but don't lose concentration.
The second successful attempt should be your best, but it often isn't. Make the second try count.
Try to anticipate what the first successful attempt will feel like should it succeed. Carry that feeling into your first attempt so it won't feel like jumping into the unknown.
