Its all the same. A focused tournament mind?

Mindset for major competitions

Dominant: Teams and individuals that win state and national tournaments consistently.

Fade: Teams or individuals that want the season over. They want to be the best, but settle on

mediocrity. They have no plan in place to peak. Their practice room and lifestyle habits are not

conducive to consistent winning. Improper weight management could be a problem, but the

main factor is their mental state. Fear carries more authority than belief.

Peak: Teams and individuals that understand a superior person is able to focus. Focus allows

mastery of your environment.

Lack of belief is detrimental. Wasting time looking ahead and overanalyzing the past is hurtful

to consistent performance. There are times when we question our readiness to compete by

magnifying our opponents’ abilities and minimizing our own. Athletes’ often create imagined

obstacles that hinder their potential.

Tournaments, ideally, are what you look toward all season. Use major competitions as a

reward. Let other competitors work mental numbers on themselves. Let the competition

become filled with anxiety and doubt. Let them compete with a mental parking brake on.

Let the competition deal with the weight of doubt. Let the competition question and wear

themselves out with non-stop mental games.

Much like physical training, there are mental training skills. Improving your mental skills should

be part of your overall program. Many athletes experience mental struggles but do little to

change their state of mind. Many hope on game day everything will work itself out.

Our thoughts can be cunning, but they provide evidence that shows up in our performance.

Our thinking, a never ending internal conversation, will always be with us; it is how our minds

work. There is always something on our mind. What occupies your mind is important. You can

rehearse victory or you can court defeat. Overcoming defeat is a battle you can win, but you

have to challenge yourself and you must give up comfort.

The daily battle is always between what you should do and what you actually do. Win these

battles. The more persistent the fight, the more likely the victory. A plan of action makes a

difference.

As major tournaments approach, many athletes tighten up, hold back, or shut down. They

refrain from what produced past victories. They stay safe, over analyze, and wait; waiting is a

trap.

You are still in control during major competition. Nothing changes. You are still competing

under the same rules and the same principles. Nothing has changed except your thinking. And

since you control your thinking, you hold the key. What will you allow to speak loudest? You

have been good before, and you can be good again.

The athlete who deals with pressure will triumph. A venue does not change you. Nothing

changes except what you allow. It is responsibility on your part. Responsibility is a choice and

an opportunity to grow, not a burden.

It is natural to be nervous; you can perform with nerves. Be in the moment. Do not fear

something you have done consistently well. Relax, take a deep breath, and focus.

It is either you or your opponent. Your responsibility is to tilt the odds in your favor through

daily preparation. Since your competition is training like you are, you have to invest more.

Maybe it is working harder and longer, but maybe it is working smarter and understanding that

you will function at an optimal level when the body and mind are in unison.

We create fear and doubt, but we also possess courage and belief. Both exist in your mind.

They do not live in harmony so you have to choose. It takes work, but never confuse difficult

with impossible. Eliminating doubt is a battle you can win. You will get what you think about

consistently.

Hold nothing back, and compete to win. Performance is not random; it is related to your

thoughts and expectations. Somebody who is not supposed to win will excel. Someone who is

supposed to excel will falter. The determining factor is focus and consistency.

How to grow confidence and have a focused tournament mind

•

-Awareness of your thoughts. Identify situations where negative self-talk occurs.

-Interrupt the negative and replace with positive. (Keep this simple). If you learn to

-manage your self-talk, you can manage your performance.

-Make a decision that you are going to be committed to building your confidence.

-Focus is crucial.

-Body language indicates attitude and attitude dictates behavior. Maintain strong and

-positive body language.

-Only concern yourself with the controllable.

-Build success into your training.

-Set practice room goals that focus on specific behaviors.

-Manage your breathing. By slowing your breathing you conserve energy, in control

-of your movements and function at a higher level. Take a deep breath; breathe in

-confidence and strength; breathe out doubt and fatigue.

-Play your strengths. Train your weaknesses.

-Basics win. 

-Analyze during practice and training. Simplicity during competition.

-Consistent pre-competition behaviors provide consistent performance results.

-A win is never certain and a loss is never final. Stay focused!

Post a Comment

#7	Sam   February 26, 2011 at 11:39pm This is great. Our minds are increadibly powerful things. reply
#6	Red Dog   February 25, 2011 at 7:03pm Yeah, this is incredible stuff BUT if every wrestler alive reads it and DOES it, every match will end in a tie! reply
#5	Nice   February 25, 2011 at 3:49pm This is exatly on point and needs to be shown to every wrestler alive! Also the rules come into play with life! reply
#4	Mark Bader   February 25, 2011 at 11:55am UNI coach Mark Schwab wrote this reply
#3	Wrestling Fan   February 25, 2011 at 11:52am Love it. This is what Elite champions do and how they think. Many wrestlers have the physical ability but what seperates the GREAT from the good is the mental toughness. reply
#2	Scanlon   February 25, 2011 at 10:49am who wrote this? Its a lot of advice, but sounds really good to me. reply