Practice Makes Perfect
by Joshua Brown, OAP Assistant Director
Honing in and practicing your hard skills is necessary for the avid recreationalist. We rely far too often on our unpracticed skills. This accounts for knot tying, swimming abilities, utilizing maps and compass, packing a backpack, basic First Aid, CPR, and more. Sure, we train or take classes at one point during our lives, but how many of you can say you are still proficient in those skills you learned in a classroom three years ago? Now is the time to change that, to get out the maps, find a piece of rope, sign up for a new First Aid or CPR course, and start practicing.
We all go to work every day or have other daily tasks we hope to accomplish. I like to think most of us are pretty proficient at those jobs. Repeating tasks over and over makes us more familiar and, hopefully, more proficient at accomplishing these tasks. Take this into our world of recreation. How often do you actually get to go rock climbing, mountain biking, rafting, etc.? All these activities have risks involved that tend to rate much higher in the consequences department, so you want to be at the top of your game when participating in these activities. In other words, you don’t want to dust off your mountain bike for the first time of the season, and take a five-day trip to Moab to test you and your bike’s skills.
Read up on your skills of choice. Look for classes or training opportunities to fill your “toolbox” with as many tools you can. I promise your next adventure will benefit from it. The moral of the story is practice makes perfect, and no matter how perfect you think you are, practice more. Tie knots while watching your evening TV. Pack and carry your backpack before you take the dog out for the morning walk. The more we keep these skills fresh in our minds, the better you will be able to accomplish the tasks at hand. Like always with any recreational activity, tell someone where you are going and when you plan to be back. Good luck on your next adventure.
