Maximizing Your Potential: The Importance of Pre-Tournament Preparation
Pre-Tournament Forms and Contingency Planning
Effective pre-tournament preparation involves creating a contingency plan to help mentally prepare for difficult and undesirable events.
In an interview with Dr. Karen Cogan, she shared how she helps Olympians establish contingency plans for various events, including everything from forgetting their credentials in the hotel room to dealing with the death of a family member.
Going through the process of anticipating and preparing for potential problems or unexpected challenges can help you develop strategies and tools to handle them, which will ultimately benefit you in any situation. — Dr. Karen Cogan
Why Use a Pre-Tournament Form?
There are two primary purposes for completing a pre-tournament form.
Identify the tournament agenda (See this article to learn more about tournament agendas)
Establish a contingency plan
Example Pre-Tournament Form
This is the pre-tournament form I use with the golfers I coach. The purpose of each question in the form will be explained in the sections below.
Part 1 — Tournament Agenda
Question #1: What is the agenda?
There are two types of agendas:
Win Agenda — The goal is to win at all costs.
Develop Agenda — Practice new skills in a competitive environment.
The goal is to determine whether the main focus of this tournament is to improve a specific skill set or to win.
Setting a “Develop” agenda doesn’t mean that winning isn’t important.
We can win today by relying on skills we know won't work at the next level. This means there are times when we must sacrifice winning today to prioritize developing the capability we need to win tomorrow. — James A. King
Question #2: What are your development goals?
If the upcoming event has a “Development” agenda, we want to identify what specific skills/traits will be tested during the tournament.
Examples include:
Incorporating resonance frequency breathing into your pre-shot routine
Using mindfulness tools while walking up the fairway
Testing a new pre-round routine
If the agenda is “Win”, question #2 is skipped
Part 2 — Obstacles, Goals, and Actions
The purpose of this section is to establish a contingency plan by identifying obstacles, goals, and actions (OGA).
This is a three-step process:
Obstacles - Recognize the obstacles you will face
Goals - Identify the desired outcomes you want to achieve
Actions - Establish practical ways to overcome the obstacles you've identified
Here is an example:
Obstacle - Feeling uncomfortable on holes that look narrow and not making a committed swing
Goal - To make a committed swing on each tee shot, regardless of how the hole looks
Action - Be consistent with my pre-shot routine and setup and commit to one swing feeling
After the tournament, the OGAs from the pre-tournament form is used as part of the post-tournament analysis. I will cover post-tournament forms in a future post.
Conclusion
The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. — George S. Patton Jr.
Pre-tournament preparation is essential for success and includes creating a contingency plan for unexpected events. A pre-tournament form can help identify the tournament agenda and establish a plan to overcome potential obstacles. By anticipating and preparing for potential problems, you can develop strategies and tools that will benefit you in any situation. It is important to remember that while winning is important, sometimes developing specific skills is necessary for long-term success.