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