Your mental toolbox to a better game
Match anxiety or match pressure has differing degrees of influence on different people. Some players are completely immune, whilst others fold under pressure. One disastrous example I saw occurred when a shooter in the Olympic final shot on the wrong target, scoring a zero & losing the gold medal in the process. Incredibly four years […]
In an earlier article, I spoke about competitors make errors when performing well in competition because they become anxious or nervous due to their performance exceeding their expectations. They get outside what’s known as their comfort zone. One way to enhance this anxiety is to spend a lot of time looking at the scoreboard between […]
Recently I read an article about the leading golfer Rory McIlroy. In it he described the circumstances around his implosion in the US Masters Golf tournament when he was well in the lead and poised to win his first major. He described how his thoughts on the night before were all about the round the […]
In an earlier article on maintaining focus, I discussed some tactics that could be undertaken to cope with distractions that occur during bridge events. These distractions could be external such as noisy players, director calls, noisy room, etc; or internal to you such as when you have made an error and your mind cannot let […]
In a previous article on Goal Setting, I covered the basic fundamentals of goal setting and performance evaluation for competitors. Achieving improvement in the early stages of your bridge career, as in all competition for most competitors, is relatively straightforward. It is easy to make progress when there are a lot of areas that need […]
Whether one competes for fun, social or competitive reasons, most of us like to do well at our game. Having goals is an important part of managing your mental approach to the game as it helps you manage yourexpectations. Knowing that your plan is working, that you are on track against your goals and measuring […]
I hate playing in no trumps. I don’t play well against Pair x. I have heard comments like this from many players. Whether you verbalise this or simply think it, the same effect on your mind will apply. A key issue for many sports people is the little voice inside the head that prevents a […]
Athletes, business people, fighter pilots, doctors and people in all types of professions use mental rehearsal and visualisation to help them with their performances in a variety of ways. For example a professional basketball player may mentally picture themselves shooting the ball through the basket from the free throw line before making the throw in […]
Many players have told me that they have trouble sleeping after playing bridge, particularly when they play at night, because their mind keeps re-playing the hands, a bid they made or didn’t make, or a signal from partner they missed. This concern is not uncommon to athletes who may struggle to sleep properly on the […]
In sport we hear people talk about “comfort zones”. Everyone has one for pretty much everything they do. It is part of your self-image. In sporting terms, a comfort zone is created from one’s experiences, skill level and prior performances. If we consider a golfer who always scores between 70 – 75 for a round […]