Tournament Lessons Learned

Classes Attended: 3 Regular, 1 Private, 1 Open Mat

 

Of all the things I wish I could change about my prep for this last tournament, the number one thing was not being able to attend the actual tournament training. For starters, I think that training definitely helps a good bit in getting mentally prepared for the tournament. But more importantly, it's good for tournament cardio. I was jogging at home at least three miles three days a week the month leading up to the tournament (was at four miles each time the last week), but that definitely was not enough.

The number two thing would've been starting my weight cut earlier so I wouldn't have had to do the water loading at the end. Doing a water load (where you drink way too much water, cut virtually all salt out of your diet, and then drink next to no water for the last day) always drains me, both mentally and physically, and I think if I could avoid doing it I would perform much better in my tournaments. Hopefully, with consistent training and healthier eating habits, I won't have to do any sort of weight cut for my next tournament.

Along those lines, I also need to make sure to eat an actual breakfast the day of the tournament. Because I was worried about making weight (needlessly I might add, turned out I had four pounds to spare), I had a banana and an apple and that was it - definitely not enough energy for what I would be doing. Even if having more energy wouldn't have been able to give me a win, it certainly would've given me more fight while losing - maybe even enough to wear my opponent out so much they feel the win wasn't worth the energy lost in the end (always my goal if I'm going to lose).

The final big thing I plan on doing different next time is actually drilling my game plan before the tournament. It's foolish to go in without a game plan (and a backup plan) and I knew that, so I built a plan in my head that I'd gone over plenty of times. The plan for this tournament was get the take down, gain side control, and then hunt for a submission from there. Minus the submissions hunting, I felt pretty successful with the game plan when I was able to get the takedown. However, I think drilling this actual game plan (as well as the backup plan) would've not only helped me into getting to the submission hunting stage quicker, but would've given me a good boost of confidence just walking onto the mat.

As for the day of the tournament, a definite change I need to make is to  bring something to snack on while waiting for the open weight brackets. There was a good ninety minute break between the two brackets and I went from starving to famished. So next time I'm going to at least bring a small sandwich. And possibly some honey packets as I hear those are good for quick bursts of energy (I've also heard Smarties work just as well and since those are my favorite candy, I might just give those a try too, but I've met more people that swear by honey so I'll definitely keep some on hand).

The other thing I think I'm going to do is have a set warmup routine. Usually I just do whichever stretches and little workouts (pushups, situps, jumping jacks, etc.) come to mind to try and get myself physically ready for competition. I haven't tested it or even researched it, but I feel like having a warmup routine I've gone through many times before the tournament may help me in getting mentally ready as well. 

Oh, and I'm definitely going to try and have someone there to film my matches next time. While looking back I can definitely see a few glaring holes in my game to improve upon, but it would be nice to review footage to see the little things my memory may be missing.