I thought I knew how to orienteer. At least the basic techniques. After 15 years, hundreds of races and training sessions, plus plenty of good coaching, I thought I had the basic process figured out. I mean, I’ve had some relative success, I usually make fewer mistakes than most of those around me, and perfect is nigh-on impossible right? Maybe, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop striving for it.
Last weekend, we did a training session focusing on one particular technique - a way of executing very accurate compass bearings, by sighting things. Now, this wasn’t the breakthrough. I knew the technique existed, but somehow thought it was only useful when there weren’t any features (contour, rock, vegetation etc.) to use too. Basically, only useful in fairly rare situations, and as such, it wasn’t an ingrained habit. Orienteering is always a combination of compass and features, and I thought the limit on the accuracy* of a compass bearing was perhaps ± 6-7°, about 30m on a 250m leg. But doing this training session, and on another session the following day, I was consistently within ± 4-5°. The breakthrough was that when you do things properly, it’s possible. In a sport with such an important psychological side, the confidence this gives you is significant.
*My scientific brain can’t help but clarify, I probably mean the standard deviation, as the average of all my compass bearings is probably perfect, assuming I drift left and right equally.
It got me thinking about why I hadn’t taken it as seriously before, and I’ve arrived at this:
To give yourself any chance at finding a breakthrough, you first have to accept that you don’t already know everything. In sport, and more widely. As the great physicist Richard Feynman said:
We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and there is no learning … The attitude of uncertainty is vital to the scientist, and it is this attitude of mind which the student must first acquire.
Then, following naturally, is that you have to be open to trying new things. New ideas, new techniques, new opportunities. It’s getting outside the comfort zone and still thinking clearly. Not much else to say there - you never know if you don’t try and all the rest of it.
Finally, when you find a breakthrough, do it twice. Do it thrice. Do it four times (er, frice?). In science, it’s to check the first time wasn’t some dodgy fluke. In sport, it’s to ingrain the new learning as a habit. This takes a level of discipline, especially because when we get into a stressful situation, like a race, we tend to revert to our most deeply ingrained habits. Here’s hoping I can carry on nailing these compass bearings and spiking controls :)
Have a good week, you never know when a breakthrough is just around the corner.