summer league final tournament is tomorrow, so i figured i'd ramble about my pre-tournament routine/feelings a little bit.
it's totally normal to have pre-game jitters, in fact, i think it's not normal if you're totally calm and relaxed going into a game or tournament. the form those jitters take varies from person to person though. some people get all nervous about their performance and start visualizing what they don't want to do. from a sports psychology view, this is the absolute worst thing to do. once you start thinking about what might go wrong, it's almost impossible to think of anything else. for example: don't think of an elephant. what's the first thing that pops into your mind? exactly. once you start having all those negative thoughts and images, your play will directly mirror them. basically, if you think you're going to suck, you will suck.
according to sports psychologists, the way to combat this is to maintain your focus and stay in the 'champions zone.' this is easier said than done of course, but the point is to try and not think. it sounds counter-intuitive; how do you force yourself to not think, because once you think about not thinking, you start thinking again, etc. to try and get a grasp on it, it helps to have a picture of your brain. the front part of your brain is all dedicated to analyzing and responding to a situation. it's kinda like RAM on a computer. information comes in, is processed, and you make a decision. the back half of your brain on the other hand, has all the things that you know, like how to ride a bike, how to talk, how to throw a flick or backhand. to get into the 'champions zone' you need to stop using your front brain, and start using your back brain. remember, your front brain makes analytical decisions, whereas your back brain makes instinct decisions. if, right now you picture yourself playing a game of ultimate, imagine what it would be like using your front brain. "okay, there's a throw." "the throw is to me." "i should catch it." "how should i catch it?" "claw or pancake catch?" etc. now imagine your back brain reacting. instead of analyzing every detail of the situation, your back brain resorts to what it already knows about a disc being thrown to you, and you catch it. there's no thinking involved, you just do it. kinda like nike.
so now the question is, how do you get into the 'champions zone?' i find it useful to establish a pre-game or pre-tournament routine that calms the nervousness and helps you focus. for me, i try to always be prepared going into a tournament, packing my bag the night before, getting enough sleep, figuring out what food i'll need, then once i'm at the tournament, i usually pop in my ipod and listen to 'where the streets have no name' a couple times. different people have different songs, but this one works for me. while i'm listening to it, i'll baby powder my feet and put my cleats on, always right cleat first. as i'm warming up i'll visualize my strengths on the field, visualize the cuts, try to see a couple throws ahead in the play. then once the game starts i'm warmed up, psyched, and most of all i'm not thinking about what i can't do. i'm locked in on the game, and all my actions are coming from my back brain reacting to the situation, not off in lala land worrying about dropping the pull or anything.
what i would say to people is find a routine that works for you and stick with it. having all the skills will make you a good player in any sport, but if you have the mental strength to go along with those skills you will be a great player. like i said before, there is nothing worse than thinking about what you can't do. just focus on the game, and you'll find that you will not only excel at what you know you're good at, but you'll also be able to do what you didn't think you could.
No comments:
Post a Comment