This month I’m going to talk about failing to execute and what you can do to give yourself the best chance to win. This subject is rather dear to me, as I have experienced mishaps in the last three out of four big ropings where I had a chance to win a lot of money.
Last year at the George Strait Team Roping Classic I came back 4th high call. When I grabbed my slack, I accidentally grabbed my reins with my right hand. This caused me to lose my slack and my rope bounced off the left horn.
In the Open Shoot Out at USTRC Finals last year I came back 4th high call. Our steer ran and I reached and the curl of my loop came underneath the left front leg of the steer and went under his belly. When I pulled, it became a slingshot and came off the left horn.
Last week at the Wildfire Open to the World I was roping with Kollin Von Ahn and we were 5th high call. This payout is front-loaded and pays $50,000 for first place and $13,000 for second. The score is 13’ so it’s pretty easy to reach. Feeling confident, my plan is to make as good of a run as possible and maybe win 3rd in the roping. I nodded, thinking about getting my rope going, didn’t score well and let my horse leak off the back of the box. I end up floating down the line and pulling on my horse right as the steer gets to the eye. Very close but I break the barrier. We were 5 plus 10 and would have won 3rd or 4th without the barrier.
All this being said, when I’ve come back with a chance to win, different things have happened every time. Without filming my runs, I would never know exactly what happened. At the Strait I didn’t realize what happened at the time, I thought I missed my slack but actually it was jerked out of my hand.
It’s crucial to understand exactly what happens during your run, especially when things don’t go according to plan. You cannot depend on your friends or fellow ropers to tell you what happened, because they just can’t see everything going on, it happens too fast. It is invaluable to have someone film you, especially when you have the opportunity to win a lot of money. I’ve watched lots of short rounds, seen things go wrong and still not realized what happened until I watched the video. If you don’t know what you’ve done wrong it’s hard to fix it and prepare for the next opportunity.
As described above, I have not executed well. But I think my horses are improving and I’m putting myself in position for better opportunities. One thing I struggle with since retirement and coming back is the mental game. I don’t stay as focused as I used to. That is one thing I have to work on, as the day goes on I need to stay focused better in order to execute my runs. At all day ropings you have to be able to clear your mind and focus on the job you’re supposed to do. Right now that’s my biggest weakness I need to improve on. To rope to the best of your ability requires being focused and not making mental mistakes.
The bottom line is everyone makes mistakes and no one wins all the time. You have to know what you need to work on to have a chance to win.
What’s new with me: My wife did outstanding at the Wildfire All Girls roping. With nearly 300 teams, she and Shawn Tee Wise came back third high call. She pulled off a great shot in the short round and they won second.
Jennifer always wanted to learn to heel so when I started speedroping.com I decided to document the process as I taught her. It’s been fun, interesting, challenging and rewarding teaching my wife to heel. Lots of people have trouble teaching their spouses to rope. We have never had a fight in the arena, but I have a simple theory. Don’t speak to someone in a less than pleasant tone when they are already upset. It’s much better to speak nicely, then wait and watch the video together.
My daughter has been roping outstanding and I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my best heel horse. She assures me that she will keep him in shape.
Feel free to watch our free videos on speedroping.com which including my rodeo run at Belton and Jennifer’s runs at Wildfire. We now have over 2,300 videos available to watch with almost 2.5 millions views.