Tournament focus

[thager]

What do you guys/gals do to get yourself ready for your runs in a tournament? I constantly fight huge rushs of adrenaline which helped greatly in other sports like football or wrestling but is pure detriment in watersking. Your thoughts?

thager 

[Thomas Wayne]

Try repeating this to yourself: "Find a happy place... find a happy place... find a happy place..."

TW 

[Boody]

Last year I read a sports psychology book entitled, "In Pursuit of Excellence" by Terry Orlick.  The author trained a lot of Olympic athletes mostly in downhill skiing and there was a few references to a waterskiing as well.  It really helped me deal with tournament nerves and improved my consistency.

[disland]

Take a look at www.peaksports.com

lots of good info.

 

[JAYK]

Reading that same book now, it's good. Mental training is something that can be worked on outside of skiing, I found that learning to focus during the off season helped loads and a routine before I ski whether in training or tournament helps.

[RichardDoane]

I was told by someone older and wiser than me, "the way to get better at tournament skiing is to ski lots of tournaments."  Seems like a cliche, but it's been working for me.  Familiarity with a site also helps, and practicing your "tournament set" - opener, then shorten every pass/drop until you miss - will help you be more comfortable on event day.