Confidence.

[Theo]

I have been riding now for just under a year and I’m on handlebar height kind of stuff at the moment, but I have noticed that the main thing holding me back is confidence. Especially when I’m out in the street and people are watching.

Also the fear of falling, when I do fall it doesn’t bother me the slightest so I have no idea why makes me underperform in the first place

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Or does anyone have any tips on how to focus 100% and ignore everything/everybody?

Any tips or tricks for confidence boosting would be much appreciated,

Cheers

Theo

[Jamie_Trials]

Get some earphones and blast some music on

That's all I can think of really.

[George.E]

I understand where your coming from.

Id have to agree to listening to music.

But when your coming up to a move, don't think about falling or missing, just do it

[Theo]

I understand where your coming from.

Id have to agree to listening to music.

But when your coming up to a move, don't think about falling or missing, just do it

Ill give it a go, easier sead than done. As for the music that is a good helper for me

[Phatmike]

I can't stress the importance of practicing your imagination!

When you're learning moves such as drops, you might be unsure of whether you'll even land it or not, this uncertainty can bring either fear, or a rush!

If it's fear (or too big of a rush!), then this is where visualisation comes in. Without it just sounding like a buzz-word, visualisation boosts your confidence of nailing it from an 'encouraged' (or cocky?) certainty of what's to happen next. If you can picture, or even imagine what will happen, then that'll bring on the certainty and the drive to go ahead and do it. (And well, too!)

I consider fear and confidence the things that I've focused on in my riding more than anything else, feel free to ask any Q's.

[chris4stars]

If you can picture, or even imagine what will happen

best advice given by far in my opinion...not only to get past any confidence issues, but to learn any move in pretty much any physical activity out there!

its so easy to watch videos and picture yourself performing the same move in '3rd person', but trying to imagine how it would look/feel when youre on the bike is a whole other matter.

[Theo]

I can't stress the importance of practicing your imagination!

When you're learning moves such as drops, you might be unsure of whether you'll even land it or not, this uncertainty can bring either fear, or a rush!

If it's fear (or too big of a rush!), then this is where visualisation comes in. Without it just sounding like a buzz-word, visualisation boosts your confidence of nailing it from an 'encouraged' (or cocky?) certainty of what's to happen next. If you can picture, or even imagine what will happen, then that'll bring on the certainty and the drive to go ahead and do it. (And well, too!)

I consider fear and confidence the things that I've focused on in my riding more than anything else, feel free to ask any Q's.

I have never thought of it like that, this should come in very handy, thanks

So the idea is to picture the move just before you attempt it right?

[Phatmike]

Yeah, envisage in your head the whole line from start to finish. The more you do it, the more you'll actually feel the move (and you start waving your arms and body around looking like a loon..). If you're trying a move you've not done before, or find hard, it's an especially great technique to use, as you can imagine what position your body needs to be in at various points throughout the move.

I find this technique more important for hard or technical tricks - if I'm going all-out on a big move, then it's the mental aspect of being 'in control' which is the biggest aid. Whenever I feel any fear, I stop, realise why the fear is there (height, danger, dangerous bike parts etc!), and deal with what may cause the fear first (eg check my bike over and check the line, minimizing any possibility of failure). Then, if the fear is still there, I choose to not let the fear (a body-consuming emotion) take over me, but rise above it and distance myself. Kind of like having your head inside a beach ball, vs having it in your hands to hold or throw away!

[bikeperson45]

Someone I rode with recently goes around on the obstacles on foot but with his hands up as if he's holding the bars. At first I thought it was silly, but then what he did after was amazing so it obviously works for him.

[chris4stars]

I have never thought of it like that, this should come in very handy, thanks

So the idea is to picture the move just before you attempt it right?

if you can imagine the object/line in your mind anyway, you can use the same technique literally anytime!

at work during a quiet spell is always a favourite...it really does make all the difference

[gu trials]

i find that protection gives me more confidence, ino that sounds silly, but shindigs do something weird to me which stopped me trying a lot of things, but i got some shinguards and now i try anything within reason

[dirt jumper jake]

Getting a lid boosted me to about bar height stuff, but now im just stuck there but only when im on group rides, i ride much better on my own

[gu trials]

yea, protection, music, and seeing other people below your level or the same level help with confidence

Edited October 23, 2010 by gu trials

[murph82]

I can't stress the importance of practicing your imagination!

When you're learning moves such as drops, you might be unsure of whether you'll even land it or not, this uncertainty can bring either fear, or a rush!

If it's fear (or too big of a rush!), then this is where visualisation comes in. Without it just sounding like a buzz-word, visualisation boosts your confidence of nailing it from an 'encouraged' (or cocky?) certainty of what's to happen next. If you can picture, or even imagine what will happen, then that'll bring on the certainty and the drive to go ahead and do it. (And well, too!)

I consider fear and confidence the things that I've focused on in my riding more than anything else, feel free to ask any Q's.

I couldn't sidehop at all at on point, i then was off the bike a while as i hurt myself and would imagine pulling the move, from the leap to releasing the brake etc and within a couple goes when back on could do it, it does genuinely work! think about every part of what you have to do and imagine doing it, sounds very american but its a proven fact, mental rehersal works!

[Ali C]

I cant ride to music, It removes me from my surroundings and almost makes me feel numb.

I am trying stuff on street which is a little outside my comfort zone, so I am having to remember to be confident in myself, the instant you start to doubt yourself that's when it's already gone wrong.

[Canardweb]

Now this is a very interesting thread. First, you must keep in mind that progression always go fast then stops,get fast again, slow downs, slow downs, stops, and slowly comes up for ever...

I have struggled with building confidence over time. Now when I recently rode with competiton elites or experts level riders, they just said height was a stage. You don't have to be afraid of the height, you will struggle to get over certain height but when you want to get over something smaller, you don't even doubt about it. All you can do then is train.

Even when I learned I was sick, I wanted to waste no time and shred stuff. This didn't happened just because I was angry about my whole life, it's just because I had never done it.

Every move you do for the first time, always remember that you do it for the FIRST time everytime so you don't really know exactly what will happen except in street where all walls just differ by the height.

So train hard and push yourself physically to get better. I even had mental training when I took training seriously. It really helped me a lot! So eat well to have a lot of energy, get motivated on the bike by watching some great vid before going out riding. Basically, just ride happy!

And enjoy!

Edited October 23, 2010 by Canardweb

[isitafox]

I cant ride to music, It removes me from my surroundings and almost makes me feel numb.

I'm the same, will give the visualising trick a go though. Big drops get me, usually can feel myself physically shaking when I'm looking over the edge of something or if I'm on a high wall. Think it's the deepseated fear of imminent pain taking over!

Edited October 23, 2010 by isitafox

[Ben John - Hynes]

focus 100%

That's all you need to do. Look at what you're doing, pay attention to it!

And as Ali said, music really puts me off. Detatches me from what I'm doing.

[AndyZoo]

get motivated on the bike by watching some great vid before going out riding.

This can help a lot, watch a rider that really inspires you and makes you feel good about yourself inside, then get out there and try more yourself

Suppose music doesn't do it for me either :|

Edited October 23, 2010 by AndyZoo

[Miles Mallinson]

Its the same with i cannot ride with music maybe some street but riding natural stuff is impossible i just end up listening to the music instead of riding which can get destracting on grabby stuff. Just imagine yourself doing the move in your head and clear your mind of anything random. Like other people said its good to walk the thing your going to ride, if its a side hop or zap tap, jump from a stand still from two feet on to the object to see if you can get on it.

[bikeperson45]

Big drops get me, usually can feel myself physically shaking when I'm looking over the edge of something or if I'm on a high wall. Think it's the deepseated fear of imminent pain taking over!

I'm the opposite, I find drops pretty easy just because I know they're exactly the same. Upper to fronts get me, scared I'll rip my face off.

[Canardweb]

I'm the opposite, I find drops pretty easy just because I know they're exactly the same. Upper to fronts get me, scared I'll rip my face off.

Everything is about being scared. This is what puts you off from even trying something, and sometimes even trying again...

Music doesn't help I think. You really have to focus!