Psychology

I think psychology is the most interesting aspect of this sport so I want to write quite a lot about how I coped during the comp, I think it’s more interesting than technical details like what climb rate I was getting or what speed to fly I was doing.

Psychology is critical in any sport, but much more so in gliding where it’s really is all in your head and you are your own worse enemy. One of the problems you have as a competitor is that because there is no set start time (once the start gate is open you can start whenever you want, see Starts), you never really know how you are doing on the day, I mean you might feel you are having a great day only to land and find out that other people flew much faster and you’ve ended up 30th.

But normally it’s the reverse, you are having difficult time, you can’t get into the rhythm because the thermals are broken, you get low and you see gliders shooting past above you, and your think everyone else is having a blast, your morale evaporates, you are kicking yourself thinking your are the worse pilot in the world. But later you find out that actually, it WAS a difficult day and everyone had a bad day and you did ok.

What you need to do is to tell yourself, it is a hard day, the weather is bad and I am making the most of it, other people are also struggling. In the low points it’s crucical to stay calm and deal with the task in hand rather than thinking how other people are doing. But this is very very difficult to do, your brain is great at playing games with you.