Mind Rehearsal for Gliding
It’s all in the head, how many times have we heard that before? If we ask the top pilots or anyone seriously in any sport, often that’s the response, that they think that winning almost exclusively comes from the head. This can be misinterpreted though, it’s not intellect that I’m talking about, so if you’re like me and not that smart, don’t throw in the towel just yet! Being smart only plays a minor role, what usually matters is a clear goal and a burning desire to achieve it, followed by sports psychology, mental training, or rehearsal. The result is being able to fly the process of a good flight, being able to cope with adversity and success all in the one flight, after all, this sport of ours, once in the sky, is partly mental.
Everyday Flying
Mental rehearsal can be applied to gliding too, whether it be for your first, hand-flown circuit after an instructor's briefing, flying your first 50km for silver, or racing a full flight at the World Championships, this is applicable to you. As an example, winners of each day's racing often have already flown the flight in their head already – before even setting foot into their glider. They often report in their winner's speech the following day, was that it was seemingly harmonious and effortless. They made a thorough pre-flight preparation, looking for all the challenges that may be presented, reviewed satellite pictures of the turn-points, rainfall data of the previous day, looked for difficult terrain to navigate around or fly slowly over, the best time of the day to start or fly in, etc.
On the Ground
Mental rehearsal can happen at any point of the day during our busy lives, a perfect example is walking down the street during our lunch break or driving between two points. We look up and often find ourselves dreaming of gliding when doing all tasks that don’t include gliding – or is that just me?! We can look at an individual cumulous or wisp, is it just forming, at its peak, or decaying? Look at it again in 5 minutes, did you get it right? If so, or if not, ask yourself why and try to lock the lesson in? Can you see a sky full of CU? The road you’re on is the direction of the task, imagine your leg 100km into the distance, how would you get to the point the fastest, what would be your target cloud, what climb strength would be under each cloud, what speed would you be aiming to fly at, what will be the challenges and how will you avoid those sections?
Contest Preparation
Mental rehearsal doesn’t stop there and is limitless in all reality. A friend of mine in Germany won the UK JWGC in 2005 by not flying a glider for 13 months prior to the practice week, in fact, he was almost kicked off the team. How did he win? He told me that he sat in bed for one hour before sleeping each night and practiced all the facets of our sport, imagining selecting and entering thermals, imagining putting on the parachute and doing pre-flight checks, imagining final glides, low saves, programming his flight computer, making his inbound calls, you name it, he practiced it – which paid for itself in weight of gold!!
Success to Flight
Mental rehearsal is a key point to the success of any flight, the more you practice it, the easier it gets in real life and the better you’ll cope with the situation when it next arises. You will feel at ease because you’ll feel like you’ve been there before. The result is almost automatic, implementation of all the right responses through well-established neuro-muscular pathways – happy mental rehearsals, take every opportunity!
Banner photo by Wings & Wheels
Adam Woolley was born into the gliding world, being the 3rd generation in his family. Going solo at 15, his thirst for efficiency in soaring flight & quest for a world championship title to his name has never wavered. One big passion is sharing his experiences & joy with other glider pilots all around the world. Adam is an airline pilot in Japan on the B767 & spends his off time chasing summer around the globe. He has now won 7 national Championships & represented Australia at 5 WGC's & 1 EGC.