The Weekly Routine

The Process: Embrace The Pressure

The ISAF Youth World Qualifiers.  In the last eight years, I have attended the regatta six times, three as a sailor and three as a coach.  The event holds a special place in my development in both realms, and every time I participate, I learn a tremendous amount about myself and my teammates.  

Mentally, the regatta can seem like the most difficult event of the year to win; being the fastest, the smartest, and the best team on the water is not always enough.  Small errors often lead to a cascade of mistakes in the heightened competitive environment, and the psychology of knowing that you only have one shot to get it right can be consuming. The most important tool to bring to competition at this event is without a doubt, the right mindset.

 

Be confident in your training


Coming into the top mark, Dane and Quinn are on port, battling for first or second after a heroic rally from a deep start.  As they approach the three boat length circle, they are bow ahead, but just barely.  With their blazing speed downwind, they can easily afford to duck the first place boat, and catch them again after the mark.  But they don't.  With both boats inside of the zone, Quinn throws a last minute tack at the mark to try to squeeze around inside, and from my vantage point it looks clean, but a second later I hear the shout, "Protest."  Later that night, after sitting through hours of tense protest hearing, Dane and Quinn get disqualified from the race, using up their single discard, and setting up a tough battle for the remaining days of the event.

If you are vying for a top spot at this regatta, you have probably put in hundreds of hours on the water in the last year, and your experience in the boat will show.  On a wide open race course, anybody can execute a good maneuver, but in high pressure situations, there is no substitute for experience - knowing when you can make the cross, where you need to tack inside, and when to take the high percentage duck.  Trust your training, and stick to what you know.  Remember, the best you can do is to sail to your potential; you can never exceed it.

 

Be confident in the racing format


Race 7 - the final race of the day.  So far our scoreline for the day was a 3, 2, 1, and we were keen to continue the trend to hopefully put some points between us and Judge and Hans.  The course four placard went up, signaling a three lap race to finish the day.  We came off of the line with good speed, and by the top mark, we had established a lead, followed by Max and David, and then Judge and Hans.  This was exciting. Aside from the first race of the regatta, this was the only other race where we had been able to get a boat between us! We went around the course once.  Around the course twice.  Around the course a third time.  We passed the committee boat to round the leeward mark and turn back upwind for the finish, and as we approached the leeward mark, we heard a horn for the first place finisher... We had misread the course chart, and instead of sailing through the finish line on the downwind, we had gotten three quarters of the way to a mark that wasn't on our course!  By the time we got the kite down, and got back up to the line, five boats had finished ahead, and Judge and Hans had erased our regatta lead.  This in itself wouldn't have been the end of the regatta, but an impending sense of doom set in. Two days and three races later, we lost the event in the last race of the regatta.

In an average twelve race series, there are 24 upwind legs, 36 mark roundings, 60 minutes of pre-race jockeying, 180 standard maneuvers, and ultimately 420 minutes of racing.  Don't let a single race outcome influence the rest.  With thousands of decisions to be made over the course of a regatta, a few bad tacks, bad shifts, or bad starts aren't going to end your regatta.  Be quick to let mistakes go - they are part of the statistical inevitability that is sailboat racing.  Instead, focus on what you can control.  As Quinn says, "The mistake isn't the first error, but allowing emotions from the first error to create a second."

 

Embrace the pressure


In 2006 I sailed my first Youth World Qualifier - the C420 Midwinters in Jensen Beach - with Oliver Toole.  The event was our first out of state regatta, and we were blown away by how many boats were competing.  We knew it was a qualifier for something, but we didn't really know what the ISAF Youth Worlds were.  For four days, we battled it out around 20th place, stoked to be racing at the top of the fleet, especially in the breezy conditions.  Eventually finishing 18th, we were dimly aware that there was a battle going on for the Youth Worlds slot, but mostly we were just stoked at a good first performance.  

At the 2007 Youth World Qualifier, we entered the event with confidence in our training, but with no goals except just sailing well.  Judge and Hans had won most of the West Coast circuit and had been to CORK, Worlds, and other international events while Oliver and I had only been sailing the boat together for a few months, training mostly by ourselves at home, and competing in a handful of local events.  There were some "big name" opti kids who had bought boats for the qualifier, and lots of teams had high powered, private coaches with them on the water.  Again, we felt like small fish in a big pond.  It wasn't until half way through the regatta when we were leading the boys division by a comfortable margin, that we started to feel any pressure.  At the point that all eyes were on us, we had already established our rhythm, and the pressure just added fuel to fire aggressive tactics, and confident execution.

In a competitive year, probably only the top 10-20% of the fleet will have a shot at winning the event.  When you start to feel the pressure, embrace it! Not many people make it to the point where they get to compete in those high pressure situations, so have fun in the spotlight, and let it build on your confidence.

 

Do what needs to be done


I have seen this lesson over and over again at this regatta, and solidified it both the easy way, and the hard way on occasions.  When you have done the work to be at the top, and you are confident in your training, you have the opportunity to win the event, but in a fleet of boats who are all gunning for the top spot, staying on top of the pile while the target is on your back can sometimes seem like an impossible puzzle.  While it might seem obvious, one of the most challenging things to do is to keep the goal in mind, and do what needs to be done.  If you need to start near your competition, don't be tentative - be confident.  If the only way to win is to split sides and take a risk, send it hard.  If you need to win a match race, go get in the battle as soon as the prep flag goes up.  Trust your skills, and execute the correct strategy, even if it seems difficult.

If you can manage to keep racing straightforward and stay confident in yourself, you will maximize your chances of sailing to your potential, and ultimately that's all you can ask of yourself and your teammate.

The Process: One Step At A Time

In the past few months, Dane and I have run a few regional clinics, coaches several events, and worked with many teams on improving boat handling skills around the course.   There has been some good improvement from many teams, but the rate of improvement varies a lot from team to team.  While everyone needs old lessons to be reinforced every once in a while, the teams who make the most progress are the ones who really drill down into the details and master each individual skill before moving on to the next one.  Here are a few important things that you can do to ensure that you master new skills and arrive at your next event ready for the next piece of the puzzle.

Practice The Fundamentals
When Quinn finished the crew swap round-robin drill at the Long Beach ODP camp, his first comment was, "Everyone needs a lot of work on their fundamentals."  Fundamentals are the building blocks that go into every other maneuver including balance, feel, smoothness, quick reaction time and more.

While it's easy to gloss over the fundamentals in our quest to get racing quickly, they are often times the factors that cause teams to plateau in ability.  Here are some drills that you can incorporate into every practice to keep pushing your fundamentals forward and to prevent plateauing.

  • Work on feel:
    • Rudderless sailing
    • Blindfolded sailing
  • Work on balance:
  • Work on having smooth, quick reactions:
    • Heeled to windward progressions
    • Freestyle trapeezing

"Intensity without good foundations is flawed"

- Kenny Kane, Crossfit Games coach

One. Step. At. A. Time.
One of the biggest functions of a coach is to simplify everything happening on the water to come up with one or two changes that will improve a team's outcome.  Frequently I have parents ride along in the coach boat, who want their sailor to master twenty different lessons in each visit to the coach boat, but it's very important to pick one thing to work on, and master that single thing before moving to the next thing.  For example, during our April clinic in Santa Barbara, the main focus was on light air gybes, and specifically the timing of the kite relative to the steering.  At this most recent ODP Camp in May, it was very obvious which teams fixed that issue, and which have not yet.  Those who have fixed the issue can now move on to the next item on the checklist, while those who practiced "boat handling" in general, might be a tiny bit better at everything, but still don't have satisfactory gybes or (likely) any other maneuver.  To help organize what you are focusing on in each condition, try putting together a SWOT Chart like this one, and tracking your improvement over time.

Focus On The Details
We have discussed this before, but we can't emphasize enough how important it is to focus on finer and finer details the better you get.  Almost all of the teams that we work with at this point have the a solid foundation of skills; most teams can get on a starting line, find a clean lane, and pick their heads up out of the boat to think about tactics during racing, but at the top of the fleet, that is not enough.  The top teams consistently push themselves to focus on finer and finer details: obviously they nailed their hand and foot positioning, but did they pull on the boat as hard as they could in the exit?  Was the rate of pull consistent?  Could they have varied the rate of pull to eek out a tiny bit more acceleration in the middle of the flatten?

Whenever you receive criticism from a coach, make a note of what it was, and dig into it when you get to train by yourself.  If the kite switch in a gybe was your weakness, try to determine why it didn't go well.  Was your foundation of footwork and handwork good?  Was your timing correct?  Did you do any extra or unnecessary movements?  Were you limited by your fitness?

The Weekly Routine: 29er Pathway

With the revamped US Sailing Olympic Development Program announced recently, junior sailors around the country will be making a push to earn invitations to "ODP" Training Camps, but in the scramble to get on the inside track, it's important to keep the fundamentals first, and keep the big picture in perspective.  Every month, I coach sailors who believe that they're just one revolutionary piece of advice away from a breakthrough performance - that all they need to do is find the right coach, who can tell them how to sail the boat correctly, and that they'll suddenly jump to the front of the fleet. 

The truth is that the best coaches - the ones who consistently produce standout athletes - aren't primarily teaching boat speed, tactics, or boat handling.  The aspects of training which cause the best sailors to rise to the top of the stack have more to do with big picture program creation, which over time create the other advantages.  While coaching from an expert in your class can certainly be a useful tool in the climb to the top, and the US Sailing ODP will definitely be a great resource for sailors looking to compete at the top international level, if you think that getting advice from the ODP coaches is the big boost you need to jettison you to the top of the fleet, it's probably a good idea to take a step back and evaluate your big picture program first.

Focus on the process of improving
Kevin Hall wrote an awesome article for Sailing Anarchy about the importance of "meta-practice", or practicing the process of practice (if you haven't read the article, check it out here).  In the article, he argued that the best America's Cup teams aren't the ones who practice effectively right out of the gates, but the ones who develop a systematic training process over time.  In junior sailing, this idea is even more pronounced because of the fact that there is such a wide range in training programs and skill levels.

The first, and most important part of this idea is that in order to improve, you need to reflect on every single practiced session.  Getting on the water for a few hours is a great way to keep your skills sharp, and build up muscle memory which will help you execute on race day, but if you're not spending some time after practice, talking or at least thinking about what went well, and what didn't you will not progress beyond mastering the fundamentals.  "Practice makes permanent", so only perfect practice can make perfect.  Unless you are already doing a technique perfectly, practicing without reflecting on what needs to change will only solidify improper techniques and habits, so even if you just pick one lesson to reflect on from each practice, start cataloging lessons learned, and using those to dictate the focus of future practices.

The second point that Kevin articulates well, is that not all of your reflection should be about speed, tactics, and boat handling; the best sailors spend time thinking about the process before anything else.  If you can create a habit of reviewing your practice efficiency, and finding places to improve the time spent on and off of the water, you will get more out of each practice, and over time, will develop the edge that will put you at the top of the leader-board.

How can you get the most out of the US Sailing ODP Camps?
With a solid plan for improvement in place, the ODP training camps and regattas will be a great supplement to your training schedule, so when you have the opportunity to take advantage of the coaching, it's important to go in with a plan.  In our 29er HP camps, we strive to send sailors home with a clear picture of their next month's training requirements, and at the ODP's this should be the goal for your team.  Take notes, write down quotes from coaches, and be sure to ask questions about what the most important things for you to work on are.  If you do a good job at the camp, you should have material to work on for several weeks after.

Finally, own your own development.  Don't adopt a technique just because a coach tells you it's right unless you fully understand, and agree that the technique is superior.  As a coach, one of the most rewarding experience for me is to have sailors question techniques that I'm teaching.  The main job of a coach is to help sailors learn the process of improvement, and a major part of that process is questioning new techniques until you totally understand them, and feel comfortable enough to call them yours.  There are many ways to go fast, so ask questions, and don't wait for the magic bullet.

The bottom line is that being the best is never an overnight development.  There is no magic bullet, so it's important to put together a plan that is completely within your control regardless of whether or not you get selected for a training camp, and then execute, taking advantage of opportunities if they arise.

The Weekly Routine: Discoverer

Sorry for the late post! The majority of my Monday was spent somewhere in the middle of Texas on my way back from the Miami OCR.  Fortunately this gave me plenty of time to reflect on the regatta, and our final breakthrough of the week.  This week's Monday Routine focuses on one of the key aspects of performance, which ties together all other components: mindset.  Enjoy.

DMo sailing Miami 23.jpg

I am a Discoverer.  I am intrigued by systems, and routines that produce consistent outcomes – especially in situations where systems are not initially obvious.  When I face a challenge, I retreat into my mind to dissect the systems at play, to figure out how to modify individual system components, and then to rebuild them better than before. My skill set pays dividends in a coaching role, building systems for improvement, and planning for success, but in the heat of battle – behind the sheets myself – as Dwight Eisenhower famously said, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

In high school, I was meticulous and methodical in learning how to boat handle and race FJs.  I quickly mastered the maneuvers, and learned the theory behind strategy and tactics of short course, high school sailing, but when it came to racing, I struggled to execute consistently.  My starts were inconsistent, and when I did get off of the line, I wasn’t always confident in my tactical decisions. In short, all of my planning and practice, went out the window in the chaos of competition. 

A change came during my sophomore year, when I started focusing on 29ers.  In the 29er, every second is critical.  While I was learning the boat, it seemed like the tiniest lapses in focus made for a soggy afternoon, and as I improved, I realized that even the slightest hesitation in a reaction could throw the whole groove of the boat off, giving away boat lengths in a hurry. Staying upright and keeping the boat moving fast required a kind of hyper-vigilance and awareness that I had never brought to my sailing before. Moreover, even when I wasn’t racing, the high speeds of the 29er eliminated my ability to think through problems before reacting – in the do-or-die situations, either instinct took over and the boat stayed upright, or you went swimming; there was no middle ground. 

I brought this new found mindset to my racing, and the results were shocking

When I came back to high school racing, I brought this new found mindset to my racing, and the results were shocking.  All of a sudden, the flurry of activity on the start line faded; I trusted the instincts that I had built in practice – trusted my decisions in tight situations – and let the commotion around me fade into the background.  I began reacting to tactical situations without hesitation, focusing all of my mental resources on executing my maneuvers rather than trying to figure out what the best path was; somewhere in the back of my mind, I already knew what the correct move was, I just needed to pull it off.  My results took a sharp turn towards the top of the fleet.

This new method of thinking – the Adventurer mindset – is an important weapon on the race course. While the goal of practice is to internalize good decision making and good body control, on the race course the ability to engage in the Discoverer process by fully thinking things through, disappears. Quick reactions and confidence in your intuition are the most important tools available.

DMo sailing Miami 16.jpg

Next time you go racing make a conscious effort to switch out of practice mode. Focus on constructing a positive dialogue with your teammate (or in your head if you are alone) to keep you focused on the “now” – wind ahead, pressure in the sails and on the helm, and boat positioning are all good topics to ensure that your mind stays present, and ready to respond to whatever racing throws your way.  If you notice your thoughts circling back to something that already happened, refocus by calling the next puff, or letting your teammate know how long the lull will last. Trust yourself to make good decisions. When mistakes happen, rather than dwelling on them, label each one in your head as “mistake”, and move on until you get off of the water, and can afford to dig into the big picture and the systems at play.