On The Pegs May 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 5 | Page 78

On The Pegs
78
MIND GAMES
be the first one up that rock,” or “I’m going to show these guys how this section
is supposed to be ridden.”
There is a unique relationship between your mindset and your eyes. If you’ve
been reading the articles about the eyes in this publication then you already
have the background. The bottom line is that your state of mind changes your
vision, which changes your timing and accuracy. Not all people are the same.
Some need to be psyched up, while others need to relax in order to perform at
their best.
A quick test to find out what you need requires a 10ft piece of string and
three beads or something similar that can be attached to the string . Tie one
end of the string to something at eye level, place the first bead about 1ft from
the end you will be holding , the next in the middle, the last almost at the end
of the string. Hold the string to the center of your nose tight enough so that
the string is almost a straight line to the attached end. First look at the bead
closest to you, you should see two strings meeting at the bead, if you only see
one string you are not using both eyes and depth perception will be inaccurate.
For most people the strings will meet at the first bead. Move your eyes to the
middle bead, again you should see two strings meeting at the bead. This is usu-
ally where some inconsistencies start showing up. If the strings meet before the
bead you will need to relax to have your timing perfect. If the strings meet after
the bead then you need to be psyched up to have your timing perfect. Try this
with the last bead also, whichever tendency you have will be magnified.
The majority of athletes need to be psyched-up to perform at their best. The
problem for trials riders is that we must do this numerous times during the
competition and overall focus must be maintained throughout the event. It’s
impossible to remain focused for six to eight hours at the highest mental level.
This demonstrates the importance of having an ability to turn your PSM on and off.
Now that you’ve remembered a time when you were using your PSM, I’ll
provide you with some techniques that will help you turn it on and off at will.
The first technique is visualization. When used properly, visualization enables
you to ride the section in your mind before you ever put your bike in the sec-