[left] The author waiting for it | photo by David Fynn.
top of the dunes and ending only seconds later in the parking lot behind the dunes. He crashed in front of the rated pilots, as they set up their gliders. His body, bloody and lifeless, illustrated how hubris and false confidence can lead to tragedy. While this powerful example of overconfidence is memorable, it is not as common as less dramatic examples. Imagine you are in a competition and your assessment of the day is: “This task is easy.” How might that impact your performance as you prepare for final glide? Overconfidence can lead to missed opportunities while your eager competitors retain their vigilance and leave the gaggle with a good line ahead of you.
Where does Confidence come from? The more you fly, the more confident you are: “That (flying often) gives you the muscle memory you need for a sport like hang gliding.” Confidence comes from a number of different sources. The most obvious source is having successfully completed a similar task before. The first time you land in a tricky LZ you are not as confident as you are on your second or third time. Paul Voight explains that confidence is most impacted by how current a pilot is. Confidence also comes from developing and improving skills, from observing mentors demonstrate a skill, and from capturing a mental picture of the skill done correctly. Trust in the judgment of your mentors and instructors is crucial, as is listening to their advice. Other factors include the feedback and encouragement you get from those around you. Instructors, flying partners and loved ones have an impact on our confidence.
How can you improve your Confidence? Keep flying. This develops the mastery of skills and abilities needed to perform. Each time you demonstrate your mastery of a given skill, the more confident you are that you can do it well in the future. Assess your own confidence by an-
swering the following questions: When are you overconfident? When do you have self-doubts? When are you tentative or indecisive? How do you recover from mistakes? Seek out feedback from trusted sources. There is no shortage of feedback in the world of hang gliding and paragliding, but not all advice is good advice. Many experienced pilots are eager to provide feedback to make themselves feel good, rather than because it is useful to the newer pilot. More often than not, those with the most helpful information are not compelled to demonstrate the knowledge they have. Find pilots whose judgment you trust and respectfully ask for their opinion. Learn to coach yourself. Self-talk is the background noise in your mind—the words you use to judge yourself and your actions. Self-talk can be positive: “I can do this.” It can also be negative: “I’m not good enough.” Monitoring and transforming negative statements about yourself into positive statements that are true is a far more effective performance strategy. Find a role model. Even if you are a top competitor, another pilot may be more skilled than you in one aspect of flying. Develop a mental picture of how they execute that skill and do what they do. Review your best performances. Pay close attention to the feelings and sensations that go with those experiences. Bring those feelings into the present and project them into the future, as you anticipate your next task.
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onfidence separates top performers from the rest of the pack. The experience of being under-confident is more common than being overconfident. Overconfidence can detract from performance by decreasing effort and mental focus. Optimal confidence affects mood, focus and muscle movements positively. To improve your flying, consider working on the suggestions given.