Mentality

keenbean

Member
Hi again,

Just wondering if any of you have noticed a change in your mentaility changing your performances. I used to turn up to races / events thinking 'it will be good to get the experience' and finish at the back whereas now I go and think 'I can win this' and have noticed a major improvement in results, though the disappointments become a bit harder to take.

Just interested in your views on sailing mentality...
 
Sounds like you are discovering the sports psychology side of sailing. It can and does play a major role in performance and is well worth the effort to learn and understand what can help you peak mentally and maintain that during a day or week of racing. There are numerous books as well as classes (college/university level) out there that can shed a lot of light on the subject.
 
Hi again,

Just wondering if any of you have noticed a change in your mentaility changing your performances. I used to turn up to races / events thinking 'it will be good to get the experience' and finish at the back whereas now I go and think 'I can win this' and have noticed a major improvement in results, though the disappointments become a bit harder to take.

Just interested in your views on sailing mentality...

Positive mential attitude can make for a lot. What is also affecting this is negative mental attitude on the part of your competition.

If you get know at events as a fast sailor who gets right up at the front a lot of the competition will have doubts and some will think 'oh no so and so is here that's me another place down the fleet'.

I used to think like this and get very frustrated. Now I turn it around, 'So and so is here, great I have some decent competition'. I find that with this attitude regardless of how I sail i have much more fun.
 
Looks like I've got a fair way to go before I get competitive. My thoughts usually consist of
"Lovely day..."
"Ohh...look at that seagull"
and "That's a lovely coloured main sheet"
 
I have found the books of tactics by Stuart H. Walker very good and they help a lot in terms of mental attitude.

Given that it is easier to sail in the clear undisturbed air in front of everybody else it is surprisingly common to see somebody who is normally mid-fleet suddenly finds themselves the first boat to the windward mark with a massive lead only to quickly do something daft and lose it all. More about mental attitude and tactics than boat speed at that point (IMHO).

Ian
 
"Mental strength/-fitness", in my opinion, is one of the top 5 aspects in successfull sailing the Laser, a competitor should put his or her primary attention on.

Dr. Michael Blackburn from down under ( http://www.sportsmindskills.com/author.php?id=1 http://www.sailfitter.com/ ), one of my personal idols of the "scene" of Laser sailing , gives some very interesting hints at this following bolg (editor name of Dr. Blackburn: "michael"). One find the hints in the categories "sailing" or "sports psychology" at that blog-website:
http://sportstrainingblog.com/sailing/sailing-fitness-10-things-you-must-do


Also, Dr. Blackburn offers a CD (and other DVD's related to sailing /Laser Sailing ) about mental training for sailing:
http://www.sportsmindskills.com/publication.php?id=1


Ciao
LooserLu
 
One thing is certain...If you want to finish ahead of lots and lots of other competitors, you need to make certain lots of other people come out to play.
 
Mentality is a huge factor in sailing well. A good idea is to set yourself some reasonable yet challenging goals. Think positively; if you make a mistake don't dwell on it. If you mind isn't geared up then you won't do well at all.
 

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