Making The Jump to Parkour – Silke Sollfrank – Confidence, Competition & Tackling Fear

Silke is a professional parkour athlete and has made her mark in the free run and parkour world by becoming one of the top performing females in the industry. From Red Bull’s – Art of Motion to appearances in shows like Ultimate Beastmaster and commercials, Silke already got it under her belt. As much as she is now able to make runs with confidence and enjoy the aspects of competition this wasn’t always the case for her. Starting out in gymnastics at a young age she did not like the pressures that can come with competing. Eventually she had a difficult conversation with her dad which sent her on a journey to eventually find parkour.

This episode discusses the difficulties that Silke experienced in gymnastics and that would later show up in her career as a parkour athlete but also how she overcame them. We got a short discussion of ways to increase your self-efficacy or confidence as an athlete. Silke also shares her thoughts and experiences in overcoming fear and her process to break jumps, progress in training and how to set up a training/practice environment that will help you get the most out of yourself. As always I hope you enjoy this episode and take away something you can apply in your life.

0:30 Introduction

2:32 A Crucial Conversation - Quiting Gymnastics

4:41 The Key to Getting Your Point Across

5:54 How Silke Got Introduced To Parkour

10:22 Social Comparison & How To Enjoy Competition

14:25 Overcoming Fear - Breaking Jumps

17:14 Learning How To Fall

19:02 The Process to Landing A Cart Wheel to A Full Twist

22:26 Helpful and Unhelpful Training Habits

25:38 Self Efficacy Theory - Beliefs About Competence

28:30 Silke's Experiences with Building Confidence

32:18 A Bonus Tip From Silke

33:08 The Difficulty of Breaking Out of An Emotional State

34:47 The Benefits of Training in a Team - Ashigaru

36:10 The Lack of Female Athletes in Parkour

37:13 Silke's Thoughts on Why There Are Less Women in Parkour

38:16 Is Parkour or Sports Intimidating?

39:07 Setting The Bar To Entry

41:25 Our Tendency to Think About Negative Outcomes

42:34 How Silke Landed A Trick She Was Scared Of

44:47 How To Recover From A Near Accident

47:00 Intuition and Trusting In Your Body

47:43 The Optimal Setting Skill Vs. Challenge

48:30 How Media Performances Impact Silke

50:54 The Illusion of Perfect Performances

53:48 Silke's Favorite Performance

56:58 Incorporating Education In Sport Sciences

59:26 Silke's Favorite Mental Tool

1:03:12 The Impact of Letting Go of Expectations

1:06:29 Silke's Closing Message

1:07:21 Where to Find Silke