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10 Things You Can do to Get the Most Out of Riding Practice Bulls

If you ride practice bulls (and you should), how do you practice? You probably don’t realize it, but how you practice is just as important as if you practice. It seems pretty obvious that if you want to get better at something, then you are going to have to put in some effort. When you ride at the practice pen, do you ride in your short sleeve shirt and no chaps? I admit that I’ve done this before too, but I don’t think it is the right way to practice. Since you practice so that you will compete better, it only makes sense that you should practice like you compete, right?

What I mean is that you should do everything at the practice pen the same way you will when you are at a rodeo or bull riding event. Pretend that there is something to win or lose, because there is!

Here are 10 things you can do to have a better practice session:

1. Be aware of your thoughts and don’t let any negative or fearful thoughts take over.

2. Have fun, but focus on doing things right.

3. Visualize yourself in a high pressure situation such as the Championship Round of the Finals and you drew the unridden bull that you have to ride to win the title.

4.Ride for 10 seconds instead of 8 so that you don’t get in the habit of waiting on the whistle.

5. Get on bulls that will challenge you, but that aren’t too rank for your skill level.

6. Have someone you trust pick your bulls for you so that you don’t pick too easy or too hard.

7. Don’t get on too many bulls. Typically 2-3 bulls is plenty for someone to get on. If you get too tired, you will form bad habits.

8. Have someone film your rides so that you can analyze yourself.

9. Wear ALL the gear you will wear when you are at a rodeo. You need to be comfortable with your gear.

10. Don’t be half-hearted. You should put out 100% effort EVERY time you nod your face. You don’t want to get in the habit of jumping off early (that will get expensive).

By taking your practice sessions more seriously, you will see better results and handle the competitions better. By working on your technique on a drop barrel and visualizing yourself making great rides, you will make better use of your time at the practice pen.

Going into the clinic I felt that I was at the lowest of lows in my young career and I knew that I needed to clean the slate off and go back to the very basics of bull riding. I was able to do just that by attending the clinic. Working on the stationary barrel, to the drop barrel, and getting on the actual bulls was such a great stepping process for me.

With all of the one on one time y’all were able to locate out what I was doing wrong and what I was doing right throughout all the steps. After the entire process was over reviewing everything through photos and videos was even more helpful because I was able to visually see what I was doing incorrect.

Now after the clinic I find myself doing all the training techniques that I learned, I’m able to review back to the site on what I have forgotten. I feel like I’m riding better than ever, I still want to continue to progress and continue to learn on how I can become this best rider possible.

Once again thank you for all y’all’s help and time I will continue to go to y’all’s clinics when I can for refreshers on stuff that I may have forgotten or have done wrong.

Hey, we’ve all put kids on ones and said to ourselves later “I wish I hadn’t” but we must learn from it and treat them like precious possessions, given to us to take care of. A kid has no true understanding of the danger involved with bull riding. We are responsible for what they get on.

Donnie Gay tells about

how Neil would make him turn out if he thought the bulls were too big for him and Donnie hated it at the time but is thankful that his dad knew when and when not to let him on. The same story is the one of Cody Teel, his dad Robbie did the same for him. Cody thanked his dad the other day for protecting him when he was young even though it made him so mad to have to turn out while his friends were getting on bulls that outmatched them. I wouldn’t let my son Brett go to state his 6th grade year because I knew he was in no way ready for the stock that would be there. He was mad but I think he understands it better now.

This whole issue of kids being over matched and mucked out is the most important thing to the bull riding industry. Too many involved that don’t understand (or won’t) or guys that just care more about bulls than kids. I have a bunch of people who don’t like me but I’ll keep putting the word out there about the things that are the best for the kids.

Parents and the leaders of these youth organizations need to get some good educated information as to how to best help the kids become great and still have their health as they get a bit older. Most people are just going with the flow and are pushing the kids too fast to be bull riders rather than letting them enjoy it and experience success all the way through.

Dominating at every level is the best for any athlete. Ask any NFL, NBA, NBL player how it is best done in preparing for a successful career in the pros. Everyone of them is going to have the same moral to the story “Success breeds Success” and “Being Overmatched causes Harm”. No matter what anyone else says, a kid is only so good and needs to go through important steps in order to get to the next level of competition. If they fail more than they succeed then they will settle for mediocre. I believe this is the norm in bull riding now. I’m certainly not knocking the riders but am calling out the ones who should be directing them the right way.

Parents, Youth Rodeo Leaders, Bull breeders, former bull riders who train and professional rodeo/bull riding organizations are at fault for not setting standards for training the youth in our awesome sport. I have three fingers pointing back at me as I point my finger at all the above. I am involved in each of the problem areas that I mentioned. Being quiet about it and thinking it’ll fix itself is stupid. We have to get extreme about how we go about raising up the future bull riders here in america. We are losing ground here while others are gaining ground as they see a future for their youth in the sport.

The next issue is getting the youth to buy into the (going through the process) mentality. The competition level of bull riding in the lower tiers is so weak that guys are making money by merely staying on. So many good bulls out there that most events don’t payout $ to every hole possible. A guy can get on a runner and collect a check, this puts the idea in his head that he is a bull rider that is making a living riding bulls so he enters events at the next level without dominating at that level, then gets lucky and stays on at one of those and thinks that is where he belongs. (Probably Not).
He is left with a task ahead of him that he is not ready to conquer because he never dominated at each level. Youth and try will go a long way but it is not the fullness of what it takes to have a solid career. A solid career is developed through hard work and a lot of success mixed with some failure. Experiencing failure more than success is not the best thing for a solid career. Parents have to buy into the (going through the process) mentality and show their kids that it’s the way to go also.

We’ve all seen a young guy make his debut on the scene and have some early success but begin to struggle and all the sudden they disappear from the bull riding world. Some eventually make it to the top but few are ever even heard of again because they never experienced enough success along the way to make up for the failure at the level they have always dreamed of. Failure is a part of the process but if that is a ll they experience than it becomes the norm, not just a small piece of the big picture. Constant failure does crazy things to their minds and many go to the amateur level (which many skipped as a part of the process) and have little success there because they have been trained to fail at every level. Once a great light and future in the bull riding industry they become a disgrace to the talent they had and in most cases their whole life follows that same path.

This is not all I have to say on this subject but all I have time to write today. Have a good day.
Cody Custer

We got a question from a rider who has a tendency to move his free arm too much when he rides. He wanted to know how to control his free arm.

You must understand that everything about riding bulls is about forming the RIGHT habits. Every movement you make while riding is the result of muscle memory. By training your mind and body, you can change your positioning and style. If you realize that there is something that you are doing that is not the most efficient (like moving your free arm too much), you can fix it!

My style of riding changed quite a bit over the course of my career. When I first started riding, I would lean really far forward for most of the ride. I eventually learned that I didn’t need to lean forward that much, so I began to focus on having the right form by performing the movements repetitiously over a long period of time. I would always be doing the “bull rider dance.” The bull rider dance is what I call it when you mime a ride; you make the motions of riding, but you aren’t sitting on anything. Be careful where you do this, because doing it in the wrong place could get you arrested! The point is that you should always be working on your form and mechanics for riding bulls.

By doing movements (right or wrong) over and over again, you will start to develop muscle memory and change your style of riding. In other words, you will form new habits. Most beginner riders move their free arm too much because they haven’t formed riding habits yet and their brain is trying to keep up with everything that is going on in an 8 second ride. If you have been riding bulls for very long and you still have the problem of moving your free arm too much, then you have formed that habit and need to fix it.

Most people focus too much attention on the free arm because they think that it is the most important part of riding bulls, so when they are riding the bull they move their arm too much thinking that it’s helping them ride. Truthfully, your free arm is the least important part of riding. If you watch the pros, you see that most of the time their free arms don’t move much. Most of the movement is in the hips and shoulders. Focus more of your attention these parts and keep your free arm as still as possible until you need to move it.

Don’t settle for good enough. Keep working on your form and positioning until you are riding 100% of your bulls. It’s up to you how much you want to improve in your riding.

God bless,

Wiley Petersen

Paul J. Meyer describes the characteristics of S.M.A.R.T. goals in Attitude is Everything.[i]

Specific

The first term stresses the need for a specific goal over and against a more general one. This means the goal is clear and unambiguous; without vagaries and platitudes. To make goals specific, they must tell a team exactly what is expected, why is it important, who’s involved, where is it going to happen and which attributes are important.

A specific goal will usually answer the five “W” questions:

• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Where: Identify a location.
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

Measurable

The second term stresses the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of the goal. The thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable, it is not possible to know whether a team is making progress toward successful completion. Measuring progress is supposed to help a team stay on track, reach its target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs it on to continued effort required to reach the ultimate goal.

A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as:

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable

The third term stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and attainable. While an attainable goal may stretch a team in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme. That is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance, as these may be considered meaningless. When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. The theory states that an attainable goal may cause goal-setters to identify previously overlooked opportunities to bring themselves closer to the achievement of their goals.

An attainable goal will usually answer the question:

• How: How can the goal be accomplished?

Relevant

The fourth term stresses the importance of choosing goals that matter. A Bank Manager’s goal to “Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2:00pm.” may be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Time-Bound, but lacks Relevance. Many times you will need support to accomplish a goal: resources, a champion voice, someone to knock down obstacles. Goals that are relevant to your boss, your team, your organization will receive that needed support.

Relevant goals (when met) drive the team, department, and organization forward. A goal that supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.

A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:

• Does this seem worthwhile?

• Is this the right time?

• Does this match our other efforts/needs?

• Are you the right person?

Time-bound

The fifth term stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time frame, giving them a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps a team focus their efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. This part of the S.M.A.R.T. goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise in an organization. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency.

A time-bound goal will usually answer the question:

• When?
• What can I do 6 months from now?
• What can I do 6 weeks from now?
• What can I do today?