Month: October 2014 Page 1 of 2

If you’re an athlete, you’ve been there before. The big match is starting in just a few minutes. Your mind is racing. You see your opponent practicing and begin to worry. Is he better than I am? Am I going to lose? I haven’t been practicing as hard I should have been. What if I fail? Before you know it, you’ve spent the time you should have been using to visualize a win instead worrying about a loss.

These thoughts are completely normal and everyone has them at one time or another. But what if you could control those thoughts? What if you could stop them completely? Well, the truth is, you can.

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Strip Coaching – Coach Alexandr Maximovich and Taly Yukelson at Fencing Summer Nationals 2014

In a previous post, we covered the philosophy behind strip coaching and how to manage your expectations as to whether or not you will have strip coaching at any given bout. When you do have your coach at your bout, you want to be able to take full advantage of the opportunity. The best way to do that is to be prepared ahead of time by communicating expectations and also creating a protocol for competition day to inform your coach where and when you’re competing. Creating a protocol is especially important for big regional or national competitions with multiple concurrent events in many weapons.

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Coach explains few points to his fencer during a bout

In the top ranks of competitive fencing, the distinction between the best and the greatest is slight. Often the highest rated fencing bouts are determined by two or fewer points and a small change in momentum can make all the difference. At these high levels, the role of your fencing coach during your bouts can be vital. Of course, if you’re competing at this level, you probably already understand the majority of the points in this post. On the other hand, if you’re not yet coming home with high stakes medals, this post is intended to help you understand the true purpose of strip coaching and to manage your expectations. We will follow up with a second post on maximizing the impact of strip coaching in your bouts.

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