Indeed, visualisation is the key, along with all the proper prep etc etc. I also look at pilots gone before me to see what the wind is doing etc etc, then before I fly I sit down next to my model and caress it's body for a few minutes and whisper sweet nothings. Just make her feel wanted and loved then she will fly all the better. I then sit down on my trusty tool box, put my fingers in my ears to shut out all noise and go through the flight, including all wind corrections. Basically just focus on the task at hand. I did try listening to music before a flight but it didn't work.

I used to get extremely nervous at comps so I learned to relax myself. For awhile though I took it too far the other way and ended up not keyed up enough. I spoke with a sports pshychologist a couple of years ago and he was going on about adrenaline scales or something. 0 is just normal, like sitting at a pc and it goes up to 4 where you are classed as being bloody buzzing on natural endorphines. Step 2 is optimum where you at a "higher state" than normal, therefore concentrate and perform better. Above this there is a deleterious effect.

One thing I've noticed when I'm "in the zone" is I dont blink. You don't notice until after you land, then you blink and then immediately after cry with pain!

Putting in a flight that is the absolute best you can do is bloody hard. At WC/EC it's one flight a day and unless you're CPLR everyone has to nail every manoeuvre of every flight. Extremely difficult, especially at 7 o'clock in the morning. I guess that's all part of the challenge of F3A

A