Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Drone Racer? Sometimes, we will run across people who were born with an immense amount of talent. Seemingly, they are born to do the job, Tiger Woods displayed incredible gold skills as a young kid. The rest of us have to work hard to become great, but the truth is no one is born with the skills to be great. Even the greats among us have to work hard to become immortal. Do you have what it takes to be a professional drone racer? 

10,000 hours

The debate rages on whether it actually takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something or not. Who cares? The point is, that if you keep track of your progress and make incremental improvements everyday, you will improve so much that you will astound yourself.

You will look back at the journey, what seemed to be so hard at the time, will all seem so trivial because of how satisfied you are with your ability.

Never get down on yourself. I can speak to becoming an expert at things due to my own trials and tribulations throughout the years.

I pride myself as someone who is always taking lessons on something to improve. Whether it is learning a language, playing guitar, or fishing; I love to be working on new ideas.

Many of the activities I enjoy, I was never good at naturally, it all took hard work. I know that some talents allude me, at least to the proficiency I want to attain, the guitar has been something I have difficulty cracking.

Whether my hands and fingers don’t want to work in conjunction with my brain or whatever the reason, no matter how hard I work at the guitar, it will never be something I excel at.

The first time I picked up a bass guitar, it felt way more comfortable to me. The first time I got on a longboard surfboard, it just felt right. 

My point is that even if you find out that you can fly a drone proficiently, maybe you won’t ever develop the skills to become elite; however, you will have the knowledge and ability to find something you will excel at. Always use that same dedication and focus to flying FPV, and you will be able to accomplish great things.

Say No to Drugs and Alcohol

It seems stupid to have to address this, but from first-hand experience, I can also tell you that you will regret that time you spent trying to be “cool.”

Some people might be able to stay focused and live a lifestyle that is reckless, but they never achieve their full potential.

Mickey Mantle said, “Alcohol hurt my game terribly.” Kids everywhere wish they had 1/10th of the talent Mickey Mantle had, and even he regretted, that he didn’t take better care of himself and work harder. The pain took its toll, making the game less enjoyable for him.

My friend’s dad once asked me why I wasn’t in the MLB, “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.” I tried out for the gold team in my senior year in high school, the coach asked me where I had been. Opportunities don’t linger, be ready.

My Own Experience

Luckily, I turned my life around, when I found out how important surfing was to me. It was impossible to be the best surfer in the world, and to also be an alcoholic.

I have never been intoxicated, beyond that date, when I decided I wanted to show the world what I could do.

I still remember one wave I caught that was shore break, nothing special. I took off late on the wave, did a steep air drop, where the board got under my feet. After the bottom turn, I went and did a nice turn at the top. I was able to see an old friend from high school’s jaw drop, and say holy SH** or something, while I was riding the wave.

When you first start surfing, everything seems like it is moving like a 100mph fastball, Eventually everything slows down. You gradually notice notice the things around you. Maybe spinner sharks jump, dolphins swim by, either way, you begin to enjoy the experience to its fullest.

It will become like second nature, to do good things. Make your hobby your new habit.

You are Never Too Good

Even professionals continue to work with others to improve their game.

One of my favorite guitarists, Randy Rhoads, used to take lessons when he was a famous guitar player with Ozzy Ozbourne. Apparently, sometimes he would end up teaching the instructor. He started playing at age 7 and would work at it most of the day.

I’m a believer that, f you can’t explain it to someone else, you don’t know it well enough yourself.

Continue working hard. Even if you only dedicate a few minutes a day to your dreams, it will add up. Consistency is the key, a few days a week will trump effort only put into one day.

The brain needs repetition to achieve greatness. You know what it takes to become a professional drone pilot, if you take these same ideas and apply them to anything, you will see improvement for sure.

Set up a training course in the backyard, work on drone simulators, get to know your equipment, socialize with like minded people, and most of all have fun.