That Extra 2-3%

Originally posted by zippyRN  ' in the groove'  or a performance with 'sparkle'   it;s intangible  that comes after you have reached unconscious competence ...   some people never reach that level of  performance they can go through the motions  technically  well but they just don;t seem ot  m get to the bit  where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts ...  It happens in the perfomance of any skill  whether that;s driving, sailing ,  dancing  or whatever...  It's what  gets the 'advanced' driver  his/her Class 1 / RoSPA  gold ,  it;s what gets the sailor  on the podium / that squad place; It's what get's the dancer the contract or the 'vocational school' place ...

We used to refer to it as being 'In the Zone', Not so sure I'd apply it to advanced driving, more likely to get you banned in a car, it's when everything comes as you anticipate it should, you're on a performance 'high' wether adrenaline or endorphin generated, only time I could artificially induce it would be by getting angry, either at myself for a foolish error or by someone infringing my progress, but once you get in it, you're superhuman, wish I could do it these days. An extreme example coming round the bottom mark 30th on the last beat and still finishing first, can remember it to this day and every shift on Derwent reservoir, the lake district one, I'd been knocked off at the gybe mark and was mad as hell..

There is absolutely not a snowballs chance in hell of me ever getting 'In the Zone' in a dinghy, but I can see guys who do, remember that quote from Ainslie about it being best not to make him mad...

Edited by iGRF - 13 Feb 17 at 11:49am

This is actually a really interesting thread. 

Self belief is certainly true, and my open meeting results have always been better than my Nationals, mainly because I believe I'm good on small water and crap on the sea.

The upwind downwind thing. Upwind, the speeds are similar, but direction is everything. Downwind, especially in a boat like the 300, speed is going to really count. In a boat where the difference between flat out and quite competent is smaller, then I suspect tactical considerations and mark positioning will be relatively more important.

This is all 20% stuff, though, not 2%.

Originally posted by iGRF It's tricky this without screwing my own head, which I try to keep full of self belief, which is what you actually need above all to achieve that extra 1-2% to keep your nose ahead of all the others that are experts already, I remember full well what else it takes and can honestly say I have neither the desire or probably the vitality left to endure. The hours in the gym, the miles pounding the pavements, not to mention the other hours sail training. Then what do you have, say you get to be a full on championship winning helm, capable of Olympic performance, what does that mean? It means a totally different approach to something that was once fun it gets to a point that you almost fear taking part in case you lose, rather than the jolly expectation of the line up and the hope you get a bit of luck and are first out of the favoured end into a knock and manage to stay in synch with every shift the entire race. So, no I'm happy to be a loser more often than I win, I actually enjoy the fact that I'm a hopeless boat handler and bumble about getting tangled up with the damn ropes and wiggle stick and let bloody jammy youf through at the last leg of a race I've lead almost to the last leg, I love to moan about the bandits beating me from a lap or two behind (whilst secretly knowing I'm not really sailing my own craft to its full potential) and there is one fact that is as true now as it was back in the day, you meet and get to know and be a far better person the nearer the back of any given fleet you dwell, and that is a fact.