Training the day before a competition

J

JinXi

Regular Member
Hey guys, I just have a quick question. Would it be advisable to do footwork drills the day before a tournament, or even play at all? Or should we just rest our body up and not do any physical exercise?

For my case, I've been alternating training(intensive-footwork) and playing (less intensive) every single day for more than a month already. I think that my muscles recovers quite quickly and so I was wondering if I should just do some casual footwork drills to get my rhythm set or not? Or should I just really rest up to be more explosive? (I'm a singles player.)

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Borbor said:
What's been your tourney prep routine so far, or this is your first one?
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This is my first tourny that I'm in since I've started training seriously. All the other tournaments I joined before this, I've took it not so seriously and slept late, drank the night before, etc.etc.

However, this is the first time that I really really want to do well in the tournament :)
 
i usually rest the day before a tournament, i just feel more explosive when i rested for a day (e.g. i had a hard training yesterday evening and play a tournament on saturday in the morning, so i don't do any sports today...).

for some people, it helps to do a short (!!) intensive workout the day before a competition.

that having said, you gonna have to find out what's better for YOU!!
not a big help, i know...;)
 
Trust me when I say take the day off!! Ive been here and done it all. Physically you wanna be fresh for the tournament. 2nd of all, what message are you sending your brain?? For 1 you are telling yourself am not good enough as I need to train the day before a comp. 2nd of all, if you play bad, you'll put yourself in a bad frame of mind for the tournament as its so close to it.

SO TAKE A DAY OFF. Only you can find out if 1 or 2 days off works best for you. But in general, playing the day before is massive mistake. Ive seen good players do this, had a blinder the day before in practice and play badly at the tournament and wondered why. Dnt take the risk. Ur good enough, uve done all you can do to get to this point. From what it seems, you've done everything in your power to be as good as you can. 1 day will not make a difference

Good luck
 
you can't say that in general!
it's not about learning something, but some people just liek to stay in their rhythm.

pros usually train in the morning when they play in the evening...;)
 
I'd recommend you take the day off, to allow both your mind and your body to recover. Exercises usually need to couple with appropriate rest period. Also, keep in mind to not let win/loss (the outcome of any matches or the tournament) getting into your mind during the tournament. Have a good night sleep.

If time permitted, have a good warm-up on the day of tournament, preferably just before your match. That is probably a better way to "spend" your energy.

Finally, the mind set "I really want to do well in this tournament" may have been a good motivation this far, but might not help you (or anyone) in the tournament. Just let your training take over, and don't over think anything.
 
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|_Footwork_| said:
pros usually train in the morning when they play in the evening...;)
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This could be misleading... We don't know how intensive they train in that morning, compared to how they normally train on other days, and how the OP plans to train the day before the tournament.

Also, I'm under the impression that the pros don't need to play all the matches in a tournament (for our local tournaments here, this could be 4-5 rounds), and if all matches play out to 3 games, you're talking about 15 games. The pros may play 1 or 2 matches a day, spread out over a few days...
 
JinXi said:
This is my first tourny that I'm in since I've started training seriously. All the other tournaments I joined before this, I've took it not so seriously and slept late, drank the night before, etc.etc.

However, this is the first time that I really really want to do well in the tournament :)
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You already set yourself up ready for failure with that last statement. Be process oriented, not results oriented. You can control the process, but no one can control the results.

Think back to the past training cycle (4 to 6 weeks) and evaluate how much effort you put in. If you gave it your 100% every time you were training, then you basically did all that you can to get ready for the tournament.

Take the day off, use it to do anything that isn't related to badminton. Then come the tourney date, clear your head and just go play. All you can do is play every point in every match with your best effort and the results will come. You might not win it all, but you walk away eliminating one variable and that is "did I give everything I have." After that it's just seeing where your weaknesses are compared to the field you were up against and then work on those some more after the tourney is done.

Remember the field is level. Whatever conditions you face, he'll have to face. If you're tired, chances are he most likely isn't fresh as a daisy. Sometimes it might seem like he catches all the breaks and you can't buy one; but over the course of time it'll even itself out. Focus only on things that you have complete control over and tune everything else out. Most importantly, have fun! :D
 
since you are on training, eat more the days before the tournament, it makes you sustain tournament days on a higher level!
 
I would advise you not to train the day before the tournament or if you can't resist do nothing exhausting, just light hitting practice e.g.

This is just personal preference/experience
 
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i find drinking the night before is nice :D i can get a really good nights sleep with a little bit of liquor. Otherwise depends on how fast your body's recovery is. When i was younger, i used to be able to play hard 8 hrs straight and do it again the next day.
 
XtC-604 said:
i find drinking the night before is nice :D i can get a really good nights sleep with a little bit of liquor. Otherwise depends on how fast your body's recovery is. When i was younger, i used to be able to play hard 8 hrs straight and do it again the next day.
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Drinking before sleep could interfere with restoration function of sleep:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/08/16/alcohol-sleep.html

"able to play hard 8 hrs straight and do it again the next day. " I won't doubt that, though I'd suspect that you could do even better if you skip the 8 hours the day before the tournament.
 
raymond said:
Drinking before sleep could interfere with restoration function of sleep:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/08/16/alcohol-sleep.html

"able to play hard 8 hrs straight and do it again the next day. " I won't doubt that, though I'd suspect that you could do even better if you skip the 8 hours the day before the tournament.
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Keyword is it CAN. "But the alcohol seemed to interfere with this, which can result in insomnia, difficulty getting to sleep, early-morning awakening, lack of a sense of deep sleep and difficulty maintaining sleep"

I've already stated that i get a very very good sleep when i drink before i sleep. In fact its probably one of the most rejuvenating sleeps. I'm not saying go all out and smash yourself in hard liquor, but rather have a glass or two of wine or something.

And when i said do it again the next day, i meant with the same intensity. I'm just saying as you or i get older our recovery times are longer.
 
Thanks everyone for their valuable inputs. I really appreciate it. I ended up not training on the day before the tournament. Here's how it went. I joined 2 grades, where the higher grade is held on Sunday, the day after the lower grade.

On Saturday, even though my body was fresh, I quickly found out that my mind wasn't. It was sort of blinded by the desire to do well, so much that I lost quite early to an opponent who I know that my skills are far better than, leaving me quite confused. However, that night, when I went back and reanalyzed my game, I realized that I was focused on winning, but not on the rally itself.

On the second day, I had my mind set on each individual rally, and hardly even thought about winning the game. In the end, even though the competition is much tougher on the second day, I ended up doing much better.

The most important thing I've learn't from this is probably that even though the desire to win is good, wanting to win TOO much can be bad and will cloud your judgment of the game. Everything must be done in moderation.
 
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