Lessons right before the tournament: good or bad?

[Lemberg]

You know, the short ones... on the day of the tourney, if you're lucky enough to have your coach around? I think they help me loosen up quite a bit.. If I just fence for warm up and don't get as many touches as I'd like I just get more tense... whereas all you do during a lesson is touch, thus getting more confident....
But I have just talked to my clubmate who is currently at Monal in Paris, and he says our National Team's Coach thinks these lessons on the day of the event are more harmful than beneficial... Any opinions?

[Tydive]

I think it depends on the fencer. Everyone is a little different before a meet and part of good coaching is to figure out how to manage the excitement and energy levels of your team. So, if you have a fencer who is getting too out of whack then a few quick drills can help get them out of the bad mental state. For those who like to be "in the zone, all alone" then drills can be bad. Some guys you just don't even want to talk to before a meet, others need to chat.

In short, if it works for you then do it.

[mrbiggs]

Never works for me, ever. I don't have enough time to put into play anything I learn.

[achilleus]

Lesson or no lesson isn't the point. It's about establishining routine and warming up properly.

For me, tournament warm ups don't include a lesson, but it's not just free fencing either.

I change, I stretch, I run, I do some point work, I do some footwork, I drill with teammates, and then I bout.

My warm up bouts are key. I get used to moving. I watch and try to read my opponents, and I try everything. Try to find out what's working, and why something is not.

I lose almost all my warm up bouts, but the information I gain is crucial to performing well when the real fencing begins.

[Peach]

When my coach gives me lessons the day of the tournament, the first thing I realize is I'm way too tense. Eventually he gets me to smooth out some. I hate it when he does something I'm not super-trained to do, though, because when I screw up I get flustered.

[mifencer]

Lesson or no lesson isn't the point. It's about establishining routine and warming up properly.

Exactly! Have a winning routine and stick with it. It'll make you relax more and enjoy the day. It's all about having fun, right?

[epee1]

At the start of club every night my coach has us go through a routine of hand touches, beat 4's & 6's, circle beats, basically all the simple beginner stuff just to get our heads out of our bums.

At tournaments I've found it gets me in the groove to do exactly the same thing. It really makes me focus. When he's not there it takes me forever to get my head on straight.

Does that mean I'm co-dependent? Or is he an enabler?

[jspierre]

Lessons on tourny date are key for me. They focus me, warm me up, reinforce technique, and are a total touch stone for performance. My coach conducts them at full throtle, which gets me really going. Pumps up the psyche, and instills confidence.

I think a short 10 min lesson is vy beneficial.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

Never works for me, ever. I don't have enough time to put into play anything I learn.

That's not the point of a lesson before a tournament. You're not supossed ot be given a new action and then use it. It's supossed to be a refresher of basic principles that really only serves, (for me) as a way to losen up and slow me down so that I don't rush while i fence.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

If i'm consistantly screwing something up, yes.

a couple weekends ago, my entire squad was consistantly trying to pull distance and being a half step too close.

my coach pulled us all aside and had each of us do it with him until we did it right.

later in the day, when i was the only one still fencing, he did some more of it with me.

this created a wonderful moment for me in the DE i lost--- although it was kind of brutal for a large chunk of it, there was one touch where i did the action we'd been working on perfectly..... which took the edge off losing the bout.

[kalivor]

It's important to note that, for the most part, the National Team coach is not the personal coach to the fencers. A lesson the day of the tournament, as has been mentioned, is more about the routine and being warmed up than it is learning anything.

It's far more likely that the fencers on the National Team are comfortable warming up on their own than it is that they'll be made more comfortable with an unfamiliar routine (as coaches tend to do things differently). Hence, warming up with lessons would probably be counterproductive for those in Monal.

Personally, I know that I don't like it, but that a lot of the fencers I coach do.

[RebelFencer]

I really enjoy getting short lessons the day of a tournament, but can live without them. It basically helps me get my point control straight and serves as a way to generally see what level I'm fencing at that day. Although I can do the same just with warm up bouts, it's generally better with a coach that will tell you why you messed something out so you can make minor corrections to your game. Sadly though, my coach had to have a baby last year, so he couldn't travel much!

[Artisan]

I think the key thing is that on the day of a tournament, the "lesson" isn't really a lesson...its a warm up. When I've had them, its been to loosen up, to remind me of my re-occuring flaws so I can pay attention to them, and to review some of the key actions that we've been working on. Usually my coach will have looked at some of the fencers there that day, and the general calibre of the competition, and give some general tactical tips about particular types of opponents.

If your coach is giving you new actions or trying to hone a skill that you've been struggling with he's doing you no favors. By the end of this little session you should be feeling confident, capable, and in control of your fencing - not frustrated, challenged or doubtful.

[Mr Epee]

Lesson or no lesson isn't the point. It's about establishining routine and warming up properly.
For me, tournament warm ups don't include a lesson, but it's not just free fencing either.
I change, I stretch, I run, I do some point work, I do some footwork, I drill with teammates, and then I bout.
My warm up bouts are key. I get used to moving. I watch and try to read my opponents, and I try everything. Try to find out what's working, and why something is not.
I lose almost all my warm up bouts, but the information I gain is crucial to performing well when the real fencing begins.

This post hits it on the head.

The key to consistant competition performance is routine.

I rarely used a lesson to warm-up for a competition, but it does fit for some folks. I would say it has something to do with if your coach is traveling (which can be a big time luxury).

Warming up bouting is great, and hopefully with teammates or good friends so you aren't processing too much new info, and can figure out what actions are going to be online right out of the gate...

I used to joke about how the worse my warm-up bouts went, the better my day was going to be. It's true. The opposite is also true. I've had experiences when I just caught fire in the warm-up (without even trying) and started hiting everything. Thats a real bad sign of things to come.

Back to routine, this is important to establish, because it is one of the few things that you can control during a competition, and you can keep it the same no matter what level of competition you are entering... this means you can practice it even at the local level. It's the athlete's point of reference.

[keith]

I do like having a short warm up session - lunges, step lunges, disengages and simply parry riposte; nothing more. So warm up, stretch, warm up lesson then sit in a corner with a towel over my head for the rest of the time I am not actually fencing (some routines can make you seem very weird).

That said the danger of a pre-comp warm up is that it can put doubt in your mind, nothing worse than running through a warm up drill and having your disengages dispearing. Or worse having an unfamiliar coach starting you thinking about some 'problem' they have just spotted in your technique. So yes it is quite easy for a warm up lesson to end up shifting your focus away from the competition.

Whatever routinue you have worked out you should stick with, I hate warm up bouts especially against people I am used to fencing. Best to try and put aside the usual sets of actions I am familiar with and instead focus on reading and fencing the competition of the day.

[Inquartata]

Now cometh Inquartata to say, in his usual querulous way, that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

I have tried just about every pre-tournament routine imaginable over the last ( mumble mumble ) years, and I have not found either that there is one winning method or that doing it the same way every time improves performance. I have done both very well and very badly in comps where I have done warm up bouts, and the same in comps where I didn't get the chance to warm up. Same with drills vs. no drills, refresher "lessons" vs. none, stretching vs. none, etc. What is seems to come down to is: sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.

Or maybe I'm just wierd. Yes, upon reflection that's probably it.

[Schiavona]

Or maybe I'm just wierd. Yes, upon reflection that's probably it.

Or original, one-of-a-kind or enuch......err, I mean unique. Yeah, that's it!

[Epeecurean]

Once upon a time I used to have a full routine warm-up lessons, stretching, etc. but now I find that it's really enough to just do some warm-up bouting. Usually in the 1st round

Also, once you reach a certain age there's a fine line between warming up and wearing out!

[Zilverzmurfen]

I think Achilleus said it very well.

For me personally it's very important to have a thourough fence-up.
It gets me into 'fencing mode', gets me moving and I find my rhythm and balance and focus on refreshing basic actions.

[Inquartata]

Yes, but you're an epeeist, my dear. You folks always overthink everything.