Why You Do Better Practicing Than In a Tournament
Let me guess, you setup to practice putting and can hit putt after putt after putt. Practicing outside Circle 1? nearly Paul McBeth levels of skill. Then the tournament comes and you got that 15 ft’er …doink…right off the band.
WHY!
Missing putts in tournaments compared to being on fire in practice.
You’re not alone. And not only are you not alone in disc golf this happens to everyone at every level in every sport. You ever watch NBA players shoot free throws?
There’s a couple of things that can help you shake off that practice to tournament struggle and start hitting chains when it counts. I will add here that you need to be doing fieldwork and putting practice for muscle memory’s sake, but that its mostly your mental game failing you.
Perception: We put pressure on our minds because it is a tournament and there are “real” stakes if you miss. Your mind takes that little bit of pressure and stress and turns each stroke into a Life or Death moment.
Anxiety: We start to let the mind’s imagination take over and we see ourselves missing. Or even the opposite we see ourselves making it. Our heart rate begins to rise, breathing begins to increase…all subconsciously and we don’t even realize.
Expectation: We begin to expect something to happen. We see that OB line back there and think, “if I miss I will end up OB,” or “that branch is right in my way,” or “I need to make this because I know my opponent will make that tap-in.” Or the worst of all, “I have missed from here before.” Dreadful! The outcome is already determined.
So the trick is to not have those happen. Easy.
Here’s the rub. It takes you working right now and daily on your mental game to not fall victim to your minds messed up games. The mind gets in the way. You’ve practiced and practiced and know you can hit the putt in your backyard, so why let the mind take you down any of those paths?
Couple of tricks
Perception: Realize that the game is the same in practice and in a tournament. This is key. Get rid of the idea that for some reason a tournament is “bigger” than a league is bigger than a casual round is bigger than fieldwork. It’s all the same.
I liked what Paul Ulibarri had to say about a phone call he had with sports psychologist Bob Rotella. Where Bob asks him if he could go out and play a round on the course and if he had 10 shots could he go 18 under for the round. Uli says of course. Bob then tells him to stop worrying about practice and be confident in your game.
Anxiety: This is so common that learning to control your anxiety will give you an edge over everyone, and then your opponents will be the ones panicking. Here’s the way to do that…relaxation techniques! Time to learn some breathing techniques and mindfulness practices to bring your focus back to the moment, back to shot you need to make and that you’ve made a thousand times in your backyard.
Learning to handle your anxiety, whether it’s covert or overt, is such an easy way to get a leg up on competition. (start that journey). Finding a daily meditation and mindfulness practice will help you learn to control that anxiety.
It really comes back to #controlthebreath and be in the moment.
Expectation: “If you try to do a don’t, you’ll should all overself.” If you think about the failure. If you think about the negative outcomes, that is what will happen. First start training your mind to not think about what it’s not supposed to do, and start thinking about what it needs to do. That is a long-term practice that takes effort. You have to rewire your brain to stop focusing on the possible fails. Starts in your mind and you recognizing and shifting your mind each time it happens through self talk.
Now what can you do in the meantime before the brain has changed its synapsis? When you have a “failure” thought don’t sweat it. Our minds will wander and that’s ok. Even the most yogi person you can think of will have random thoughts and distractions when they are trying to focus/meditate. The trick is to recognize the thought and bring your mind back to what you need to do. You need to focus on what you want to have happen, the performance factors that you can control. Take a few breaths and focus on those, and imagine what you WANT the disc to do.