Mindsurfing for the Win!
5 Tips for achieving world champion headspace
Four-time world champion and Team USA Olympic surfer Carissa Moore says she still has self doubts and competition-day nerves and doesn’t expect they will ever go away.
Believe it or not, acknowledging and channeling those feelings are hallmarks of champion surfers.
In a sport where the playing field constantly changes, having headspace awareness and mental toughness can be the most critical factor in determining world titles and gold medals.
Carissa is a proof point for wisely embracing all the lessons that come with competing and adversity.
In a recent blogpost, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee TrueSport expert Kevin Chapman, PhD, says the best athletes are as mentally prepared for competition as they are physically prepared.
Here are five tips for achieving a winning headspace:
1. Learn from losses
While everyone would rather win, nothing teaches quite like a loss. Studies of Olympic athletes found that having a positive, constructive mindset while viewing videos of past competitions, primed their brains for improving performance.
Find out what you could have done to get the score you needed to advance. Resolve to put that lesson into action in your very next practice session and the next one and the next one, until you get the chance to put on the jersey again.
Everyone is beatable and there is no reason you can’t win in the future IF you learn from your mistakes and stay positive.
2. Watch your language
Competitors make themselves right when they declare, “I’m bad at contests” or “I can’t surf this or that break.” Language matters. Channel the voice of your most encouraging coach, supporter or role model.
Adopt a positive mantra that becomes part of your pre-heat routine.
Carissa maintains incredibly high standards for her training and performance, but has come to understand the importance of speaking kindly to herself.
Parents and coaches can also unintentionally inflame anxiety by telling surfers to beat their competition, complaining about judges and generally focusing on what a surfer can’t control rather than a strategy for improvement.
3. Break improvement down into specific areas of focus
Olympic surfer Kolohe Andino, who came up through the USA Surfing Prime event ranks, experienced a lot of aggression and emotion as a competitor. He says over time he’s learned to channel that energy more positively.
Kolohe sets “process goals” for his practice sessions — specific things to focus on and strengthen.
Breaking improvement down into tangible steps helps surfers and coaches track progression.
Small successes add up and build confidence and calm.
“When athletes focus on learning those things and perfecting them out of the love of sport, there’s always a successful outcome regardless of how bad or awesome an athlete performs,” Chapman said.
4. Practice under pressure
Surf competitions cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic mean fewer opportunities for surfers to put on a jersey and compete. That ratchets up pressure for the first event that does make it into the calendar.
Chapman advises athletes and coaches to make practice sessions more like competition days, so that event days will feel more like practices. Plus, surfers will get the benefit of more focused practice sessions, which in turn should provide a confidence boost just when athletes need it most.
Mock heats that simulate competition days are a standard feature of USA Surfing coach Brett Simpson’s training sessions with junior and pro surfers.
“For a little extra squeeze, we run a drill simulating five minutes remaining in a heat,” Simpson said. “The surfers start from the beach and have to paddle out and get a five-plus point ride. It makes them work at identifying waves and making split-second decisions. You have to put all your trust in your skills and ability! It’s a mentally and physically challenging drill!”
Surfers can put together similar mock heats with friends and family. Have someone time the heats and score your waves.
Plan and rehearse as much of the competition experience as possible. Eat and hydrate well the night before. Set aside time you normally would to observe conditions and establish landmarks for where waves are breaking.
Visualize a successful, fun heat. See opportunities for rippable waves, no matter what the conditions. Fire yourself up to do your best.
5. Create routines
To calm nerves and focus on success, create pre-competition routines that prepare your mind and body to compete.
“Most pro athletes have some kind of ritual, talisman, or secret pre-game routine that they do, and that’s how they get into that game-day state,” Chapman said. “I think we really should be letting kids figure out what their secret routine is. What is going to help them feel focused and in the zone?”
Carissa’s pre-heat routine includes focusing on her breath, staying present in the moment, listening to music and saying a quick prayer before she paddles out.
Eleven-time world champ Kelly Slater has a short yoga-style sequence he did before every heat during the 2019 World Surfing Games in Japan.
The movements fired up his core and increased hip mobility.
Bottomline
Competition-day anxiety is inevitable for athletes of all ages and levels. It’s how those pre-competition nerves are interpreted that makes all the difference.
If athletes see pre-competition jitters as a challenge not a threat, they are more likely to embrace the feeling and channel it into creating peak performances. These five tips provide a great way to start.
