Understanding Fear & the Three Cs

Fear is a very powerful emotion and works as a mechanism to keep us safe, avoid harm and/or prepare us for action. All people are susceptible to being afraid and we all have different things that may scare us. It is often the things that we have learnt to be afraid of, yet not necessarily experienced for ourselves, that have the potential to create the greatest fear response. The reaction to fear is different in each individual and situation.

You may have heard of the flight or fight response. Do you get away from the danger or do you have the courage to overcome the fear and confront it?

It is important to understand and address fears before attempting new tasks. Fear will often stop you from listening to what you are being told. Using courage to overcome fear is a very powerful tool. This is where the instructor has a very key role to play in encouraging the student.

Fear can be broken into two basic types: rational and irrational.

Rational fear is being afraid of something that is truly dangerous.

Irrational fear is being afraid of something that may or may not exist. This fear is common in most people, though it is usually minor.

Snowboard instructors tend to deal more with their students’ rational fears, such as fear of the unknown, fear of pain or injury, and the fear of failure. It is easy for instructors to forget what it was like to attempt something on a snowboard for the first time. Being empathetic and patient towards students will let them know that you are aware of how they may be feeling and that you are there to help.

Now we need to understand how we can manage fear. Feeling nervous should be viewed as a positive emotion, it is just our body preparing us for something we are about to experience. The following introduces a simple tactic that we can use to help manage fear for ourselves and our students…

The Three Cs

The Three Cs, as a concept for managing fear, is most effective in situations that students typically find intimidating, such as learning a new trick in the terrain park.

In this environment, comfort can be developed by spending time in the park riding features that the students are very familiar with, whilst building positive rapport with you as the instructor and the other members of the group. Confidence with the movements and speed required for the new trick can be worked on by breaking the trick down and spending time with each component of ATTL both outside and inside the park. Once both comfort and confidence are high, it is time to commit to the trick for the first attempt.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of each of the Three Cs…

Comfort, or feeling comfortable, relates to a sense of physical and mental ease. If we are feeling uncomfortable, there is obviously something causing it. If we are able to identify it then we may be in a position to change something to feel more comfortable. Being too comfortable also has its problems as we may not want to leave our comfort zone. When this occurs, we tend to limit our ability to progress. It is a balancing act. The trick is to know how far out of your or your student’s comfort zone to go.

Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain. If we are certain of an outcome then we are more likely to succeed at the task being attempted. When we are lacking in confidence, there is a degree of uncertainty which can lead to a lack of focus on what we are doing. Here we need to try and find out why the student is not feeling confident. Overconfidence can result in poor decision making and taking un-calculated risks. In snowboarding this will often result in safety issues.

Commitment obligates you to do something. We should consider a few things before we commit to a task. Do we have the skills required? Are we aware of the situation? What has influenced us to commit? If the student shows a fear of commitment to a task there will often be a lack of confidence or comfort as the cause. If we commit to the task anyway, we will tend to be more vulnerable to failure or injury.