MX Winter Training: Look in the mirror
Winter is coming. The titles have been divided, the battle has been fought to the end. But what do we do with the coming period without competitions?
Now a period of complete rest is approaching for most motocross riders, the winter break. But how do you survive this period? Everyone has heard it said: “You win the championship in the winter” or “I had a good/bad winter”. What do they want to say with that? Is it true that you can win a championship in the winter?
Of course you can't win an outdoor championship in the winter. A motocross race or championship must always be ridden. There are numerous factors that can throw a spanner in the works and cause you to miss out on the opportunity to win a title, such as an injury or engine failure. However, you can easily lose a season in the winter by not preparing yourself properly. In the next series of articles you will learn all kinds of tips from Physical Coach Yente Dourte (Coach at X Performance and Energy Lab) to ensure your winter preparation runs optimally.
Winter is not only a great time to adjust your physical preparation. It is also an ideal opportunity to take a good look at yourself as an athlete. In addition to your physical and (driving) technique, how can you also sharpen your mental weapons?
A large part of every sporting performance (positive or negative) can be attributed to what happens between the ears. It is usually easy to juggle percentages. That's kicking in an open door and it doesn't get us anywhere. Unlike “talents or promises”, champions have already proven that they can translate their potential into consistent results. Whether the sun shines or it rains, they start at the front or at the back, these white ravens always manage to bring out the best of their capabilities. That's why they don't always win, but they regularly perform at a high level. Mental resilience, self-knowledge and the right attitude are essential for this.
1. Self-knowledge as ultimate power
Occasionally athletes give interesting insights into how they deal with this. Or not deal with it. Because that too is a choice. That's what happened to us last week Instagram post of Tristan Charboneau on. Charboneau, undeniably a rider with many possibilities, announced his farewell in a very honest manner and was not afraid to look in the mirror.
“Motocross has been the only and most important thing to me all my life. But I've come to realize that my body can no longer handle that stress. I have come to this realization through all the broken bones, torn muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc. And I have always started racing again as soon as possible after injuries. There are many aspects of my racing career that I regret. I wish I had worked harder. I rarely trained (physically) and when I did, it was half-hearted. I always had the worst possible food for myself as an athlete. I took the talent I had on a motorcycle for granted. I very much regret that.” Tristan then talked briefly about his new life as a welder and thanked everyone who had helped him.
The list of talents who did not get the most out of it is long and spectacular. It is to his credit that Charboneau directly states that he himself had a large share in this. As a person and as a sportsman. But what if you could muster that same harsh honesty day after day? That superpower is one of the components that champions use to fuel their engines. Whether it concerns Georges Jobé, Steffi Graf, Jean-Michel Bayle, Stefan Everts, Leontien Van Moorsel, Valentino Rossi, Ryan Dungey, Tony Cairoli, Christiano Ronaldo or Jeffrey Herlings… All great champions share this characteristic.
2. Recovering from a setback
In the same week of Charboneau's retirement, four-time trial bike world champion took over Kenny Belaey, 35 meanwhile, next to the podium during the World Cup in China. Difficult to digest for a great champion, especially when you were on the podium no fewer than nine consecutive times. Belaey spoke about this setback in an interview. “Now that I'm older, I've learned that I shouldn't draw any conclusions in the days after the match. You must first let some time pass and only then look in the mirror, make the analysis and optimize it.”
On the one hand, do everything possible to achieve your goal, but on the other hand, put the result into perspective if it does not work out. It almost sounds like dancing on a soft short. Balance artist Belaey speaks from experience. “Of course there are much bigger problems in the world than sixth place in the World Cup. After all, I just ride a bicycle, even though it is my life and nothing is more important to me. I fight that feeling and try not to take it too seriously. Which is of course not easy when you put so much time and energy into it.” Read the full interview here.
3. Concrete action
How do you improve your self-awareness and therefore self-knowledge? Become aware of your weaknesses so you can address them. Get to know your strengths so you can use them even better. You can find this out using the Swot Analysis.
It is crucial to identify those specific situations with which you are having a hard time. Whether this concerns the start, coming back after a crash, leading a race, for the first time on a new circuit, (well-intentioned) comments that throw you off balance... It doesn't matter what. Once you have written down these points, plan how you want to deal with them in the future. What is your strategy next time in the same situation? How do you talk to yourself at that moment, what do you do with your body, how do you approach the match if this happens again, in short, what is your strategy?
Finally, you will also put this plan into practice. First in training and then also in competition. In the beginning this is quite a challenge to adjust the way you normally think and act. Like any new skill, you can train it so that it becomes automatic.
Good luck with your mental training!
If you have any questions about this article, please contact Yente Dourte: Yente.dourte@motocrossmag.be
Photos: Gino Maes, GEICO-Honda, Simon Cudby, Leo Zhukov
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