DEALING WITH FEAR
Every athlete at some point feels fear. "If they say they don't, they're lying," says BMX star Arielle Martin. But she adds that fear can make you a better athlete if you know how to deal with it.
"Action athletes should feel fear, it's part of action sports. Overcoming it is part of what makes an athlete good," Martin says.
Her technique for overcoming fear can be summed up as AAC; Acknowledging it, Accepting it, and Being Committed. She says, "The first step would be understanding what the fear is, acknowledging it, embracing it and taking it on. Next is accepting it, feel the fear but don't let it control you. If you're allowing the fear to hold you back or make you timid, that's when the injury you're dreading happens. Next, be committed to what it is you're doing. Focus on the task at hand."
The biggest fear factor for an athlete is imagination, which is usually at the bottom of a feeling of fear. Imagining an injury, worrying about a fall, imagining that you are going to make a fool of yourself or do less well than you wish---all of that is just imagination. As an athlete, you must control your imagination so it doesn't get in your way and saddle you with fear.
"If you show up at the track or the course, and however dangerous it is, your heart is set and your mind is focused, you will be able to control the fear," Martin says.
She advises, "Admit it; okay, so I'm a little afraid of this, but it doesn't matter, I'm going to do it anyway."
Feel the fear and do it anyway; the fear will go away. Martin says the most important part is to focus on the present, whatever it is you are going to do; but without the imaginary prospects of what might happen. "If you're at a BMX track, focus on the jumps, not on the fear that you might fall," she says.
If a course seems dangerous to you, work out the worry in the way that suits your personal style. You may do best by running the course or track over and over in elements, doing a little bit more each time, or doing it slow and gradually increasing your speed with each run. But that's not Martin's approach.
"Me personally, I'd rather go all out from the start and take on whatever obstacle there is from the beginning. Other people take it one step at a time. You have to figure out what works best for you to give you confidence," she says.
Going all out, according to Martin, limits the time you have to think about the fear.
Working on controlling the emotion doesn't just happen at your competition site. Martin advises using visualization, saying "It's a very effective tool." She suggests visualizing yourself doing the part of your event that makes you feel afraid, visualizing yourself doing it perfectly, with every detail in vivid reality. Visualize the way the ground looks, the feel of your body, even the sound of the other competitors. Constant visualization of yourself doing the course perfectly will make a mental habit, so you will feel much more confident when you are in the reality of the event.
At night, when you are in bed, Martin says to focus on clearing your mind and breathing calmly while visualizing. "Don't start worrying," she advises. Visualize while forcing your mind to feel calm, alert yet not tense. Watch that your breathing stays slow and deep, if it picks up, take a deep breath and slow your breathing down again while visualizing.
Picturing yourself doing your event perfectly without fear will help make it a reality when you are actually competing.
Martin is currently training for the World Supercross title in France and the ABA National title in Oklahoma, and not going to Beijing, where she was considered to be a favorite in the debut of BMX. Though ranked as the top U. S. rider, she had a flash of bad luck in a race that knocked her out of the one slot open to a U. S. female BMX rider. But in going for these championships, the one thing that will not hold her back is fear.