In this short blog you will find no answers - just questions!
After a lifetime as a keen and enthusiastic sportsman I remain puzzled by the fact you can play well on one day and not so well the next - for no apparent or possibly - controllable reason. Why is that? Why on some days does everything come easy and conversely why on some days is everything a struggle.
Ok - what is obvious - performance factors are part physical, part mental and to some extent you can only play as well as your opponent lets you. (I am discounting the opponent for the purposes of this blog because you know whether fundamentally you are playing well - a different thing from how well your opponent is playing, his affect on your game or the actual result which is of course opponent dependent). For myself I am going to rule out will to win because I have always held that at a pretty consistent level I believe and I rarely if ever make excuses.
As a sportsman - even as an amateur sportsman you have to prepare well before playing. If you don't there lies a part answer to variable performance of course. From boyhood I played football. From 30 I have mainly played squash. I have played them regularly - usually on a weekly league rota. This does allow a fairly consistent approach. However it would be fair to say I have always been dogged by inconsistency. I rarely play a shocker - if I do I can usually identify a reason - but on some days I can play much better than the base level. This of course is not unique to me. Literally everyone is the same. Why is it?
While I am not neurotic about it if the game is important I think about preparing for it - good rest and food the night before - think about the game on the day. The right meal at the right time to have energy but not a heavy stomach - warm up - stretches and more recently a prior hot bath as a loosener. The approach is the same. So why isn't my performance!?
I am suggesting two things. One is concentration the second - the most important I am going to refer to as bio-rhythms.
Concentration - being in the zone. They sound like clichés - watch the ball, play each point as it comes, be in the moment. This is what happens however when you are naturally concentrating. As soon as you think about them - or anything about your technique or the outcome, by definition you are not fully concentrating on the actual rally, tackle or pass. This affects performance and outcomes. With amateurs like me - like most of us - we do not fully concentrate all - or perhaps even most of the time. Things come into our head - even if they are game related. They are not helpful to performing well. Of course this is well recognised in top sport now. Sports psychologists are employed. Visualisation techniques are used. They are all about improving concentration. It is a wonderful thing to totally lose yourself in a game - when the focus is intense and natural. When you do not have it or you lose it - it can be very hard to get it back. Top level tennis serves to illustrate it well. Follow Andy Murray. A great competitor - a fantastic tennis player - but his matches are so often a rollercoaster while he struggles to get in or to keep in the zone. I have yet to find a technique that works consistently for me.
Bio-rhythms. Do they exist? Are they controllable? I know nothing about the science or pseudo science behind it. However for me the concept sums up the fact that for some reason your body and mind, whatever they are made up of, come together well - work better some days than on other days - the tide of life is helping you - you are not swimming against it. This doesn't help - it might be used as an excuse - just not your day. However it is not an excuse - it is a fascination a constant challenge - something that makes sport and more widely - life - both unpredictable and interesting. I mentioned tides. The sun and moon in various alignments are enough to bring the sea onto and off our shores to variable levels on a daily basis. Our bodies are about 60% water - so is it the tide of life - it ebbs and flows - ha! Is it simply that - have I cracked it - there is nothing we can do about it. That makes me smile - I am not such a crap sportsman after all - just human - ha ha ah!
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