It's a freakin mind game!

OK, had a lousy set this morning (still beats working though)...But you go out with some new/bigger tricks in mind and when you start working on them it doesn't go well...So you fall back on the moves you have in the bag and now those are not up to par and you leave the lake thinking damn, I'm stuck on the same old stuff.

How do you break out of a rut?

I scrap the current goal and try something completely different, for a while.

Like - Switch inverts, switch spins, etc...

A couple of days on the water working on different tricks/fundamentals really takes the pressure off the trick I want so bad. And when I'm ready to go for it again, usually my head is in a better place.

Another thought - If I'm trying something new that I know is gonna take a lot of falls before I get it, I'll tell the guys in the boat to expect a lot of crashes this set. For some reason that seems to take some pressure off. They are also more supportive of my attempts to get it right, and I'm not totally disappointed when I don't land it that set.

Good luck!

I agree completely. Clear your mind for a while by trying some new stuff. You'll progress even faster after taking a break for a while.

Do some awesome surface tricks and do a lot of tick tockin', go for different kinds of goals, i.e. tweak a grab harder or longer, or take a certain trick out into the flats, etc. or straight up bust out the surfboard

Try on a golden thong

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/05/16/2008-05-16_jason_giambi_and_his_magic_gold_thong.html