Fail to Improve

FAILURE noun fail·ure \’fāl-yər\

1. omission of occurrence or performance; specifically: a failing to perform a duty or expected action 2. an opportunity to learn from your mistakes, to correct and improve your performance

by Joe Zvada/Balloon Pong

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ailure is not only an option, it’s inevitable. But failure should be your opportunity to learn from what you did wrong and improve for the future. Despite my best efforts through these articles and the videos and resources on BalloonPong.com, trial and error is still the best way to learn. The key is identifying the errors, learning from them, and not committing them again.

I’ve only recently really started to take advantage of my mistakes by forcing myself to dedicate time to analyze and critique my flying performance to identify areas where I can improve.

Some items are quick fixes to my routine or organization, while others are long term commitments to breaking out of bad habits that have crept into my flying over the years.

The process is a cognitive one. The long road trips that often come with competition ballooning provide a lot of time to replay the events of a flight in your head. I try to break down every action that goes into a flight and ask myself if I can do better, and if so, how.

On board video footage has given me a clear perspective into my inflight habits and actions and has really opened my eyes to a lot of areas for improvement.

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The hardest habit I’ve had to break so far was the location of my focus during a target approach. After a mediocre performance at the 2012 Worlds, I noticed a trend that when following a balloon into the target I would almost always miss the target to the outside of the balloon I was following. After a lot of thought and analyzing past flight videos I attributed the trend to my attention being drawn to much to the balloon in front and not enough on the target. Instead of flying to the target, I was flying to the balloon ahead of me, which was a moving target, and always left me wide of the actual target. The solution was to force my focus away from the balloon and on the target.

I tried several things to correct this to varying degrees of success. Finally, still feeling my attention fixated on other balloons, I began to hold my hand up as if to shield my eyes from the sun, but instead shielded the other balloons out of my line of sight. Results improved immediately, but like any habit, it was hard to break and is still a challenge at times.

During the competition in Battle Creek, Michigan this year, Johnny Petrehn was quoted in the Battle Creek Enquirer saying “I have made a mental note of five or six things I need to take care of before Longview.” Which prompted me to ask him what those things were because he obviously figured them out (having won the National Championship a few weeks later).

Petrehn’s main focus was on improving skills needed for Longview specifically saying “The biggest thing was trying to force myself to drive the balloon more directly to the target, at a slightly higher altitude, and plowing down into and even through the lower left. It is easy for me to get suckered into changing up my approach based on what the balloons in front of me are doing and that is when I usually get caught swinging out to the right. In Longview, that left turn is a fickle wind at best” Petrehn’s comments reveal a pilot who is obviously in tune with his own performance and critiques himself against the skills he knows he’ll need at upcoming competitions.

He goes on to explain a common f law in his f lying, “I also tend to swing out when I have not f lown Sep/Oct 2015

as much, usually earlier in the year, when my confidence might be down a bit.” His statement shows that he’s aware of it and must take steps to prevent it from happening.

Small improvements are sometimes just as important as the big ones. For me, being organized leads to efficiency, which leads to fewer mistakes such as forgetting to turn your logger on. I try to make everything as routine and easy as possible so as to not add any difficulty to the flight.

Petrehn works on this as well, saying “I felt like I needed to be better organized. From pulling into the launch field to take off- I needed to be more efficient getting all of the computer, ipad, gps, radios, lines in the right place, water in place, baggies in place etc. without being rushed and forgetting anything. This is still a work in progress.”

So what do I have to work on after

the Nationals? Understanding the rules. I left at least 500pts on the table at the Nationals because I didn’t fully understand the 3D scoring rule. You can bet I’ll be reading the rules much more carefully in the future.

There are lessons to be learned at the big high profile competitions that can’t be duplicated by any other means than to compete. Unfortunately, those lessons often come in the form of failures, mistakes, or miscalculations.

Treating these as opportunities to improve will go a long way in improving your state of mind after a tough flight, but also improve your performance in the next one.

Opposite: Misdirected focus can lead to unintentioned, yet costly errors in a sport where inches matter.

Above: Organization can lead to improved efficiency. Photo courtesy Sam Clegg

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