The Most Important Practice

 If you ask most anyone which practice each month (or two, or four) they think is the most important in their development their answer is probably going to be the one right before the tournament. I take a slightly different stance in my own development.

Of course, I want to get in as much helm time before a big competition. The more swords the better. That said, if I make it to eight practices between one tournament and the next, only making it to seven isn’t going to greatly impact my performance. Of course I want to have swords as present in my mind as possible and I want to be able to drop into that tourney mindset as easily as possible. That said, going all out a couple days before the tournament only helps so much. As important as getting your reps in is, there’s something that can have even more of an impact (assuming you are still getting a decent amount of reps in overall.

Data.

I need to know if what I’ve been working on succeeds when I try and trot it out. My local practice is a decent tool for this, but I’m inherently only going to have only so many people with so many styles to try things against. The place I really get to find out if my game works is at tournaments. All the top people there have narrowed their games down just to the parts that will let them hit without being hit and are doing fundamentals at a high level. I might be able to get something to click in drills or even during pickups, but there’s no test for these things quite like a tournament (or a duel).

For me, then, the most important practice isn’t the one right before the tournament. It’s the one right after. 

The data is fresh in my mind, so not only is my memory going to be clearer, but I’m also shortening the feedback loop between input (working on new things), results (tournament success/failure), and going back to the drawing board.

So please, continue to come to practice the week before the event. But if there’s one practice you should really prioritize getting to, then maybe it’s time for a change.