In my last post I talked about how important the mental side of training is. It's often the last variable we look to when planning our training regimen and I would argue it's one of the most important. Below I'm going to discuss some mental tools you can use to help get the most out of your training and competition.
Goal setting
Goals are a great way for you to mentally focus and give your training purpose. It's important to note that your goals should always be realistic and as specific as possible. It is also equally important that you set short and long term goals, with the short term goals leading up to your ultimate long term goal. Even if you don't fully attain your long term goal you are guaranteed to learn a lot and grow along the way.
Lastly, a word of caution when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu related goals. Avoid setting goals that solely focus on attaining a certain rank. Why, you ask? The goal should be to learn and improve yourself, if the rank follows, it's frosting on the cake. If too much of your focus is on rank you will lose sight of what's important (improving yourself) and develop an unhealthy obsession with a colored strip of cotton. I've listed an example of realistic goal setting below:
- Short term goal: Improve takedowns
- Short term goal: Improve escapes
- Short term goal: Improve guard
- Long term goal: Compete in local tournament
I would suggest that you limit yourself to no more then 3 short term goals leading to your long term goal to avoid confusion and splitting your focus too much. Also remember that these goals should be measured after months of training, not days or weeks. If you try to assess your goals too often you are going to become frustrated and impatient with your progress.
Closing thoughts
In closing, I'd like to share with you something that I read a long time ago that profoundly affected the way I look at competition and the mental game. Here's a quote from Randy "The Natural" Couture" which I've had to paraphrase since I can't find the original "Leading up to a fight, I ask myself, if I lose this fight is it going to be the worst thing that's ever happened in my life?". Randy went on to say that the answer is always no, and that it helps put things into perspective going into a match. In psychology that is referred to as "Giving yourself permission to lose" and it's a tool that is used to help relieve some of the stress and pressure we put on ourselves leading up to "competition".
Remember, there is no substitute for consistency and training often. See you on the mats!
Coach Foster
www.fosterbjj.com
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