Posts
363
Joined
12/5/2006
Location
Menifee, CA, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 11:20am
Hopefully this will help the riders and their parent/parents work together with less emotion and allow the rider constructive information during a race.
Every racer has good and not so good races. When the athlete comes in from a race and it did not go well, he is dissapointed and upset for whatever reasons did not allow him to do better. His adreneline is flowing and for many the emotions are running high.
If the parent comes into the pits shortly after the race (he/she) is usually not happy and upset as well.
It is during this time that most of the verbal confrontations between rider and parent can and will go out of control. Very little positive information is given usually yelling and an escalation of the situation is the result.
If the parent will wait 15 minutes (this can be adjusted for obvious reasons) before talking to the rider, both will be in a more calm state and then the information given and received will most likely help with the next moto while not causing undue stress for everyone.
For the parents out there who have a tendency to be highly emotional, try this during your next race and see what the results are.
Every racer has good and not so good races. When the athlete comes in from a race and it did not go well, he is dissapointed and upset for whatever reasons did not allow him to do better. His adreneline is flowing and for many the emotions are running high.
If the parent comes into the pits shortly after the race (he/she) is usually not happy and upset as well.
It is during this time that most of the verbal confrontations between rider and parent can and will go out of control. Very little positive information is given usually yelling and an escalation of the situation is the result.
If the parent will wait 15 minutes (this can be adjusted for obvious reasons) before talking to the rider, both will be in a more calm state and then the information given and received will most likely help with the next moto while not causing undue stress for everyone.
For the parents out there who have a tendency to be highly emotional, try this during your next race and see what the results are.
I hope some take note of it
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I can still hear my dads voice after 20 years. Still love the guinea, it was his way to motivate.
Good rule of thumb.
I was sitting with the family of a top ten rider at the last round of the SuperX in Australia last year and our rider was having trouble stringing together a hot lap due to traffic and a couple of self inflicted issues. Just before he finished a top 3 lap he ran out of time leaving him eighth I think. The problem then was there was a couple of fast unseeded guys who we knew would beat his time and probably put him out of the top ten. When he came up to the stands his Dad tried to talk to him and there was steam pouring out of his ears.
I kept my mouth shut and waited. 10 - 15 mins later he was ready to talk, we had a good chat about some of the lines some riders were taking and a bit of general BS and then he left for his heat race a different person. If we had have chewed his ass the minute he sat down it wouldn't have helped 1 bit. As it was he left in a much better frame of mind.
if you remember (probably not, due to alzheimers) you were on the 24 hour rule with a 72 hour option based on how many cigars I had to put up with.
On a serious note,
we all have a lot to learn. Life is a learning process. One of the hardest things to learn in life is to take ourselves out of the equation when we want success for someone else.
I have made many mistakes in my life but without them I would not have learned how to avoid them in the future.
a kid always wants to please his parents and a parent always wants his kid to succeed. the very best thing a parent can do for a kid racing is to ask if they need anything...help or whatever. if the kid doesn't say anything the parent needs to stfu. yelling or telling the kid he did it wrong or anything other than telling them you are there for them is a waste of time and counterproductive imho. if the kid fucked up he knows he fucked up and he doesn't need a person he adores and admires to tell him he fucked up too.
Pit Row
"This post was in no way written to elicit a soft feeling out of Bobby M and should not be taken out of context for any reason. If in fact any further posts or replies by Bobby M contain the same level headed response I will delete said post to ensure the validity of Motodrive and Bobby M's future with said internet forum"
If parents did this, along with realizing there are many valuable life lessons that can be learned through motocross, that can be carried along through life, whether one achieves motocross success or not (instead of focusing ONLY on winning), the kids would be much better off...
Post a reply to: 15 minute RULE