How do you do it?

[Alain]

This is a little off-shoot from a recent thread on flicking. Here's the setting...

A few weekends ago, in the final of a local comp, I had to fence one of my clubmates (not my brother, thank every god). This guy's pretty good, and whenever we play at the club our fights are quite close; although I tend to win, it's never by a big advantage, and sometimes he even beats me. In the competition, it was close to begin with, but then I seemed to find another gear and beat him rather comfortably in the end.

So, here's the question: do you fence differently in competition compared to how you fence at the club? How, and why?

Thanks everyone

[achilleus]

I fence very differently at club and competition. At club, I practice (technique, tactics, timing, endurance, etc...). At competition, I compete.

Simple really.

[keith]

well normally I fence ok in a club setting and like a total pillock in competitions. Hate people who manage it the other way around, hate 'em

Some of it is I think a function of practice with competitions, the more competitions you fence the better you manage the change of situation. Especially with club mates, getting used to relaxing and forgetting that this time the score really does matter is probably a good indicator of developing a good competition mindset. After all if you are both fully relaxed then the score should reflect what happens in the club.

[oiuyt]

So, here's the question: do you fence differently in competition compared to how you fence at the club? How, and why?

Absolutely.

For one thing, much of my time in practice (aka at the club) is just that, practice. I'm frequently working on some aspect of my game. In a competition I'm working on winning. Different goal, different actions.

Even when I'm working on sharp bouts in practice I find it hard to actually fence all-out. I know I trip into a higher gear at competitions and then again at points in competition when it matters more (middle of an early DE that's already been salted away vs. during a DE bout against a comparable opponent).

-B :)

[nahouw]

In the club, you should be practicing a great variety of different actions rather than just focusing on winning a club bout, and trying to perfect them so that you have more available, consistent actions in your repetoire for a competition. The club is the place to practice; if you picked just one action to focus on, by your bouts and how you fare, you can gauge on how you have come along -- say you first lost 5-0 with said action, but after several weeks, you only lost 5-4 -- you have made progress in perfecting that particular action. By the time that you can win a club bout say 5-1, then you can feel confident to use it in competition.

Like Brad said, even when practicing sharp bouts for an impending competition, still part of you is in the club mindset of analyzing your actions.

In a competition, your focus is on winning -- that is all that matters. Your focus is then on you opponent and what actions that you have in your repetoire that you are confident that you will suceed. Like any top level competitor will tell you, it just boils down to whoever has the more mental strength to win.

Absolutely.

For one thing, much of my time in practice (aka at the club) is just that, practice. I'm frequently working on some aspect of my game. In a competition I'm working on winning. Different goal, different actions.

Even when I'm working on sharp bouts in practice I find it hard to actually fence all-out. I know I trip into a higher gear at competitions and then again at points in competition when it matters more (middle of an early DE that's already been salted away vs. during a DE bout against a comparable opponent).

-B

[Victor]

At club, I practice (technique, tactics, timing, endurance, etc...). At competition, I compete.

Those are precisely the same words I was going to type. Letter for letter. Right out of my brain.

[RebelFencer]

Very much so. I find it difficult to go all out at practice as I don't have the proper motivation as well as the fact that I'm working on technique more than anything. Whereas in a bout I'm doing whatever I can to win.

[daveappr]

At club, in practice, I concentrate more on the move- bouts in club are not meaningless, but serve as a away to practically apply what I have been drilling that night, working on certain aspects of my game or continually working on distance and tempo. I don't care if I lose bouts in club, as long as I feel I am applying a new skill or fine tuning an old one. I hear from one of my club mates, I beat you at club all the time- yes, but our tournament results are very different. I go to club to drill and practice, make my technique better, whereas this particular fencer finds nothing wrong with attempting a move he's rarely practiced in club on the strip. Tournaments are for competition- club is for refinement and learning.

[cameroncrazy323]

When I fence, I fence. Maybe its because im uber competitive but I try and fence with the same intensity through out. Of course I have higher gears that come into play at different times, but I try and remain consistent.

[noodle]

i have two different practice modes: learning and competition.

one's for practicing new stuff, experimentation, etc. its the one most people describe. the other is to practice being "on" in a competition. i do stuff that i'm good at, polishing it more. i fence like i'd fence in a competition so i can better prepare myself for doing exactly that.

[ThatReallyHurt]

I always try to fence as hard as I can - tournament or club, dry or electric. I will, however, take things that I've recently been drilling on and try to implement them at the club. I generally try not to do something new at a tournament - there's not as much feedback so I don't find out as quickly if I'm doing it wrong.

[howtobrew]

I am a "Mediator" personality type, so when I am fencing at the club, I am usually fencing to observe and learn. I do not fence aggressively, I attempt to see what they will do to control the bout, and make the touch, while I attempt to understand and counter it.

Also I notice that my fencing style changes drastically depending on my opponent. I don't know if it is a symbiosis of two fencers, or I sense a weakness (or strength) but my program will change from primarily offense to primarily defense, depending. I am trying to observe "how it works".

But! Competition is another kettle of fish entirely. I have only participated in one tournement so far, and as soon as I got there I noticed that if you get backed down the strip, you are at a disadvantage. I saw several people get backed up to the edge and then get nailed like a butterfly on a pin because they had no where to go. This immediately impressed upon me the need to take control of the bout from the word Go, and to advance to the opponent so that I had more option to retreat if I wanted to. I did pretty well considering that it was my first, and I think it was from the simple decision to take control of the bout.

[Schiavona]

I've noticed a difference how people fence even between club tournaments and more formal or serious tournaments. Part of it is change in focus, part of it is competition nerves.

When I was target shooting my practice scores were consistantly the same as my competition scores, when the other shooters would drop 10 points in competition over practice. When asked why I didn't get a case of the nerves during competitions, I replied "You think this is pressure? You guys should try a fencing tournament. The targets aren't trying to hit you here!"

[RebelFencer]

"In soviet Russia, targets shoot you!"