Mental Game Strategies
How do I know if I’m ready to compete if I’m always nervous and having feelings of fear and
doubt?
If you’re having those kinds of feelings you’re not alone.
And let me tell you, even the highest-level guys feel this.
They always feel feelings of fear and doubt.
But they learn how to control them and it’s not just by simply saying “I
think I can, I think I can”,although that does help.
One of the things I found helped me the most was letting go of the end result and focusing on what
needed to be done during each particular match and during each particular phase
of the match. If you can get good at this, you’ll have more wins and success. My coach, Joey Johnson, helped me
the most with this.
What helped me the most was being able to stay in the moment and being able to focus on each phase
of the match. Each Grappling match will always have these main 5 components or positions to it:
1- Standing position:
Where the match starts and often shows up again during the course of the match.
This is where takedown offense and defense are important. A good takedown starts
a good ground fight (if you understand the strategy) and will immediately
dictate where the ground fight takes place (i.e. side control, guard, on the
back, etc.).
2- Side control position:
One opponent holding the other down looking to improve position, the other
trying to escape or regain guard. This is a 50/50 position because both
grapplers are trying to improve their positions or finish the match.
3- Guard position:
Another 50/50 position because both grapplers are trying to improve their
position. The guard can be a very offense based position for both grapplers.
There are multiple submissions available for both top and bottom grapplers. The
majority of submission attempts will generally come from the bottom
grappler.
4- Mounted position:
One of the most dominant positions. This is where control and offense take place.
This is also a place where defense must be stressed for the bottom grappler.
5- Back Mount position:
The other most dominant position. This is one of the highest percentage areas
for finishing the fight. Once you have the back mount your opponent has very few
options.
Those are the 5 main positions you will need to be working both offensively and defensively.
If you can start to get good in those 5 basic areas, and have at least one or two moves in each,
it’s going to help you a lot. Many times we spend our efforts learning more and more techniques and
getting fancy when we need to get better at the basic positions. Getting
comfortable and confident in the most common positions allows you to have; a
better game plan, mental peace of mind that you’ve been there and know the
solution, a direct advantage over opponents who do not train this way.
Another way to get over your fear and nervousness is by getting more competition experience.
Going to a tournament is stressful. There are internal and environment factors to deal with.
Tournament structure, financial costs, family and friend support (or lack thereof) are all significant stressors.
Different thoughts may be going through your mind, and a lot of those are based on environmental factors.
Sometimes these will affect your performance.
To overcome this I like to do things that help prepare for those environments and situations. Get used to
having simulated grappling matches that are scored and timed. Have your teammates cheer or instruct you or yell things to you.
If you can do this in your practice room or training hall, it will make a big difference for you when
you get onto the competition mat because you’ve already felt what it’s like to
get scored on, or score on someone else, be able to apply the submission, or get
knocked off balance. You will already have experienced things that happen during
the course of a grappling match.
Experiencing that in your practice room will make doing it for real in the competition a lot less
overwhelming especially if you’re a beginner and even as you get more advanced in your training.
This helps because you can fine tune strategies and fix holes in your game that you may not realize
existed before if you’re simply ‘rolling’ (free sparring) and going with the flow in your workouts.
If you will do a structured practice match, and it is timed and scored just as it would be in
your upcoming competition, you’ll be able to get a lot more feedback and be able
to make those adjustments before the competition.
I hope these things help you on your quest for grappling greatness.
doubt?
If you’re having those kinds of feelings you’re not alone.
And let me tell you, even the highest-level guys feel this.
They always feel feelings of fear and doubt.
But they learn how to control them and it’s not just by simply saying “I
think I can, I think I can”,although that does help.
One of the things I found helped me the most was letting go of the end result and focusing on what
needed to be done during each particular match and during each particular phase
of the match. If you can get good at this, you’ll have more wins and success. My coach, Joey Johnson, helped me
the most with this.
What helped me the most was being able to stay in the moment and being able to focus on each phase
of the match. Each Grappling match will always have these main 5 components or positions to it:
1- Standing position:
Where the match starts and often shows up again during the course of the match.
This is where takedown offense and defense are important. A good takedown starts
a good ground fight (if you understand the strategy) and will immediately
dictate where the ground fight takes place (i.e. side control, guard, on the
back, etc.).
2- Side control position:
One opponent holding the other down looking to improve position, the other
trying to escape or regain guard. This is a 50/50 position because both
grapplers are trying to improve their positions or finish the match.
3- Guard position:
Another 50/50 position because both grapplers are trying to improve their
position. The guard can be a very offense based position for both grapplers.
There are multiple submissions available for both top and bottom grapplers. The
majority of submission attempts will generally come from the bottom
grappler.
4- Mounted position:
One of the most dominant positions. This is where control and offense take place.
This is also a place where defense must be stressed for the bottom grappler.
5- Back Mount position:
The other most dominant position. This is one of the highest percentage areas
for finishing the fight. Once you have the back mount your opponent has very few
options.
Those are the 5 main positions you will need to be working both offensively and defensively.
If you can start to get good in those 5 basic areas, and have at least one or two moves in each,
it’s going to help you a lot. Many times we spend our efforts learning more and more techniques and
getting fancy when we need to get better at the basic positions. Getting
comfortable and confident in the most common positions allows you to have; a
better game plan, mental peace of mind that you’ve been there and know the
solution, a direct advantage over opponents who do not train this way.
Another way to get over your fear and nervousness is by getting more competition experience.
Going to a tournament is stressful. There are internal and environment factors to deal with.
Tournament structure, financial costs, family and friend support (or lack thereof) are all significant stressors.
Different thoughts may be going through your mind, and a lot of those are based on environmental factors.
Sometimes these will affect your performance.
To overcome this I like to do things that help prepare for those environments and situations. Get used to
having simulated grappling matches that are scored and timed. Have your teammates cheer or instruct you or yell things to you.
If you can do this in your practice room or training hall, it will make a big difference for you when
you get onto the competition mat because you’ve already felt what it’s like to
get scored on, or score on someone else, be able to apply the submission, or get
knocked off balance. You will already have experienced things that happen during
the course of a grappling match.
Experiencing that in your practice room will make doing it for real in the competition a lot less
overwhelming especially if you’re a beginner and even as you get more advanced in your training.
This helps because you can fine tune strategies and fix holes in your game that you may not realize
existed before if you’re simply ‘rolling’ (free sparring) and going with the flow in your workouts.
If you will do a structured practice match, and it is timed and scored just as it would be in
your upcoming competition, you’ll be able to get a lot more feedback and be able
to make those adjustments before the competition.
I hope these things help you on your quest for grappling greatness.
