Lessons from the Pipe

It has been a while since I provided an update on my half pipe progress. The half pipe is in fine condition, having managing to outlast its first season of winter weather. The oldest kid has not managed to do as well!

My eight year old is able to drop in and do a magnificent top turn on the far side with front wheels and top half of the board completely above the rail. I really cannot wait to see him do that on a wave! After all, that is why we have this fine piece of apparatus in our garden.

I have found mastering the pipe a little more difficult. You see all of the ‘cool’ stuff like grinds on the rail, tap downs, lock ups, airs, all take place six foot above the ground at speeds of up to 40km/hour. It is most spectacular when you get it right, but get them wrong, and six feet is a long fall onto some rather unforgiving material.

I am ashamed to admit that I still cannot drop in, but I am working on it...

Yesterday the pipe beat me badly for the second time. I was on the last turn of my session when the wheels fell off. Well not literally! Somehow I managed to twist my ankle again, even while wearing an ankle guard, and land with my full weight on my hip at the bottom of the pipe.

My pain has forced me to look deep within and share some lessons from the pipe, which apply to both life and business:

1. Always remain 100% focussed, any loss of attention and you are on the floor. My brain wandered yesterday and I don’t even know how I fell.
2. Commit. Absolutely anything undertaken without full commitment is not worth doing and may not even be possible without everything you have. Wafting around on the pipe is an invitation for disaster.
3. Plan for failure but never entertain it. The thought entered my mind that I have a Judo grading tonight and I cannot afford to sprain my ankle. And I sprained my ankle!
4. Nothing brilliant comes without lots of effort and work. Don't stop trying, training, and reaching higher and further!

And if you are in the process of failing, make sure it is spectacular so that at least you and all those watching have something to talk about for weeks on end!