{"id":16374,"date":"2013-11-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=16374"},"modified":"2021-06-28T12:32:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T12:32:09","slug":"2013-11-18-road-to-a-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2013-11-18-road-to-a-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Road to a CHAMPION!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine yourself being a world-class skydiver during a World Meet, fighting a fierce battle for the gold medals. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On your ride to altitude in round ten, looking into the eyes of your teammates, seeing their confidence, you just know it’s going to be all right. You have trained so hard during all those years and now it’s the moment of truth…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Hayabusa NMP Pch team, 2011
Photo by Danny Jacobs <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You exit the plane and the team goes flat out! From the beginning till the end, just a perfect jump and you just know that you won this World Championships before opening your canopy! Emotions run high through your veins. Sharing the joy with your teammates and fans when you land, seeing the official score being posted by the judges. Everyone cheering, clapping and whooping. You are a World Champion!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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If you’re reading this with a grin on your face and you can feel the weight of the gold medal hanging around your neck, well, this might be an interesting start to become a Champion yourself. Because first it all starts with being able to see yourself as one of them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author Roy Janssen, winning the 2007 World Cup
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This article is for the recreational skydiver, who feels they have star quality and is willing to make the necessary sacrifices to live the dream. It gives some advice about individual achievement, teamwork and how to get the best out of yourself in an efficient way. Also, it tells you about the possible obstacles on your way to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask people around you if they want to be a Champion and they probably will all say ‘yes’. Ask them if they want to give up their social life, luxury, and spend years of focusing on one thing with no guarantee of success, and they will likely start to doubt. Let’s be honest, to become a Champion isn’t easy and the way to glory is hard and long. It will constantly require the very best from yourself and your teammates. You will have to put a tremendous effort into it for many years. But you know what, ask any World Champion if he or she thinks it was worth it and they will all say \u2013 \u2018Yes!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hayabusa in action at the 2012 World Meet
Photo courtesy of Skydive Dubai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

INGREDIENTS OF A CHAMPION<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

1. Talent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Talent is, of course, very important to be able to achieve the top level in any kind of sport. Talent is just one simple word that contains many different aspects. To be remarkable in your specialty alone is simply to be a skilled practitioner. But a true Champion continually embraces every opportunity to learn. He or she is often humble, joyful and driven by a child-like curiosity. Some people talk about talent and just mean the physical part of it; the mental ability is often forgotten. One doesn’t go without the other. I have met some super-talented people, flying-wise, but who had trouble with mental skills or had performance anxiety. I also met hard-workers, people with a great mental ability, who were willing to sacrifice it all but they just didn’t have the flying skills. We have to understand that we need to learn and train them both, to become a great competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A true Champion is humble, joyful and driven by a child-like curiosity<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Without investing enough time into your training, you can’t reach the physical and mental level that it requires to get on top of the game. If we want to compete against the very best, we must get that necessary experience under our belt. It’s not only spending time on the jumps; if you take it seriously, you’ll have some homework to do as well. Analysing your jumps again, visualising the jumps for the next day and gathering data from other teams are just some examples. Also, keeping your body fit is important. For peak performance we don’t need to be able to run a marathon or climb Mount Everest, but we do need a good basic condition. Doing twelve jumps a day for a long period in a row is mentally and physically exhausting. The better shape you’re in, the easier it will be to perform well during the training camps. Plus the chance of getting little injuries is significantly smaller when you work out regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately skydiving is an expensive sport. After a weekend of blue skies it seems that maybe you had a robbery on your bank account! We need to have enough money to pay for our jumps and tunnel time. In our sport winning doesn’t carry a big cash prize to pay off your investments, even if you are a World Champion. We must find a way to finance our training to be able to achieve our goals. Without the required amount of money we simply can\u2019t train enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be clear that if you are lacking in one or more of these three requirements, you need to set new, realistic goals. For now let’s pretend that you have the necessary talent, time and money, but that you don’t have a clue how to organise your training in a smart and efficient way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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