On The Pegs June 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 6 | Page 139

On The Pegs VOL. 4 ISSUE 7 - July 2020 139
With seemingly endless hours to spare at home, more and more children and
adults alike are using the time to improve their techniques. These riders come from
a wide range of disciplines and are all using Trials techniques to take a step forward.
When we are young, we absorb information like a sponge. Elliot Smith, the
youngest of the OSET family at 10, is an example of this hypothesis. Elliot is obsessed
with a load of different sports and bounces between them at a significant
rate of speed. Soccer, Tennis, Skateboarding, Mountain Biking, Trials bicycling and
more. Without fail, he becomes proficient in each of them and can hold his own
against more experienced people. His one consistent sport has always been trials…
and this has always been number 1. But, his learning process with Trials – try…
fail… try again is perfect for life. Trials is all about overcoming challenges… every
ride! Toni Bou challenges himself every ride and fails regularly. This is what makes
him so great! For Elliot, his ‘natural’ skill in every sport he tries is not natural at all. It
is from focussed practice. He can absorb, study and then execute information that
is given to him.