Flow State - Part II

Ok so I've had some thoughts about last weeks blog on flow state and I actually want to challenge my own ideas. I still believe it is a state you can be in, and when you're in it you can perform and your highest with seemingly no attention or exertion. Where I think the last blog lacked detail, was whether or not flow is even something to aim for. And if it's not, then what is?

As I mentioned in the last blog, flow can only happen when the skill matches the challenge. When you are performing at your absolute peak. In slopestyle specifically, there are some shortcomings to this as there are so many factors that go into it. Riding at 100% is difficult enough at home, let alone at a competition course where you only have 3 days to practice. 

I learnt this lesson in my time in Sweden.

Having access to what seems like the perfect training facility, at any time, forced me to really analyse how often I should train. At the end of the day, I have a chance of inflicting an injury, every time I take a run. I learnt that it is not sustainable to train at 100% every day for as long as I could.

I learnt to build momentum rather than chase intensity. And this translates to competition too. Thinking about my whole season, rather than throwing everything away for one event.

So then how hard do I try? Well I don't know. I think it comes down to constant analysis, bouncing between not hard enough, to too much, correcting whenever I feel a boundary is getting close, and slowly settling into a sustainable position. 

For me, I think that looks like training my big tricks around 3 times a week, maybe 2 more rides with some smaller technical riding, a few gym sessions throughout and some dreaded cardio. I know this is the pocket where my riding excels and the challenge for me is finding a location that offers a balance of all this.

Getting into a training rhythm seems like a better goal than trying to achieve flow for me. My ambition would be to achieve my goals without the need for flow state. It's more tangible. I can clearly see where I fell short, improved or performed well. All the focus is on building myself as an athlete to take that skill to an event. Rather than trying to line up all the perfect conditions to achieve this state where I don't even remember what I've done.

So I accept falling into flow state with open arms, but my goal is to not need it in the first place. To have trust in my own ability as an athlete. 

"Flow is a gift, consistency is a skill"