SURF TIPS WITH LAYNE
PART THREE: PRESSURE -- IT'S ALL MINE

When I first started, I used to be incredibly nervous when I was put under pressure. Actually, I just put myself under pressure because I expected so much of myself. I didn't compete too often as an amateur. I'm one of the few world champions who didn't have an amateur career. I jumped straight in. The expectations I put on myself were much higher than anyone else could have expected of me, and that's why I'm a successful athlete, because I have incredibly high expectations. When I first started out, I just absorbed all the pressure, all the expectations, and I forgot I was supposed to have fun, to just go surfing and really enjoy myself.

I went through a few years of failing miserably, losing first round every event. Basically, what pressure is, when it comes to competition, is a lack of focus on yourself. You're concentrating on all these other things going on around you, and in your head, anything but what you're supposed to be concentrating on -- which is just winning.

That's what pressure does; it distracts your focus. It's easy to succumb to those distractions and make excuses for your losses, but at the end of the day, the reason you lost is that you didn't focus on yourself. You didn't give yourself enough preparation or time to calm yourself down and generate positive affirmation, positive thoughts.

Pressure grows when you do well, because everyone expects more of you. A good example for me is: I was afraid to win the world title for the responsibility of being the best in the world. When I won, I expected that much more of myself. I expected to perform on a daily basis as the best in the world. And we all have our bad days. I put way more pressure on myself after I was world champion than when I was working my way up. After I won the second year, I realized I was just making it that much more difficult on myself. Last year, I realized to just have fun with it and learn from my experiences and not put extra expectations and pressure on myself, and I actually did better. The third one was better than the second.

I won't ease up on myself until I win five, but then I'll always have some other expectations of myself. But that's just me, that's the way I deal with it. I don't focus on other people's expectations of me. I have it within me. If I don't fulfill a goal I've set for myself I'm disappointed. If someone else expects something of me and I don't do it, then that's their disappointment. You have to learn to detach yourself from that kind of pressure. A lot of athletes fall away and say it was the pressure of competition, but really it's just a mental thing. Before I won the title I actually went and got a surfing coach cause I felt my surfing wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't happy with the way I was surfing. Regardless of how fantastic everyone thought I was surfing, personally it wasn't enough. I got a coach and went back to the basic fundamentals of surfing. I had to slow down to speed up.

You can use the classic cliche -- the only pressure is the pressure I put on myself. I think it's something you learn, because the only way you can deal with the pressure of competition is to actually be put under that pressure and to be involved in competition. People deal with it in different ways. A lot of people try to ignore it and pretend that they're not under any pressure, or I -- for one -- acknowledge the pressure and actually thrive on it because it pushes me and makes me try harder. Here's a simple guide to cutting through pressure and using it to your advantage:

1. Be ready. Pressure is going to come from all different angles, especially as you rise through the ranks. Pressure from sponsors, from friends, from family -- it's all a part of competition.

2. Acknowledge it. Don't detach yourself and say it isn't there. Denial will get you nowhere. If you can pinpoint the source of the pressure, you can differentiate what matters from what doesn't.

3. Put it into a perspective of what's important to you as opposed to what's important to everyone else. Deal with it from a personal level. Focus on yourself. Don't judge your performance by what everyone else is doing. If you set clear goals for yourself, it doesn't matter what anyone else says.

4. Stay focused. Don't lose sight of your objectives. You do have goals, don't you? If not, you shouldn't be competing. Setting and achieving goals should always be in the back of your mind, but don't be single-minded. All work and no play makes Layne a bloody bore, so remember to have fun as well.