I just read the article posted on fnet about choking (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...-choking/all/1). It really got me wondering what I should be thinking about when I am fencing. I recently had a good fencing weekend, I won a tournament, and fenced well in another. I'm trying to remember what and how much I was thinking at that time, and how I should apply that to when I'm fencing and when I'm practicing. Here are my thoughts.

On the strip I want to think about:
opponent's actions
opponent's reactions
my actions
my reactions
score (maybe)
time (when it's significant)

In breaks and sometimes while fencing I think about:
when I am hitting / getting hit
-while attacking / preparing / defending
-in long or short phrases
-distance is larger or smaller
-where on the strip
I may also consider what actions/situations I'm getting hit on the most and how to stop them. The same for the actions/situations where I am scoring the most and how to increase them.

If I make a plan during the break, I tend to make it my mantra and try to make it happen. I create my plan based on the bigger picture rather than specific actions, ex: I've been scoring when I am attacking over a large distance, and when I am counterattacking into a long phrase, so I will try to maximise my use of those tactics. If the plan doesn't work I tend to become mostly reactionary, and that is something I need to work on. Rather I should try to identify what is/isn't working and change my plan accordingly, but that is hard to do on the fly.

There are a lot of things I don't want to think about while at the tournament:
-How good my opponent is, this tends to increase anxiety and lead to choking for me. I will try to think too much (especially beforehand) and then not have anything work in the bout. What does work is to say to myself that my opponent is a good fencer and I need to work to beat them, so I get a limited amount of anxiety/arousal, but not too much.

-Specific physical actions, mechanics, like how you extend in a lost time attack. If I start thinking about the small variables that are part of the actions I do, then I can't find the right time to actually do them and make them work.

-The referee. This is variable, if they are calling something a little differently than usual, yes I want to note that and change accordingly, but otherwise I don't want to think about them much at all. Especially if they are making bad calls, I want to just shrug it off and keep fencing, trying to make my actions clear and decisive. I have a bad habit of overinternalizing anger from bad calls and then my game is out the window.

I could probably go on, but this is a good start especially in regards to mechanics. I've known fencers who might consider going up and asking "How do you land that 'long attack coupe flick to shoulder?" just to make their opponent start thinking about the mechanics of how they actually do it. For most fencers, thinking about the mechanics makes them hesitate and overthink what they are doing.

Distractions:
I haven't quite figured out what are good distractions while fencing. I'm talking about in between bouts, not while actually on the strip. I haven't tried music, but I know that works for a lot of people. I will coach teammates, cheer, referee, eat a snack, anything that won't allow me to concentrate too much on my next opponent, mechanics, or any of the other mental stumbles that can break my flow.

Before a bout I may consider my opponent and what I know about them. But I don't want to get too specific or come up with too detailed of a plan or I will get stuck in minutia again. Knowing that they will push and do a lot of actions in 6, or that I will need to draw out their attacks is about as much as I want to know, more than that and I start overthinking it.

In practice, I want to think about the mechanics, the specifics preparations, and the exact distance to start a certain action. I try to make my practice bouting all about those things. Think about when to start, when to bring the hand into play. All the minutia of fencing I want to consciously consider when I am practicing. But, I don't want to consider any of that during a tournament.

What are your thoughts?