BMX SHOULDN’T BE FUN!
Okay, I hope that title caught your eye. Before anyone starts rioting, I don’t necessarily mean it literally. Well, maybe I kind of do. Uhh, let me explain.
Based on some past social media interactions, there is a group of people who believe that we need to forget about performance and just have fun on our bikes. While this is a beautiful notion, I don’t think it’s a fully developed thought.
Riding our bikes should be fun, especially if you are brand new to BMX. Here are a few key things to focus on when you are new to BMX.
What is the best thing you can get at the concession stand for the money in your pocket?
Make sure your helmet is buckled.
Finding your moto and getting in the correct gate.
Get around the track without crashing.
Having fun.
As you get a couple of races into your BMX career, novice riders inherently start to focus on beating the other people in their class. When they finally get their first win and receive a trophy, they have reached near-peak states of happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction. Notice I did not say “fun”.
Fun and satisfaction are not necessarily the same things. Fun may be a night out full of drinking and debauchery, or riding a rollercoaster. Satisfaction and happiness tend to come from persevering through some kind of struggle. It often involves some delayed gratification. It tends to give you a higher level of self-esteem. While a good night's partying is fun, it’s seldom satisfying… from my experience at least.
Here’s another example of why a little struggle is good. Think of all the road trips you have ever taken on your way to a BMX race. Which ones do you look back on with the most vivid recollections and stories? Typically they are the ones that involve interesting Waffle House experiences, flat tires, crazy snow storms, and dicey late-night truck stop encounters. At the time these things suck. Like really bad. But you push on, and make it to your destination. These are the things that we will talk about years later. No one tells stories about how smooth of a trip it was.
The “Sciencey” Part
The reason why fun and fulfillment provide different levels of satisfaction has a biological explanation. The prefrontal cortex region of the brain is responsible for decision-making processes, such as weighing risks versus rewards, regulating behavior, and delaying gratification. Additionally, neurotransmitters are released to produce feelings of happiness and joy.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for these positive emotions. Whenever you see a container of ice cream, dopamine levels rise, which motivates you to consume the ice cream. Interestingly, dopamine levels spike even higher when there is uncertainty about whether or not there is ice cream in the container. This is similar to the thrill of a race, where the possibility of receiving a reward creates a surge of excitement.
If you really want to feel good, you should delay gratification, work hard, even without the guarantee of ever actually receiving the reward. Find happiness in the journey!
Back To BMX
In sports, especially a solo sport like BMX, our success is really up to us and so is our happiness. BMX is so much more than just having fun. BMX can give you the highest highs and the lowest lows. It can give you memories that last forever.
Training can begin many months or even many years before a rider eventually meets their goals. Many, many track and sprint sessions are performed. Thousands of pounds of weights are lifted. Day after day of healthy meals. Travel every weekend to a horse barn in the middle of winter just to ride. All of this just for the hopes that at the end of the year you can get a #1 on your number plate. This is delayed gratification. This is happiness and satisfaction. This is a great way to maintain elevated dopamine levels. But all of this may or may not be fun in the moment.
Picture an athlete standing on stage at the Grands after just winning a national title. That is most likely a person that is very satisfied, happy, and fulfilled. That is something that a person will remember for the rest of his life. They will probably also look back at all the sprints, gate starts, weight lifting, mental training and not think that any of it was fun.
There should absolutely be fun moments in BMX. I just don’t think that chasing fun exclusively is a great way for a kid or adult to develop self-esteem and truly look back with a sense of happiness, contentment, satisfaction, or fulfillment.
My Suggestions
Focus on development
Encourage children to develop their skills instead of obsessing over their finishing position, improving their gate start time, or attempting new jumps. It is important to remember that sometimes the outcome of a race is beyond their control, particularly when they are in the early stages of growth. These variables can create an uneven playing field. Instead, encourage them to focus on their personal progress and strive to outdo their previous accomplishments.
Praise consistency and effort
One of the quickest ways to turn a kid off is to put a huge emphasis on all race finishes. They feel great when they win but when they don’t, they can feel terrible. They don’t want to disappoint their parents. Developing a growth mindset, consistency, and work ethic all come from practice. Create success habits early in children. Assure them that while it may not be fun right now, it will help them get what they want. But do it in a non-psycho BMX parent sort of way.
Develop delayed gratification no matter how small
You have probably heard of the marshmallow study. If not, here you go. Scientists observed a group of kids. They were put in a room by themselves and instructed not to touch the bowl of marshmallows. If they didn’t eat them they would get a bigger treat later. They followed these kids for many years and found a distinct correlation between kids that could delay gratification and the success they had as they became adults. Point is, no matter how small, try to develop this in your offspring.
Don’t forget, The BMX Sprint Manual and Program, is available! Get your Sprint Manual and Program here.