Taking the edge off on tournament day.

[DiscFifty]

I've wanted to post this topic for a long time now but have hesitated due to perhaps how silly it sounds. After all we're all adults and some of us are way to old for this...right?

I'm like a frickin hyper kid on tournament day. I really enjoy the excitement, challenge, etc, but man...I get so pumped up it affects my game. My muscle memory seems to not be there, I make stupid mental mistakes, etc, etc. My 2nd round is usually better due to calming down, perhaps burning off some of that adrenaline..lol.

After researching the topic is seems like "embrace the feeling" & "distract yourself" are the 2 top ways to help control this. Just wondering if anyone else suffers from this and how you either overcame it or deal with it. Thx.

 

[Jay Dub]

I know of this problem and the best way I found to deal with it is to play as many competitive rounds as possible. There are a lot of weekly doubles and single pay to play events around here to do that. The more competitive rounds you play the easier it gets to relax for tournaments.
I think this helps you practice the mental part of the game and get used to playing competitive rounds.

 

[sidewinder22]

Pre-game dump.

 

[McLovin]

I know exactly how you feel, I'm the same way on tourney day. So I've adopted the John Daly method. I either shotgun a couple of tall boys, or have a nice large Bloody Mary with my breakfast. I would more recommend the Bloody Mary though, otherwise around hole 4 your looking for some trees to go hide in while you break the seal.

 

[ru4por]

Agree with Jay Dub....practicing competition play helps. I usually socialize, joke around, generally try to use other people to ratchet me down a notch or two. After the first couple throws, I remember that I am there to fling plastic around the woods and stop taking myself so seriously.

 

[Stardoggy]

It does get easier the more tourney rounds you play. Just like anything else, experience makes everything feel more natural.

Big dump sounds silly, but helps. A decent night sleep helps, but I tend to sleep like crap before tournaments.

I don't necessarily disagree with the John Daly method, either. The first tourney I won, I had two beers and a shot during the lunch break, and played my ass of the second round.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Pre-game dump.

Mandatory.

Wake up early enough to have a reasonable paced morning. Rushing around will compound the stress.

Beta blockers?

Warm up, jog a bit, putt, then 9 holes of tournament paced golf.

Any stressful shots (double Mando, ob, tight window) - throw them until you have the feeling dialed in.

Good relaxing tunes on the headphones and relax during the player meeting.

Joe Rovere plays at least 9, sometimes the whole course before the round... Gotta get up early to do it, but it's working for him!

 

[Pbmercil]

Mandatory.

Wake up early enough to have a reasonable paced morning. Rushing around will compound the stress.

Beta blockers?

Warm up, jog a bit, putt, then 9 holes of tournament paced golf.

Any stressful shots (double Mando, ob, tight window) - throw them until you have the feeling dialed in.

Good relaxing tunes on the headphones and relax during the player meeting.

Joe Rovere plays at least 9, sometimes the whole course before the round... Gotta get up early to do it, but it's working for him!

Pretty much all this. Experience helps a lot. I played a bunch of events last year and at the beginning of the year I was jacked up and very highstrung until at least the first 4 or 5 holes. By the end of the year it just started to feel like "another day at the office"

Call me a dirty hippy or whatever if you want, but meditation, prayer, and relaxation techniques help me a ton with this as well. If I'm spiritually centered being emotionally and mentally centered naturally follows

 

[Stardoggy]

Yep, I usually get there early enough to get in a full round beforehand, as well. Huge help.

 

[ohtobediscing]

Used to get to our mt. bike races with enough time to ride 3-4 miles before the race. Warmed up the muscles and damped down the jitters. Same thing with kayaking---a good stretch and light exercise kept me out of early-in-the-run disaster.

I notice I don't throw well until 3-5 holes into a round---I really need to warm up the muscle memory to throw proficiently. This is common to most people, and the reason they practice drives and putting.

 

[PWaggoner]

I feel ya OP.

I wake up super early because i don't sleep well on tournament days. Get there early and getting a whole round in helps a ton with my adrenaline.

I still get it the first couple holes of each round, maybe at the end too if its tight. But i don't think about score either because that'll get the adrenaline pumping too, but i used to. Screwed me up always.

If i am about to throw and have adrenaline i like to smile/ think of something silly/ dumb. I don't need it to force it away completely, just need it to chill out for a bit while i throw.

 

[Jimb]

I've always been the compegetive type. So even casual things, sadly, can turn competitive for me. :doh:

I also used to play a lot of competetive tennis, some softball and darts. Plus playing music can be similar in the adrenaline rush. I've played music in all sorts of different scenarios... Recitals, competitions, bar bands, etc.

I am fortunate, when playing competitive disc golf rounds, to have all of my past experiences to draw on. This allows me to dial it down pretty quickly. So one other option, in addition to the others already given, might be to participate in other competitive situations and work on relating them to dg.

 

[ThrowBot]

Call me a dirty hippy or whatever if you want, but meditation, prayer, and relaxation techniques help me a ton with this as well. If I'm spiritually centered being emotionally and mentally centered naturally follows

You're a dirty hippy!

I typically try to warm up by myself. It can be tough to find an area without other people, but it helps me to focus on throwing. There's plenty of time throughout the tournament to catch up with your friends, but warming up is really the only time that you can be alone and chill out.

Sometimes I'll listen to music during my warm-up. I rarely listen during the actual rounds because it's too distracting, but before the competition starts that distraction is welcome.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Plus playing music can be similar in the adrenaline rush

Funny story... I was in bands from HS until well after being a grown-up. One of my first performances was with a couple buddies at a cafe/bar. We'd practiced quite a bit leading up to this, so I assumed that everybody would be ready.

2 bars into our first song, I hear the most god awful clanging coming from the other guitar player. I glance over and see his hands trembling and he can barely form chords, and his rhythm is just OFF.

Like his ears and hands decided to revolt.

I tried to get his attention, but he was gone... at one point I think he had managed to jam a finger UNDER the strings and I sorta just gave up and tried to play louder to cover the insanity that was coming from his side.

We're still good friends to this day, and if we're drinking I like to bring up that story.

...

Moving on to other bands, I realized that sitting in the bar drinking prior to a show was a bad idea. I'd just hole up in the back somewhere with my guitar or bass and do finger warm up exercises and play licks and any complicated turn-arounds that we'd be performing. By the time we got to the stage, all the jitters were gone - and the music came straight from my head. I learned that from one of the best drummers I'd ever met, who would be sitting out of earshot, with a drum pad.

 

[Stardoggy]

Good point was made above.

Don't think about your score throughout the round. I've gotten much better about this. The only time I'm even slightly worried about my score is towards the end of a round 2, when I think I might have a chance to win. Otherwise, I try to stay as oblivious about it as possible, even while keeping score on the card.

 

[biscoe]

The more events you play the less stressed you will be over them. You may also want to try reading "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect" by Bob Rotella.

 

[mark996]

I'm not what one would call a...social butterfly. I'm quiet, can appear a bit awkward in crowds etc. I like my space...but with that said, go play in as many mini's and local gigs as you can. I usually followed the local mini group on facebook but rarely showed up, thinking I'd end up making a fool of myself and performing badly. Once I got there, I realized I had been wasting a lot of time and could have been playing with this solid group of guys, making myself get better and learning to throw in pressure situations. Bite the bullet and get out there and throw with the groups.

 

[tbird888]

The best tourney day (last day of BG Ams) I've had, I spent about five minutes before leaving for the course stretching and taking slow, deep breaths. I was pacing earlier in the morning because I had so much nervous energy built up. I felt pretty silly doing it, but it relaxed me. I went to the course, threw enough drives to feel comfortable and putted a little to make sure the muscle memory was intact.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Lot of good points. Ultimately you'll have to figure out what works for you.
I like to listen to calm, relaxing (for me) music and do a little practicing and stretching, typically off by myself in a quiet spot.
I didn't want to become reliant on having to throw a set number of holes or anything in case that option wasn't available at certain times for whatever reason, so I just thow some shots here and there and then zone out putting. I am by nature, however, pretty calm and even-keeled so....

 

[corin_brown]

Great post, OP. Love all posts about the mental aspect of disc golf and tournament disc golf.

I've also experienced the same pre-tournament jitters and excitement. Over time, I've managed to make it so it doesn't affect me adversely.

I think excitement and adrenaline is important but it's good to burn that off once the tournament starts. By the time the tournament begins, all the work you put into your game has already been done and the most important factor in tournament performance is focus on strategy and execution of every single shot. Doing that takes a level head. Adrenaline and excitement are fine as long as they don't distract from the work that needs to be done.

I agree with many of the suggestions above: sleep, tournament reps, pre tournament rounds/holes/putting, beer & a shot (lol.) One thing I will add is that I think it's a good idea to talk up and chat with people at the tournament informally or talk to someone on the phone or do something social that will diffuse any tension going on in a player's head before the tournament starts. Wandering around by oneself before the tournament if one's nervous or edgy, isolated, not talking to anyone, stewing in one's own anxiety is no way to prepare to begin a tournament.