Competition Preparations

[eac]

Lefthanded: If you get tired from warming up, you are not doing enough conditioning. (I know, because I used not to do enough conditioning, and I got tired warming up. Now I don't, and I can do what I need to do in the more important parts of the tournament-- the later parts.)

Get in better shape.

[PalmFrond]

What kind of timeframe for preparation are you talking about? Months/weeks/days/minutes before an event?

FWIW, I'd say you should get at least 8 hours of sleep per night in the week before the event. This will make any pre-competition insomnia less debilitating. Drink plenty of water for two days before the competition; fencing involves a lot of sweating and if you start off slightly dehydrated your performance will go down the pan very quickly.

[LeftHanded]

When I say tired I meant more of what I said afterwards. I will get my muscles warmed up and then they cool off and they hurt more than they did before I think having somepants to put over my legs will help.

[glowstix]

convince yourself that the tournament means nothing (after all it really doesn't..i doubt my boss would care much if i told him i won ME event over the weekend). convince yourself that you're going ONLY to have fun and work on stuff you've been doing in lessons/practice. this way there's no pressure...and i know this works. last time i did it, i took 1st..

[whtouche]

Originally Posted by LUDICROUS

Either: Train in the most advanced gym known to human science, or B: Train in the wilderness.

Hahaha.

[brutus]

My prep before any comp is:

--Stop weight training for the week before the comp.


--Carb up the week before (lot's of wholegrain pasta, veg, anything with carbs in!!).

--The week before, start fencing club fights to win (nomally I fight to practice moves/hits not to win).

--The day before the comp, Make sure everything is in my bag ready (except my breeches, they get worn to the venue to warm them up and stretch them out), Eat a huge meal which is high in protein and carbs, and very high in fibre so that the fibre slows the absortion of the carbs allowing me to get my full amount of carbs in the 6hrs before competing.

--On the day, I have a large braekfast, again, carbs and protein. and then get to the venue about 1/2hr before close of check-in, this gives me about an hour to warm-up, warm-up fight, etc. I usually have to get really warm before a poole otherwise it wont happen for me.

[Phaeton]

Originally Posted by glowstix

convince yourself that the tournament means nothing (after all it really doesn't..i doubt my boss would care much if i told him i won ME event over the weekend). convince yourself that you're going ONLY to have fun and work on stuff you've been doing in lessons/practice. this way there's no pressure...and i know this works. last time i did it, i took 1st..

Then again sometimes in terms of your seasonal plan it DOES matter and no matter how much you say it doesn't matter you know it does to the point that following every "doesn't mater!" there's this little voice yelling back in a bad Samuel L. Jackson impression...

"Are you high *(@#$(&@!#* of course it matters!"


Best to learn how to deal with things mattering, because at some point in your life you'll need to think on your feet and you'll sure as hell know it matters....

Such as crossing at a crosswalk. The majority of pedestrians get hit by cars there.

[xlr8]

Don't worry too much about you sleep the night before the competition. The key is how much sleep you get on the night before that. It is very common to have pre-competition jitters that interfere with a good nights rest. If you have slept well earlier in the week, then you will be ok.

Now, that is not to say that you should go out an party, but don't stress over it.

[ParryRiposte]

I used to make sure I went to bed early to ensure a good night's sleep. This would cause me to wake up early. However, when I'm up for more than an hour before I leave, I put to much thought into fencing and I end up getting nervous, which is not good. So I go to bed really late, wake up late, and I'm set. I try to get in a nap before I fence; that clears my mind and adds focus.

Also, get a good song in your head. Usually when my performance is down I happen to have some retarded song in my head ("Getting to Know You" from the King and I is especially bad ). Techno's pretty nice, as long as it's driving.

A good mindset is crucial to a good fight. DO NOT hate your opponent. Passion, not the desire to crush them, will help you succeed. Think of making a fool of your opponent.

Overall, loosen up and have fun. Just pretend it's one of your training bouts.

That's all I can add.