Final Prep Before The Main Event

The High School State Championships and NCAA's are just around the corner. This should be an exciting time for all wrestlers who will compete for the prestigious title of State Champion or NCAA Champion. Now is the time to get your mind and body feeling hungry for the battle that lies ahead.

Think back to your competitions the past few years. Remember the tournament or match that you really felt great! Where you were hitting on all cylinders, feeling powerful, fast and smooth. Did you taper your work-outs before that event? How did you prepare your body and mind for the big match?

Now is the time to search your personal journal for answers. What activity did you do to make weight? How was your diet? What foods were you eating? What about your sleep, were you getting eight hours/night? More-less? Were your wrestling & running workouts short in duration and high in intensity? What routine made your body and mind feel invincible? Do you need to make any adjustments?

Being fully recovered before the battle is of critical importance. You trained extremely hard over the past year. Now with just a couple weeks before the big event it is time to reduce the physical and emotional stress. No matter how talented, skilled, physically fit or mentally tough you are. If you are not recovered sufficiently to meet the energy demands of competition, you'll make it more difficult for yourself.

Choose your recovery techniques carefully. Disciplined wrestlers will follow sensible rules regarding sleep, diet and rest. Undisciplined wrestlers who veer off from their recovery habits will tend to break under pressure. In other words they will crack first. Disciplined athletes with the same ability as their undisciplined opponents will usually always win.

Remember, you are more likely to perform at your peak when you feel:

    - Confident
    - Relaxed & calm
    - Energized with positive emotion
    - Challenged
    - Focused and alert
    - Automatic & instinctive
    - Ready for fun and enjoyment

This is where your thinking, visualizing and acting skills can really enhance your ideal competitive state. No matter what your real state of mind is, you must use all your power to create these positive performance-enhancing emotions. Be ready to play the hand you are dealt and do what you have to do to succeed. Focus on great execution of your technique, match strategy & plan. Keep the pressure on your opponent and break his will to fight.

Polish your tough acting skills, focus on your competition goals & pay attention to your pre-tournament rituals. Understand how everything is interconnected. Sleep, diet, fitness, free time, tough acting & emotional toughness are all interrelated.

Dream about becoming a State or NCAA Champion. There is no better time than right now. But treat it just like another tournament.

Even the most elite competitors & coaches can get caught up in the hype of the State Championships or NCAA's. It is the big event that so many have been dreaming about. The pressures of the tournament can produce feelings & behaviors for many coaches and athletes that haven't surfaced in awhile. Some first time state championship or NCAA competitors may experience feelings that are similar to the feelings they had when they just started out in sports*thinking too much, worrying about the results and being distracted by stupid stuff.

At the United States Olympic Committee High Performance Summit held in 1996, Olympic Games Coaches discussed factors which have interfered with athletic performances in recent Olympic Games. Many of these factors also interfere with the performance of younger athletes facing a high level competition for the first time. Recognizing, understanding and handling these factors is important for coaches at all levels. Many issues were discussed but the main issue that I think is relevant to High School coaches, College coaches and athletes is as follows:

Big event situations such as the H.S. State Championships or the NCAA's may cause some coaches & athletes to think their normal way of preparing is somehow inadequate. This thinking can result in a tendency to stray from approaches that have been successful for past competitions. There are three harmful attitudes which might develop in big event situations.

    A feeling that the performance has to be perfect because it is the State or NCAA Championships. Athletes who tend to be perfectionists may be pushed to new heights of over-thinking, over-correction & over-analysis.
    A focus on not losing or not looking bad instead of focusing on winning. The knowledge that thousands of people state or nation-wide may be watching can result in a less confident athlete who worries about screwing up. This usually results in an athlete who is unable to take risks necessary to succeed in elite sport.
    A tendency to "save" for later or final rounds. Occasionally, overconfident athletes too focused on winning a medal will outsmart themselves by saving something for later. These athletes are often upset in preliminary competition.

Anticipate changes in your athlete's thinking and stress the importance of consistency. Emphasize to your athletes that they need to do what got them to this Championship. Try to shift focus from only outcome to excellent execution. Don't allow your thinking to change. Do not change the way you coach. Two common coaching errors are as follows:

    Coaching too much (not wanting to leave anything
    left unsaid that might make a difference)
    Being afraid to coach (not wanting to say something that messes up the athlete).

Athletes notice behavior changes & they can worry that these behavior changes are due to a lack of confidence on the coach's part. As a coach, you need to trust yourself and the fact that you must have done something right to get your wrestlers to this point.

Coaches taking wrestlers to a new level of competition should remember that most athletes are surprised by their reaction to the big event and they are often nervous about being nervous. By anticipating these new behaviors and attitudes, you can let your athletes know they are common feelings. Discuss them ahead of time and teach athletes how to respond to get the best results in big competition.

Live your wrestling career with passion!

-Coach Fraser