Lock and loadTop 45 riders begin preparing for Finals, debate benefit of practice pen |
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Now, after 32 regular season Built Ford Tough Series events over the past 10 months, the Top 45 riders in the world are set to compete in the eight most important rounds of the season.
It’s not just about surviving anymore. Now it’s about the best of the best.
“When you get to this level, every guy is capable of riding,” said Clayton Williams, last year’s Daisy Rookie of the Year. “Then it just turns into a mental game, so I think anything you can do to prepare yourself mentally … You have to take every step in the right direction that you can.
“As far as for me, that’ll be a combination of both—physical and mental preparation. I’ll have a lot of time to myself to mentally prepare.”
Williams, who broke his kneecap during Round 1 in Columbus, Ohio, will be competing just weeks after undergoing surgery, but that doesn’t seem to phase the 23-year-old from Carthage, Texas.
Having won the Challenger Finals the past two years and collecting a total of $750,000 in those two events alone, Williams has proven he’s capable of coming through in the clutch.
“Well, for me this year, it looks like there’s going to be a lot of physically getting ready,” Williams said.
Another rider who is all too familiar with injuries is Chris Shivers.
The two-time World Champion has been medically cleared to compete in the World Finals, but it’s been a brutal season, to say the least, for the veteran cowboy, who has long been known for his physical toughness.
“I’m just going to stay away from bull riding until I get to the Finals,” Shivers said. “I’m going to have a clear mind when I get there, and as long as my mechanics are working straight, then I’ll be all right.”
Like Shivers, Zack Brown plans to prepare by staying as far away from bull riding as he can.
Brown has won two BFTS events this year – Billings, Mont., and Columbus, Ohio – and in both cases he spent the week preceding the event relaxing with friends and enjoying the great outdoors.
Prior to Billings, a tour stop where he nearly lost his life three years ago, he traveled to Montana a week early in order to go fly fishing. In Columbus, he went a day early, but that was all he needed to get in a round of golf.
“Usually before the Finals, I go and do something to take my mind off of bull riding,” Brown explained. “It’s always worked best for me whenever I’ve gotten hurt or taken time away … just try not to think about it or put any thought into it.
“For me, it clears my head. I’m not remembering all the little bad habits that I created, or if I’ve got something that I feel like I need to work on, I’ll work on that in my head and then try to forget about everything else.”
For Brown, the clearer his mind, the better he rides.
The laid-back Hawaii native, who now makes his home in Santa Fe, Texas, consciously tries to alleviate the stress he puts on himself during the events, especially on a stage like the PBR World Finals.
“The more you think about it, the worse it’s going to get,” added Sean Willingham. “I think if you get your mind off of it and go do something totally different, then you’ll come in with a clear mind and do good.”
That philosophy has worked for Willingham this season.
The Georgia cowboy made the short drive to Orlando from his home in Summerville so that he could wakeboard for the week leading up the event. The 27-year-old tries make it out to one lake or another as much as possible.
It paid off at the Amway Center when he won the Orlando Invitational.
Nevertheless, Willingham has been struggling of late, and is contemplating riding some practice bulls between now the start of the Finals.
There are those who swear by it – “I’m going to get on practice bulls,” said J.B. Mauney – and, conversely, there are those who feel the risk outweighs any potential benefit.
“I did that in 2002 when I was riding in PRCA rodeos,” said Brown, of going to the practice pen. “I kept getting bucked off bulls that went to the right and getting mad about it, so I went in the practice pen and went on some more bulls that went to the right and got hurt. I was put in the hospital and decided I needed to do something a little different than that.”
In the case of Brendon Clark, it’s about the “need to get a little bit of the cobwebs out” before the Aussie arrives in Vegas, especially considering that because of injuries, he’s only been on one bull in the past 15 weeks.
“If I had been riding,” Clark said, “it’s a good time to get your body set and just to get away from it for a week, get ready to ride. This year, for me, it may be a little different, and I may go and get on some practice bulls just before the Finals. I still haven’t made up my mind.”
Mauney, on the other hand, has definitely made up his mind, and there’s no doubt he’s going to visit the practice pen the entire week.
“When I go home during the week – unless I’m sore or something – I get on practice bulls,” he said. “At home it’s just usually me and couple of my buddies, and we swap out fighting bulls for each other.
“You get yourself in a bind, you better get out of it pretty quick. I’ll ride ‘em and I’ll try until—like here I would hang on until the bitter end and know I’m about to get slammed. There, at home, instead of hanging on until I’m up underneath ‘em, instead of doing that, I’ll try and blow out of there a little early. I try to ride ‘em as good as you can and then make a clean get-off.”
Ultimately, Mauney and the rest of the Top 45 riders are just trying to make a clean trip to the Finals.
“The risk is there,” Matt Bohon said, “and I would just as soon take that risk to go win the World Finals than I would getting on a practice bull.”
With the amount of money that’s on the line these days – a $1 million bonus to the World Champion and more than $225,000 to the winner of the World Finals event – it’s not only about reeling off high scoring rides, it’s about competing.
And that means staying healthy and being consistent night after night.
“It’s not like football,” explained Cord McCoy, who is spending these last few days working on his ranch in Oklahoma and his evenings learning as much as he can about each and every bull, because of the draft system that will be in place for all 8 rounds.
“You can’t put a red jersey on and not hit the quarterback. In the practice pen bull riding is as dangerous as it is at any level. Bulls don’t care if they’re in the practice pen or at the World Finals, they came to do their job.
“Then, on the other hand, if you’re not ready for it when you get here, it makes it real tough and real dangerous. You don’t need the practice as much as you need to stay sound.”
Luke Snyder agrees, adding that it’s more about fundamentals than anything else.
“You’re going to gear up,” Snyder said, “but basically other than that, you just have to go out there with a positive attitude.”
Added Nick Landreneau, “Try not to really change anything and just go in there and give it 100 percent like I do all year long, and hope for the best.”
—by Keith Ryan Cartwright
