It’s an event that is brought about by a long process. The moment when you finally stomp that trick that has been teasing you for weeks. The sun is low and you have a couple battle wounds reminding you that this wasn’t the first try of the night. The adrenalin that is coursing through your veins augments the feeling of accomplishment. You didn’t get to this moment by being stupid or insane. You got here by being bold and daring to push yourself just outside your comfort zone. Now the night is yours.
It’s a common misconception that extreme sports athletes are stupid or crazy for doing the things they do. That you only need to go so hard you hurt yourself to t. While being a successful action sports athlete requires a certain amount of “crazy” – real success comes from pushing yourself just a little bit at a time. In fact, sometimes it feel like after a 4 hour sesh’ you have gotten worse, not better. The big air that you see in the competitions seems so spectacular and almost easy. But behind the big air, lights and crowds is just athletes who spent hours upon hours perfecting everything down to the inch. Just a twitch of the ankle or a bend of the knee is the difference between success and failure. These athletes have focused on so many details that by mastering a trick it becomes completely unique to them. Only they can do it exactly how they do it.
As your abilities increase you start to go bigger and bigger and that increases the danger. Pushing yourself does not make you stupid however. You drop in with the knowledge of what you can currently do and what you know you are capable of doing. That’s the key! You know you can do it! That’s why you try. The mere fact that you are capable of something more is what pushes you to your limits. The motivation of, “Man, I am going to look so cool when I can do this,” falters after about 50 tries. The true action sports athlete has something more pushing him. He wants it for him.
So when you go out to huck hard, don’t expect to get by only on guts. Yes you need those too, but it’s more than that. You can’t cheat the system. To excel in any of these sports you need to put in the time. You need to earn it.
