Improving performance before a game

I would approach your issue from a different direction. Start asking yourself what you have done differently the last 2 days before a good match day and a bad one.

Things you should think about:
- have you slept well and long enough?
- how much and how hard have you been training the last 2-3 days before the match?
- what did you eat?
- have you been out partying and/or drinking alcohol?
- have you overall felt fit and healthy?

These general things have a much bigger impact on your performance than chosing the right warm-up routine or eating some magical energy bars or stuff like that right before the match

 

IMO the nutrition and hydration is very important. If I drink a strong coffee or tea 2 hours before I train, I go hard like on speed.
I also notice that I benefit from complex carbs the whole day and something small and quick 1h before. Like 1-2 Hanuta or Knoppers.
I also drink much. 3L the whole day of a good water with much minerals. I also use the same warm up routine and can perform well. If I change anything of these things due stress etc. my performance will drop.

I suggest to write a dairy. Nothing special. Just nutrition and hydration, overall feel and stress level. Then rate your performance. You will quickly discover, who is the culprit.

 

Biggest mistake that I made in the past was not having enough resting days before a match day. So make sure to have 1 or better 2 days before the match during which you do either no training at all or just do some light running or stretching. This will cause your muscles to recover properly and provide maximum performance when things get serious on match day.

Regarding food, I can highly recommend to have some oatmeal with fruit a couple of hours before the match (http://darebee.com/recipes/easy-oatmeal.html). Easy to digest and doesn't feel heavy in your stomach and still provides a lot of energy. Apart from that, you find a lot of delicious and healthy recipies (along with really good workouts) for free on darebee.com => http://darebee.com/recipes.html

 

IMO the best deal is to start to make your own breed. Not much time needed, you can freeze the dough and have always fresh own high quality bread to eat some quick slices if you are in hurry. I use oatmeal, spelt, rye and a tiny bit wheat flour (everything whole grain) to get a nice mixture of carbs and nutrients for the dough. I often add flea seeds and sesame seeds. My own recipe can be requested via PM.

 

Sleep is for me almost more imortant than nutrition and cannot be rated high enough.

What I am trying to do is: 8+ hours of good sleep the night before the match, then get up not too late (let's say between 8 and 9 am), do some light stretching, have a decent breakfast (oatmeal and/or scrambled eggs, good coffee) and take my time for it. If possible, I go for a short walk in the forest to get some fresh air (works like a charm to calm down and get focused). Some pasta for lunch and then I'm good to go. Not to forget to drink enough water.

But to be honest, even if I manage to have the perfect preparation there are certain days in which I just end up far from feeling at my best. These are the days on which I am sooo happy not having to make my living from badminton.

 

Lots of good advice already. You should probably try journaling, jogging down significant events, and presumably record your performance immediately after your matches. How's your energy level, concentration etc? From mental state standpoint, there is also arousal level that could be regulated via visual/audio. E.g. on some good days, you may have listened to some music toned to your need. Different players play best with different arousal levels. Some need to be more excited, while others need to be more calm. You may want to read up on this topic to get a grip.

Pre-match warm-up is also important. Perhaps make some routine so you do some standardized things and gauge if it's helping or not (and then make adjustment accordingly). Pumping your heart rate up first would prepare you for more intense games.

 

One more thing - your anxiety level. If you're more anxious one day than another, this may play out also. So you'd need to learn to control your anxiety level. And focus (performance vs. outcome based) - don't worry too much about outcome. If you start paying too much attention to "I should beat these players", or "Oh no, we probably would lose to them", then you're probably already distracted. You'd need some other mental techniques (e.g. "Thought stopping") to come back to the current point/moment (i.e. mindfulness).

 

If you want to get some input on that specific topic, just read the book "The Inner Game of Tennis". Sensational reading and a true eye-opener.

@MSeeley
Thanks for the recommendation by the way!

 

Usually after my long hours at the office, occasionally I would drink a quick boost of energy drinks (Red Bulls, Lipovitan, the likes), can't help it when there's a convenience store just across the street from where we play

For more important games (league matches or tournaments), I would sometimes drink Creatine Monohydrate with BCAA (comes in powder or pills) to help with muscle fatigue.

If it's just normal weekly training, I would just have my Pocari Sweat with me to keep myself hydrated the whole time.

Avoid hardcore leg training (weight training) on the day you want to play, give yourself ample break at least one day after hitting the gym.

Make sure you have your meal at least one or two hours before the game (whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner), by that time your food will be fully digested so the nutrition and energy will be optimally absorbed. You don't want to play when your too full or too hungry.

Last is avoid or skip sex (also faps) on the day you want to play important games: ). Even professional coaches warned their athletes about abstinence before big games or tournaments. For me personally, usually good times in bed translates to poor and terrible day in badminton afterwards