STATE TOURNAMENT FOCUS!

[kdsmith27 14]

STATE TOURNAMENT FOCUS! By Chad Tunink

The time has finally arrived!  All the hours of sweat, blood and tears have paid off.  You are finally at the State Wrestling Tournament!  For some, this is your last shot to win a State Championship and for others, it is your chance to win your first of four State Championships!  Staying focused and being mentally prepared are very important while wrestling in the state tournament.

Many wrestlers are just glad to make it to the state meet and truly do not believe they can win it. This is not the thinking you should have. BELIEVE you are going to WIN the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!  Think of this, when you get to the state tournament you have already beat about 75% of the people there.  Why?  The reason is simple, some of them are just happy to be there, some are tired of cutting weight, some are scared, and some are just afraid of you!  The following are tips that will help you wrestle your best at the state tournament.

WATCHING THE STATE TOURNAMENT:

The more times you go and watch the state tournament while you are young the better.  Many wrestlers choke at the state tournament because they have not seen the arena and get nervous when they look up and see all the people.

Youth clubs, junior high wrestlers and wrestlers who do not qualify should go every single year and watch the tournament from start to finish.  What a better way to get yourself motivated so you can wrestle in the tournament when you get older!

VISUALIZE:

1. The Building.  What this means is to visualize the building and know everything you can about the physical building you will be wrestling in.  Walk everywhere.  Where are the school vehicles parked?  Where are the entrance and exit for the athletes?  How does it smell?  Where are weigh-ins?  The locker rooms?  The warm up area?  How are the mats arranged?  Basically, know everything about the building.  Visualize (see) yourself pulling into the parking lot, walking out of the school vehicle into the building.  Walking to the scales and then into the arena to warm up. With all this knowledge you will be able to actually see yourself making weight, warming up and wrestling at the tournament, which in return will help you believe that you are wrestling in the tournament.

2. Wrestling A Match.  See yourself walking onto the mats to warm up.  Go through your whole warm up in you head and really see yourself looking and feeling good. Hear the announcer calling you to the mat for your first match.  Visualize walking onto the mat and shaking hands.  The whistle blows it is go time!  Visualize yourself hitting perfect set ups and shots, breaking your opponent down and pinning him.  See every detail of the perfect match you want to wrestle.  See the ref raising your hand and you running off the mat giving your coach a high five.  You have now won your first match!  You will want to do this for all your matches and see yourself winning the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP and the crowd going crazy as your arm is raised!

3. Awards Stand.  Go to your wrestling room or the place in your school where they have pictures of the state place winners and champions.  See how they are standing on the awards stand, notice how their hands are and how the medal is around their neck. You want to visualize yourself walking on the stand continuing to climb it and then stopping at the top as you just won the State Championship.  See yourself bending over as your coach is putting the medal around your neck and telling you congratulations.  Look out to the crowd and get your picture taken.  Listen as thousands of fans are cheering for you.  See yourself then walking off the awards stand and walking around the arena feeling good as you just won the State Championship!

 

WRESTLE ONE MATCH AT A TIME:

Many great wrestlers lose matches because they are too worried about who they will have in the finals instead of worrying about the match they have at that time.  Never worry about who you think you will have next or later on, always wrestle one match at a time. If you concentrate on y our current match you will take care of business.  If you start worrying too far ahead you will underestimate your opponent and risk a chance of losing to someone you should beat!  Some athletes never even look at their bracket to see who they wrestle. They warm up and prepare the same for all matches.  Why worry about who they are going to wrestle?  For them, this really helps their performance on the mat.

The more you know about the building, the smell, the sound, where everything is located, the less nervous you will be when you wrestle for the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!  Visualize and never underestimate anyone and wrestle one match at a time!  Believe in yourself and go for the GOLD!

Dream Big

[grapplehed 8]

Nice article KD, I have always argued that the kids should be able to work out at the arena the night before to get used to the arena, lights, and atmoshere.  They (KHSAA) have always had some lame exuse for not letting teams work out. 

[stanmms 4]

This is a great article on the mental preparation it takes to become a state champ.  I believe, as coaches, we sometimes focus all of our time on the physical act of wrestling and lose sight that most kids need even more focus on the mental.  Too many times we've all seen great wrestlers lose at state mentally.  I only had one coach over the years that really understood this and the wrestlers that listened to him went on to become great ones.

Keep these articles coming.

[kdsmith27 14]

Tis the season to focus on the State Tournament.