From Zero to Backflip: My Biggest Takeaways So Far

As many of you may have seen… I’ve been busy working on a new goal… and a fun new project called Facing Fear. It’s a YouTube mini-series, and you can watch Episode 1 here. The basic premise is to document how to break down a big scary goal into more manageable, fun little chunks - while (hopefully) eliminating as much of the fear, and as much of the risk as possible. So far, so good!

I’ve just finished my second session with pro freestyle trampoline coach Ryan Grimm, at the amazing local facility that is Airhouse Squamish. And while I went into this session full of confidence and wanting to “go for it” and get the flip today so I could move on to the next step in the process (learning to perfect my dirt jumping technique before hitting the Whistler Air Bag), working with Ryan really reminded me that sometimes slow is faster - especially if you’re learning all the correct steps, rather than just bashing about via trial and error.

So I took a deep breath and re-focused. Rather than fixating on the outcome (backflip to dirt on a bike) and my desired speed of getting there, I shifted my attention to the present. After all, it’s here that you can enjoy the process and have fun with it - likely increasing the odds that you’ll do a better job and move faster through the steps as a result.

After I went back in for a practice session in between—where I remembered how to huck my way through the basic list of tricks I’d learned as a kid—I was feeling eager to huck my way through a backflip too. The problem was that I just couldn’t conceptualize how to make myself flip backwards from my feet, even though I could do it from a back bounce.

Ryan had wiser ideas.

We spent the session learning how to pull off last-minute twists (in case something goes wrong mid-air), and worked on adding more quality and speed control to the flips I was already doing. Working in this way means that although I didn’t quite get to my self-imposed goal today, when we do get there next session it’ll be far safer—and actually give me a sense of body control in the air that I can take to the dirt jumps.

This reminds me of a sports psychology study I read whilst developing the Mental Skills curriculum I now teach to Mountain Bikers. The interesting part of this study was that the common belief that it takes 10,000 hours, or 10 years of training, to master a skill set was shattered when scientists found that we can master a set of skills in just six months by modelling the practices of those who have already blazed the trail.

My experience on the trails mirrors these findings. So often when coaching riders, I’ll first take them away from their end goal - especially if they can’t yet 'see' how the move works. We’ll go work on building block exercises on more comfortable terrain before we head back and ride the feature or trail in question. Often, when we do head back, it feels like a bit of an anti-climax - in a good way - because we now have the skills to make it feel easy, or effortless. And man, am I looking forward to having my first backflip feel like this too.

So, if you’re at a point in your riding where you’re not quite sure what’s next but you want to keep progressing, or perhaps you have a 'big scary' goal of your own that you can’t quite figure out just yet - don’t waste your summer trying to figure it out alone.

Come and learn the correct techniques and proven processes, reducing the risks and feeling safe and inspired at every step along the way. And the coolest part? By slowing down, you too will get to speed up the entire process.

Book a free strategy call to take that first step today!