“Sometimes you just gotta push the button”
A blog about commitment, hesitation, and getting out of your own bloody way.
I had a pretty good response to my ‘Trying to not over think this’ blog about imposter syndrome and some of the ways I try to deal with it. This blog is a bit of a follow up idea that I think speaks to a similar subject area…
- I wrote this in my notes a few months ago.
There’s a moment every rider knows.
You’re standing above a feature, or a blind drop, or a new trick you swear you’re ready for. You’ve done the reps. You’ve felt it in the approach. Maybe you’ve visualised it a dozen times.
And then…
your brain throws up the big yellow “WAIT…” sign like an over cautious mum saying “Be careful”.
Hesitation is basically your brain hitting the snooze button on your own progression.
“Five more seconds”, it says — and five years later you’re still avoiding front boards.
That micro-pause — that half-second of hesitation — is the difference between committing to a clean attempt or bailing before you’ve even tried. And what most people don’t realise is this:
Hesitation is a trained response.
Action is also a trained response.
You get better at whichever one you practise.
The Neuroscience of Just Going
Neuroscience is very clear on this part:
When you hesitate, you strengthen the neural circuits responsible for hesitation.
When you commit, even clumsily, you strengthen the circuits responsible for decisive action.
That moment before you try something — the moment where uncertainty spikes, your heart rate bumps up, your visual field narrows — that’s your limbic system trying to protect you.
But here’s the key:
Your brain updates its risk assessment based on behaviour, not thoughts.
You can analyse a movement forever, but the circuitry for commitment is only built through action.
Visualisation helps — absolutely. Elite athletes use it all the time. It builds familiarity, reduces threat, and primes your motor pathways.
But visualisation doesn’t replace the action.
It prepares you for it.
my junior footy coach…
My U17s coach told me something that stuck with me more then any drill we did:
“If there’s a footy in the middle of two blokes running directly at each other, the one who comes off second best is always the one who hesitates.”
It’s the exact same in snowboarding.
The rider who commits — clean alignment, intention clear, body stacked — moves through the moment with strength and stability.
The rider who hesitates?
They go soft, pull back, twist weirdly, or brace before they even begin, like they are aiming for Jerry Of The Day clip.
They don’t fall because they’re unskilled…
They fall because their body carried the message:
“We’re not sure about this.”
Hesitation is a message.
And your body always listens.
The Button You Have to Train
Every rider has a “go” button.
Some people only push it when everything feels perfect.
Some push it too soon. (We all have that one mate)
Some never push it at all and wonder why progress feels slow.
But the best riders — the ones you admire for their calmness and confidence — have trained that button.
Not recklessly.
Not blindly.
But intentionally.
They practise:
committing to the movement
committing to the line
committing to the outcome they want
not committing to the fear
Because the more you practise pushing the button, the easier it gets to push.
How to Train It (Without Being a Menace)
Here are a few practical ways to build the circuitry of commitment:
1. Set Micro-Commitments
Not the whole trick — just the start of it.
“On this run, the only thing I commit to is entering with speed.”
“On this lap, I commit to the line — not the trick.”
“On this practice rep, I commit to the first movement.”
Success builds on tiny moments of decisiveness.
2. Visualise the Positive Outcome
Not the fear outcome.
Replay the version where everything goes right:
clean approach, clean take-off, clean movement, clean landing or exit.
Your brain reacts to imagined success and imagined danger/failure almost identically —
so choose which one you want to reinforce.
3. Reduce the Thought Window
Give yourself:
5 seconds (even count-down 3-2-1-go)
or one exhale
or one clear visualisation
…then go.
Longer windows = hesitation.
4. Practise Small Acts of Everyday Commitment
This one sounds silly — but it works.
Cold plunge?
Send the email?
Start the workout?
Ask the question?
Try the new feature?
Your brain doesn’t care whether you’re dropping into a rail or replying to a message you’ve avoided for three weeks.
Commitment anywhere = commitment everywhere.
5. Treat hesitation as your training partner
“Is that you old mate?”
Instead of avoiding the feeling, recognise it as the cue that tells you:
This is the rep that matters.
6. Reward the attempt, not the outcome
The brain learns from completion, not perfection.
Even a messy rep teaches more than a perfect hesitation.
Why This Matters
Because snowboarding — like anything worth doing — is filled with moments where your brain whispers:
“Maybe not…”
And your progress depends on answering:
“Actually, yes… it’s go time.”
Sometimes the safest, smartest, most productive thing you can do is simply…
“push the button.”
Not recklessly.
Not thoughtlessly.
But decisively.
Give your brain a clear message:
We are doing this.
And then let your training take over.
Final Thought
Most progression moments don’t come from perfect technique or perfect conditions.
They come from riders who decided to stop hesitating.
Because commitment isn’t talent —
it’s a skill.
And like any skill, the more you practise it,
the more it becomes naturally consistent.
— Cam
