It's common for us to seek perfection in what we do, and we should always reach to be our best, but at what point does this begin to hurt us in competition?
My methods always lean towards seeking perfection in training, aiming for the perfect technique at a slower speed in order to build the movements in the motor memory (this is different to muscle memory). We can then build speed naturally.
It has been researched that a movement takes thirty hours to form as a habit, so the more you ride the techniques in the correct way at a slower speed using your conscious mind, the movement will be inputted into your 'computer', this will become a natural ‘auto pilot’ and you wont have to think about this in a race situation. This is also a good reason to make sure when riding during practice, you aren’t inputting the wrong habits and movements!
So when should we let go of perfectionism?
The answer is simple! you should let go of perfectionism when you race! you should be perfect in your preparation and in the process but when it comes to the race itself sometimes you have to let go and win ugly, as Dr Cohn always said in my mindset audios. Trust in your training and the movements you have programmed during training, and if you haven’t trained these things and they are not in your ‘computer’ then come race time it really is too late to start thinking about what you should be doing.
There are three main areas of the brain that we operate from, and they all work at different speeds, our human part ‘frontal lobe’ where our conscious thoughts come from operates twenty times slower than our computer ‘Parietal’, and is five times slower than the chimp ‘limbic’ part of the brain which is where our emotions come from. So it is so important to train in the right way and get the computer loaded with all the movements and habits you will need during a race, then you will be able to trust your auto pilot movements and react way faster and with ease.
The only things we should be thinking about during a race are our soft skills i.e. line choice and passing choices. Our core skills should be well learnt and well practiced. Having less to think about and making less decisions all helps with decision/mental fatigue on the day.
Riders who find the ‘zone’ are operating from the computer ‘parietal’ and are making very few decisions from the frontal lobe. The zone is a state of mind that we enter where we are totally in the moment, and because we are reacting twenty times faster it almost feels like slow motion or that it is effortless to be going faster, our speed perception changes!
When a racer is seeking perfectionism during a race it is often the case that they are operating from the frontal lobe and this is causing their reactions to be twenty times slower and not finding the ‘flow’. It also allows doubt to set in and then the emotional irrational side kicks in. I could go into greater depth in this area with brain waves but that is another subject altogether, but something the moto mind Protégé’s are beginning to learn.
The mind is very complex but understanding the parts that make a difference can be simplified with the right learning and we can help you find explanations to what is effecting your performance and unlock that potential inside.
Thanks for taking the time to read, if you found this interesting please share with anyone you feel this may help and contact us if you are wanting to learn more.
Gary
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