For her, attending to a spot the place she will be able to confidently try a dangerous dive takes meticulous psychological prep. “We’ve got a saying in cliff diving: For those who’re not afraid, you should not do it,” Good says. She factors out that worry is a pure physiological response to hazard that protects us by heightening our consciousness and growing our adrenaline. “There is a degree of worry that is actually necessary to have,” says Good, 26, who fell in love with sports activities psychology as a collegiate diver at UC Berkeley, then went on to get her grasp’s diploma in sports activities and train science with an emphasis on human efficiency.
She says that the trick to harnessing worry in order that it is useful will not be letting it get to the purpose the place you spiral right into a rabbit gap of “what ifs,” which can enhance your possibilities of making a mistake. “Having worry, however controlling that worry is vital in our sport,” she says.
Good’s already began the method of getting her nerves in examine for her subsequent large dive, developing on June 4. So long as the situations cooperate, she’ll seemingly be making an attempt probably the most tough dive ever finished by a feminine competitor, whereas jumping off of Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art into the Boston Harbor. It is the primary cease of the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, and Good is the one American girl on the everlasting roster.
So how does she get her thoughts in the correct place to tackle what some contemplate the “unique excessive sport?”
Her primary technique for managing worry
Good trains often at an Olympic diving pool with a 10-meter excessive platform, however a lot of her dives are from 20 meters or increased. A lot of her coaching takes place inside her head. “Visualization is large,” she says.
Beginning at the least a few weeks earlier than a serious competitors, she’ll begin setting apart time to shut her eyes and envision herself stepping out onto the platform. She’ll image precisely what a bounce will appear like, and take into consideration the way it will really feel in her physique. That manner, when it is time to do the precise dive throughout a contest, it can nearly really feel like she already did it. “It is not so international,” she says.
Analysis has proven that visualizing yourself succeeding can have a constructive influence on efficiency, and it is a technique that may work for anybody earlier than a giant occasion—whether or not that is racing a marathon or giving a serious work presentation. “Visualization is likely one of the strongest strategies for reaching optimum efficiency as a result of it instantly impacts our neurology that’s important for speedy, fluid execution of motor expertise, managing feelings, and coping with stress,” Eric Bean, PhD, CMPC, govt board member of Association for Applied Sports Psychology, previously told Effectively+Good.
Basically, imagining a situation vividly sufficient prompts the identical neural patterns as doing the exercise. The extra senses you’ll be able to contain (fascinated about what it appears like, what it seems like, what it smells like, and many others), the extra powerfully this method will work.
What it takes to quiet the thoughts
Everyone knows how briskly our minds can race within the hours earlier than doing one thing disturbing. Good stays centered by avoiding Instagram or anything that reminds her of “real-life stuff.” She places on her headphones to chop out the remainder of the world by listening to the identical tune on repeat. (Throughout her final competitors, it was Justin Beiber’s “Ghost.”)
Though she used to keep away from breathwork (“I do not know why, however I hate when folks inform me to breathe,” she says, with fun), Good now recommends it as a manner to assist calm the nervous system. Her go-to approach is one her coach taught her known as box breathing: She breathes in for the rely of two, then out for the rely of two, which she repeats whereas envisioning a field with a distinct facet lighting up on every in or out breath.
The ability of taking a second for your self
Lastly, Good facilities herself with a pre-competition ritual that will get her in a wholesome headspace. “I all the time go and simply sit on the fringe of platform, look down and take a second of appreciation for the place I’m and what I’m doing,” she says. “For me, that second is type of like simply accepting the worry and the hazard that comes with the game I do. But in addition reminding myself that this isn’t one thing new—I’ve been diving since I used to be 5 years previous. I’ve put the hours in on the pool and the gymnasium, and I do know what I’m doing.”
It is not solely a reminder of how ready she is, but in addition a second of gratitude for the chance to do one thing she loves.
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