OK, last one, until I think of another one. This one was the best, though...
Be the Ball Danny
This one had a 100% success rate with students going to the boat in intermediate (T-2’s), which I still find amazing. I only brought it out for students who specifically came to me with concerns. They were ready to listen and practice.
To get to this point they had to pass the beach check, main criteria being that they were safe and responded to LSO directions promptly, without reservation or evasion. But if they did, I never had one DQ that followed this path. Not a huge sample size, but again the ones that came to me for help were typically pack or pack-minus players, and our overall DQ rate was very much non-zero.
The interesting thing is, it had nothing to do with ball flying or pattern work. It was all focused on head game. The grey matter. Calming it down and letting it do its thing.
The three key elements were:
The first two are done back on the beach or in the stateroom, the third in the cockpit somewhere in the overhead stack, or before you push at night, or even on downwind.
Relaxation Training
This one is just what it says, learn to relax. This is similar to all of the mindfulness and meditation stuff going on these days, but it is not quite the same. The focus is on the relaxation here. The best drill to get it going is to just sit back in the barco-lounger in a quiet space and work your way mentally over the body, identifying each muscle and relaxing it. Foot to head. Put your awareness on a spot, feel what its state is, and then relax it. On and on.
The key point to all of this is it is impossible to have a tense mind and a relaxed body. Just doesn’t happen. Now, the relaxed body is not really the target it of this exercise, the mind is. But as the body relaxes, the mind follows. It just does. So what you are really doing here, is relaxing the mind and putting it into a chill, receptive state, through the body.
Mental Visualization
Once in the relaxed state with a quiet mind, you use mental visualization to rehearse your ideal performance. First, practice just visualizing flight actions. Always involve movement, so visualize (for example) rolling in off the 180, or rolling wings level in the groove, in as much detail as possible. The power comes off, the sound of the motor changing, gauges move, the seat of the pants feeling, sight picture, etc. Practice seeing things, always working to get in more detail. Always movement.
Then visualize the good ones. Go back to your brief moments of excellence, and revisit them. What did it look, sound, feel, smell like? As much detail as possible, always including dynamic change.
Finally, use the visualization to practice. Fly 10-20 laps around the pattern in your mind, in as much detail as possible. Let the winds change and you adjust. Other aircraft in the pattern. Paddles talking to you, etc. Do the reps.
The thing is, proven by science, these reps are almost as good as the real thing. You work to learn to do something in the mental rehearsal, and practice it in the airplane. Learning does not go on in the airplane. Practice does. That’s an exaggeration, but not overly.
Triggering Relaxed State & Letting Go
Your best performance comes when the mind is relaxed and open, ready to respond, and the body is relaxed and calm, ready to act. This one is about triggering yourself into that state. The time to execute, for a carrier landing, would be while holding overhead in the stack, or strung out behind the boat for a Case II/III, but you can also do it on the downwind out of the break, once you’ve done it a lot.
It was much later that I saw some documentary on the Blues watching them fly their show in the conference room, eyes closed and hand flying, then in the airplane. I thought, “Yep, if it works for them…”
Be the Ball Danny
This one had a 100% success rate with students going to the boat in intermediate (T-2’s), which I still find amazing. I only brought it out for students who specifically came to me with concerns. They were ready to listen and practice.
To get to this point they had to pass the beach check, main criteria being that they were safe and responded to LSO directions promptly, without reservation or evasion. But if they did, I never had one DQ that followed this path. Not a huge sample size, but again the ones that came to me for help were typically pack or pack-minus players, and our overall DQ rate was very much non-zero.
The interesting thing is, it had nothing to do with ball flying or pattern work. It was all focused on head game. The grey matter. Calming it down and letting it do its thing.
The three key elements were:
- Relaxation training
- Mental visualization
- Triggering relaxed state
The first two are done back on the beach or in the stateroom, the third in the cockpit somewhere in the overhead stack, or before you push at night, or even on downwind.
Relaxation Training
This one is just what it says, learn to relax. This is similar to all of the mindfulness and meditation stuff going on these days, but it is not quite the same. The focus is on the relaxation here. The best drill to get it going is to just sit back in the barco-lounger in a quiet space and work your way mentally over the body, identifying each muscle and relaxing it. Foot to head. Put your awareness on a spot, feel what its state is, and then relax it. On and on.
The key point to all of this is it is impossible to have a tense mind and a relaxed body. Just doesn’t happen. Now, the relaxed body is not really the target it of this exercise, the mind is. But as the body relaxes, the mind follows. It just does. So what you are really doing here, is relaxing the mind and putting it into a chill, receptive state, through the body.
Mental Visualization
Once in the relaxed state with a quiet mind, you use mental visualization to rehearse your ideal performance. First, practice just visualizing flight actions. Always involve movement, so visualize (for example) rolling in off the 180, or rolling wings level in the groove, in as much detail as possible. The power comes off, the sound of the motor changing, gauges move, the seat of the pants feeling, sight picture, etc. Practice seeing things, always working to get in more detail. Always movement.
Then visualize the good ones. Go back to your brief moments of excellence, and revisit them. What did it look, sound, feel, smell like? As much detail as possible, always including dynamic change.
Finally, use the visualization to practice. Fly 10-20 laps around the pattern in your mind, in as much detail as possible. Let the winds change and you adjust. Other aircraft in the pattern. Paddles talking to you, etc. Do the reps.
The thing is, proven by science, these reps are almost as good as the real thing. You work to learn to do something in the mental rehearsal, and practice it in the airplane. Learning does not go on in the airplane. Practice does. That’s an exaggeration, but not overly.
Triggering Relaxed State & Letting Go
Your best performance comes when the mind is relaxed and open, ready to respond, and the body is relaxed and calm, ready to act. This one is about triggering yourself into that state. The time to execute, for a carrier landing, would be while holding overhead in the stack, or strung out behind the boat for a Case II/III, but you can also do it on the downwind out of the break, once you’ve done it a lot.
- Visualize the event: run a quick mental rehearsal of the upcoming pass, a refresher from all of your mental rehearsing
- Quiet your mind & relax: do a quick body check and feel what is tense, let it all flow down out of your feet and out of the aircraft. If you can close your eyes for a few potatoes, all the better.
- Be present: bring your awareness on to the sounds and feelings of flying, the forces in the seat of your pants, the sounds and the quality of the sounds of the motors, the air flowing over the aircraft, etc.
It was much later that I saw some documentary on the Blues watching them fly their show in the conference room, eyes closed and hand flying, then in the airplane. I thought, “Yep, if it works for them…”