All In Good Time

Harty this month suggests that improvement may lie focussing not so much on ‘how’, but ‘how long.’ It’s all about time and timing

- Peter Hart

Over-thinking, or just thinking for that matter, in a technical sport like ours where you’re trying to link movements quickly and at speed, is death to a satisfying outcome. But for those with a logical, analytical brain (and that’s most humans), thinking is a hard to break.

For those who are stuck, there is a very simple rule that everyone knows but few obey – and that is the insanity avoidance scheme of doing something different. You need to upset the established order; and not just think outside of the box but destroy the box altogether.

One slightly left field approach I employ to help lift people out of ruts is to get them to focus on time. I’m not trying to carry on where Stephen Hawking left off, but time in its various guises, in a windy context, is a vital and oft ignored component.

TIME Mention ‘time’ to a recreational windsurfer and the words that tumble miserably from his or her mouth are inevitably ‘not enough.’ Sadly the solution to finding more of the stuff to allow meaningful practice is less the remit of the humble tipster and more one for the life coach. However, in a technique context, time has three meanings. Time. The length of time needed to complete a move (spoiler alert – most people take too long). Tempo. It’s the rhythm of the move – the time between elements – too long, too quick, speeding up or slowing down. Timing. It’s the hardest to express in words but is the key to power and efficiency. It’s not just when you perform each element (like the rig flip) of the move – but also how the end of one action can be the platform and trigger for the next.

TIME – THE AMOUNT OF … (IT’S NOT ON YOUR SIDE)

How long it takes you to complete a move or skill – getting planing, a gybe, tack, loop - is a reliable barometer of standard.