| Interview with a former skateboard champion | | | | really start working on skating timed contest |
| | | | runs to the music I selected for that |
| Interview with Per Welinder | | | | competition. On the actual day of the event I |
| | | | would warm-up in the arena. I would then go |
| Former Free Skating World Champion | | | | to a quiet area and rehearse the entire |
| | | | routine in my head numerous times. |
| MOTIVATION | | | | |
| | | | SKATING AS IF. . . |
| ATHLETE WHISPERER: Your background-how old | | | | |
| were you when you got involved in the sport | | | | |
| seriously? What was your goal? Where did it | | | | |
| lead you? | | | | AW: Who were your skating heroes? |
| | | | |
| PER: I had no real goals at the beginning, | | | | PER: Skating with guys like Steve Rocco, |
| just a burning desire to learn how to skate | | | | Rodney Mullen, Hazze Lindgren, Bob |
| and do new tricks. At first, it lead me from | | | | Schmeltzer, Don Brown, and Pierre Andre |
| the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden, to the | | | | Seniserguez inspired me. |
| center of the city where there were skate | | | | |
| shops and occasional demos by U.S. pros like | | | | |
| Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. Then it lead to | | | | |
| trips to Paris and other European | | | | MENTAL GAME |
| destinations for competitions. Winning lead | | | | |
| me to a more goal-like mind-set. I wanted to | | | | |
| go to southern California, the Mecca of | | | | |
| skateboarding. I wanted to compete against | | | | AW: Did you use mental game techniques? |
| the best. I loved the skating opportunities, | | | | |
| the weather, and the girls. | | | | PER: I would prepare using visualization. I |
| | | | would also use it to imagine new tricks. I |
| Today, I live with my wife and two sons | | | | would imagine the trick in slow motion, real |
| in southern California, and run my skateboard | | | | time, and speeded up. All can be helpful to |
| company. DISTRACTIONS | | | | grasp how you would go about pulling off the |
| | | | trick. |
| AW: What or Who were your stumbling blocks | | | | |
| along the way? Were you encouraged and | | | | AW: How did you deal with disappointments? |
| supported or discouraged? | | | | |
| | | | PER: Mull it over for a day or two. I would |
| PER: Rain and cold Swedish winters reduced | | | | use it to push harder, skate more often, |
| the opportunities to skate outside. I was | | | | skate faster, and try more tricks. |
| fortunate and was allowed to skate and do | | | | |
| stationary tricks on a carpet in the living | | | | LESSONS LEARNED |
| room. Also, when the weather was bad we would | | | | |
| go to into Stockholm and find the least busy | | | | AW: What are you doing now? Does your sport |
| subway stations deep underground and skate | | | | experience help you in business? In life? |
| for hours between the trains stopping. Those | | | | |
| were very memorable days. My mother was | | | | PER: In business, I really enjoy pushing for |
| supportive but my dad had reservations for | | | | new products and new designs. That has |
| many years about me spending so much time o | | | | carried over from the competitive skating |
| the skateboard. VISUALIZATION | | | | days. And dealing with disappointments is |
| | | | similar too. I don't dwell on business |
| AW: Did you have a pre-event psych-up | | | | disappointments; rather I try to learn from |
| routine? | | | | them. I hope that transfers into satisfied |
| | | | customers. |
| PER: About 2-3 weeks before an event I would | | | | |