Overcoming "mind fuck"?

[Ship-it-fed-ex]

As much as brakes are your best friend they definately can be your worst enemy as well. I have learned to trust myself no matter the situation when you hesitate thats when you get in trouble pretty fast. Commit or eat shit, you say that you know you have the skills to pull it off but if your shutting down that means you arent as confident as you think. Work on stuff thats smaller and build yourself up within your comfort zone hopefully you get over your problem!

[inshane]

If you are having to force your body to not touch the breaks so you have no choice but to hit the stunt, thats not very safe bro... You are defiantly not mentally prepared to hit it yet. Thats your body telling you its not 100% committed.

Whats the rush, why push yourself like that? Especially if its a blind landing.
Why not dismount and check out the jump/drop? Inspect the run up, the landing and your run out. Take a few minutes to get it all in, plan your attack.
Do one run up just to see if what you have planned is the best approach. (Like how much speed you need, what direction to launch and where you will be landing ect..)
Being comfortable on the bike and your mind having all the information about the stunt will defiantly help get your fingers off the breaks.
Try that out and let me know how it works out for you.
Riding is supposed to be fun, remember that

[inshane]

Originally Posted by Ship-it-fed-ex

As much as brakes are your best friend they definately can be your worst enemy as well. I have learned to trust myself no matter the situation when you hesitate thats when you get in trouble pretty fast. Commit or eat shit, you say that you know you have the skills to pull it off but if your shutting down that means you arent as confident as you think. Work on stuff thats smaller and build yourself up within your comfort zone hopefully you get over your problem!

Great post!

[semaj]

I'm in the same boat dutch, and I've been injured off drops because of it. I'm now taking the route of riding easier shit to get my confidence and skills back after 6 weeks recovering. I'll be making a conscious effort to push myself to ride faster on the easier stuff in the meantime.

[leggatt]

I find that if your head is working you over like that and you are hitting the brakes it is best just to hit the brakes and accept it. If you force it, you will hurt yourself.

Find smaller stunts that are similar and hit those first and then find bigger ones till you are good to go. Also, since you likely aren't being paid to ride, it is OK to skip it!

I have been riding of the brakes all summer and boosting jumps higher each time and feeling super confident. But, Saturday I hit the deck on A-line. Crashes can and will happen as you are building your skills, so take incremental steps and hopefully minimize the damage.

[dutch]

Thanks for the replies guys. Going back and doing some easier stuff was a good idea. Good confidence booster.

It sounds weird, but I think part of the issue maybe that I'm riding 5-6 days a week. Physically its fine, but I don't think I'm giving myself enough time to reset mentally.

RE: Beer, did that once, chugged a tall can after climbing sumas. The way down was a bit sketchy, definitely slower reaction but kinda dreamy. Maybe less next time.

Training someone does help a lot of the time, I follow my buddy who I trust and it always ends well. But still I've gotten so comfortable with him that the embarrassment of not following him doesn't bother me anymore.

Whats the deal with wheeldrop? Is he an instructor, or is he just amazing?

[Cheez1ts]

The second one. Though, with all the recommendation in this thread, it looks like he could successfully be the first as well.

[clarkee]

From another sport and the 1920's

'Falls are due to lack of will power. There is an element of volition in ninety-nine falls out of a hundred.

Never lie down until you are thrown. The man who is determinded never to fall until the ground gets up and hits him between the eyes will soon make a skier.'

This approach is working for me, although a few weeks ago the ground did get up and hit me pretty good...

[hypa]

Originally Posted by semaj

I'll be making a conscious effort to push myself to ride faster on the easier stuff in the meantime.

Good call man.
Build up the confidence and hopefully you will retain some of it the next time you ride. You got a ton of miles on the bike yesterday, that's a great start.

My problem is that I'll start to really kill it on the trails, then I'll have a nasty crash and my balls are reset. Rinse and repeat, and hope my lingering injuries don't come back to haunt me.

[inshane]

im sad that what i wrote wasnt helpfull

[Ozibatla]

Dont be rollin into things heaps of times. Two roll in rule, if ya cant do it by the third GTFO. Nuthin more painful than watchin someone do 10 plus tries.

[SubPlop]

Originally Posted by hypa

Good call man.
You got a ton of miles on the bike yesterday, that's a great start.

Sort of off topic, but Tons of miles and lots of time on the trails is good, but i think you got to make a concious effort to get better. Certain spots asking yourself, "do I really need brakes here?" and things like that will become natural over time, so just riding and doing the same things over and over wont evoke change or improve them skillz.

I think the 'mind fuck' thing is different for each rider, but drops got to be the easiest thing to practice.

[hypa]

^
You're right man, in order to improve one does have to challenge themselves. I had to think "laser pecker" for the first few rides, but now that shit comes natural. I love it!

Originally Posted by SubPlop

I think the 'mind fuck' thing is different for each rider, but drops got to be the easiest thing to practice.

Watching Top Gear last night got me thinking about this thread. Jeremy was talking about how he can approach turn in his AMG at 90mph. But taking an F1 car through that same turn at 90mph will probably kill him as he needs to hit it at 150mph due to downforce, tire heat, etc. So he has to ignore that little voice in his head that 150mph is bad or else he may die.

It goes to show that those little voices are truly mind fuck. How many times have you thought "I'm going too fast for this", only to brake check and case the shit out of it?

In other words, the mind is not always on your side.

[hypa]

Originally Posted by inshane

im sad that what i wrote wasnt helpfull

I +rep'd your comment on the Cedric Gracia injury thread on PB.
What a crazy story man, good to see you've bounced back.

[SubPlop]

I

had to think "laser pecker" for the first few rides, but now that shit comes natural. I love it!

i know thats from a good video but it just sounds weird repeated lol