Tom Boonen and the power of forgetting.
"I forget my defeats quickly.”
That bit of sports psychology was presented by classics monster Tom Boonen of Quick Step.
He said plenty of things in his latest interview about his season goals and the fast approaching Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but the one important and revealing thing that stuck out in an otherwise formulaic interview were these five words:
"I forget my defeats quickly.”
That's the summation statement of a star athlete because it's a mandatory for any pro at the top of his profession. "I forget the last play" is the best answer of any NFL Pro-Bowl cornerback. It's the same answer for a playoff-bound hockey goalie and it's a given for the best baseball relief pitchers in the business.
To be on the top of your game, you have to instantly and irrevocably forget your last mistake to continue to perform at the highest level. You have to immediately erase that Fabian Cancellara rode away from you in Paris Roubiax. You must destroy all memory of the touchdown pass you just got beat on, the power play goal you just gave up, the home run they slammed in the bleachers to win the game.
You must have selective amnesia or you are screwed, career over, your head messing with your body, forever replaying the endless beating, getting dropped, scored on, taken deep, the wide receiver doing his victory dance on your ass in the end-zone.
"I forget my defeats quickly" are the words you hope to hear from Tom Boonen if you're Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere. The words the entire nation of Belgium needs to hear and the words that Fabian Cancellara doesn't want to hear.
That is the sound of confidence, fuck last play, last goal, last race, last season because I am back and nothing will stop me from winning.
Those five words are far more important that "the knee feels better" or "my preparations have gone well" or "the team is really strong this year." It's the same words Jonathan Vaughters wants to hear Christian Vande Velde say. "Yeah, I crashed a bunch last year, so what? I gonna kick your ass now."
Short term memory is the mastery of athletic performance. Mind control, psychological training, positive imaging -- whatever you want to call the high price optimization of mental forces -- all that was summed up by Tom Boonen. There are sports psychologists making six figures simply because they're skilled at embedding a few positive thoughts that boost performance.
This is the surest sign yet that Tom Boonen is ready for the classics, mentally and physically. If he gets beat, then so be it, but the cause, the indictment, the failure won't be because he second-guessed himself.
If you're going to beat Tom Boonen in on the hard-man cobblestones, then you must be stronger physically because he has no doubt in his mind he's as strong as you. So forget that weakness.