Dane Bird-Smith Quotes

People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game.

I need to continue to be wise, be efficient and prepared for every game that I play leading up to the Olympics.

But I plan on dedicating specific training to track this winter for the next racing season.

An Olympic pursuit really takes a full three to four years of Olympic preparation.

I've realised over the years I play my best when I have time to prepare for each tournament as best as possible.

Beside the brand-ambassador elements of the modern racing driver, the evolution of the athlete has mandated that as drivers, we are very committed to fitness.

Your bat is your life. It's your weapon. You don't want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect.

I think if I get the training spot on, the equipment perfect and I'm in the right state of mind, I can get a result there from no competitive action.

Thinking about your role will automatically get you in the frame of mind to get your strategy and game plan right before you step onto that field.

You can wish as hard as you like but all that really matters is the shape you're in on the day of the race. I've always felt these really big races aren't necessarily won by whoever is the fastest. They're won by the athlete who is the smartest and in the best shape on the day.

Obviously, not playing a game before playoffs is something that happened, but especially going into the playoffs, you try to feel yourself out, where you're at, and then get right into game tempo and jump right in and play where you were before the injury.

When you get off five or six months, and you're not competing as an athlete, you want to get back out on the field.

A lot of times, the press guys ask why I take an hour and a half to come to the interview room, but if you don't do the massage and the ice baths and the stretching and the cooling down and the eating, and your opponent is doing that stuff, they already have an advantage.

We are constantly under lots of pressure, so I take lots of time to recover and do all the things I need for my body to be in the perfect state to compete the next day.

I run year-round and then ramp up my training for a race a few months before.

I found ways to maintain my performance through working with professionals and doing things that other people weren't doing. Later in my career, I had a great physical therapist who kept me out on the track. We were doing innovative things like ice baths back in the early '80s when everyone else thought it was crazy.

I don't drive by the seat of my pants and happen to win races. I work very hard to interpret the data and drive a certain way. My engineers have confidence in me, and more often than not, when I tell them what I need or what I am feeling with the car, it's right.

In Serie A if you have an exceptional physique and you train very well you can destroy any opposing defense.

It's no secret that I live in Woking and I go to the MTC every day. So I've spent every available day working - either with my engineers, with the team management, or with the trainers at MTC; building those relationships, getting to grips with the car, the style of driving, the cockpit and control systems, and improving my fitness.

You get into such a routine of trying so hard each day and racing between 180 and 220 km., and as soon as you stop, it's weird, but you start to seize up. So it's easier if you keep the body ticking over. You just feel better for it come race day.

I need to find a way to improve my qualifying performances because then I think my races will be even better.

I think one thing I had going for me that a lot of rookies didn't is that we played 15, 16 games every year in college.

The reason why I'm so shredded at 135 is because I'm a professional athlete. I do everything the correct way.

A typical week of training leading up to a major championship is like the sprinkling of parsley at the end of a dish. It's just the final little touches, that last little bit of strength or fitness, but mostly you are ready and are just maintaining and staying healthy.

I think our sport evolves as the talent evolves and the mindset evolves.