There is always a lot of good advice on things that you should do to prepare for a competition. It is just as important to know and remember the things you should NEVER do before a competition.
A few to mention:
1. Check the program to see who you are dancing against.
- Admittedly it is hard not to do this but what does it get you?
- It could make you tense, which will negatively impact your performance.
- Or it could make you over-confident, which could negatively impact your performance.
- You will find out who is on the floor with you eventually.
- The best time is when their names and numbers are called before yours in results, which can only happen when you do not let them distract you.
2. Have wild and crazy sex … (unless it works for you)
- Sex releases oxytocin in you body. This can calm ragged nerves, which could be exactly what you need.
- If your problem is energy and sharpness however, forget it.
- The best advice is to have a lot of sex when you are training to figure out the impact on you the next day.
- Since your response could change over time, this type of experimenting should be repeated over and over and over and over again, just so you have scientifically based information on this issue, every time you compete.
3. Chug a lot of water.
- Did you know you could drown yourself by drinking too much water at one time? – Well no, not really, but you can harm yourself by overloading your kidneys.
- Kidneys can only process about a liter of water an hour.
- More than that and you could become faint due to blood dilution and a drop in sodium concentration.
- Max out your water the day before, and limit your intake to a cup an hour before the comp.
- This approach will also prevent the distracting “swish” noise in your stomach when it is overloaded with liquid.
4. Static stretching.
- Static stretching is when you stretch and hold a position for 30–60 seconds.
- This type of stretching is great to increase your flexibility, but several areas of research suggest that it may inhibit muscular strength and speed for activities that follow.
- Dynamic stretching takes your muscles through repetitive movement.
- This type of stretching is not “bouncing” during a static stretch. It involves doing repetitive moves like arm circles, or even doing some of your competition moves slowly, and repetitively with some extra extension.
- Generally speaking, dynamic stretch is best before a competition.
- Static stretching is best when you have specific flexibility goals, like mastering those splits or even something more dramatic and awesome.
5. Check out other partners.
- If you are thinking about dancing with other partners, your dancing with the one you are with will be kind of off.
- Great dancing needs connection and focus.
- If you are considering another partner, think about it only after your heats.
- No matter what you may think, it really does make a difference.
- Consider for example how well a surgeon would perform an operation if she was focused the golf she wants to play afterward. See what I mean?
- You really need to focus and appreciate everything you have in the moment (including your current partner) to do your best in that moment.
6. Try to lose weight quickly
- If you want to wear a costume that is a bit tight in places, get it altered.
- Losing weight and toning does not happen over a few days.
- Crash dieting before a comp will mess up your training.
- It will also make you more irritable and generally kind of unpleasant to be around.
- Even if you eat properly on the day of the comp, you are more likely to tire easily due to lack of glycogen stores;
- you are more likely to have stomach cramps because your stomach has temporarily contracted;
- and your partner is more likely to be looking around because you have been so pissy over the last while.
7. Forget that you could be charged damage fees on your hotel bill for sheets with spray tan stains.
- Just found this out, so thought I would share.
8. Whine and complain
- When you whine and complain, you suppressed your intelligence.
- It prevents you from problem-solving.
- It prevents you from paying attention to anything other than your own complaints.
- And it saps your mental energy.
- All of this keeps you stuck in a pretty dull, un-creative and emotionally flat place.
- It may feel good to express at first, but when it goes on and on without purpose, it keeps your stress hormones high, which will impact your physical performance as well.
- It is much better to solve your problems, or put them behind you.
- If that is too hard, schedule your whining for once a month, and enjoy it properly that one time with a huge bin of ice cream. I am serious! It is better than whining all the time. Just don’t crash diet after – practice more instead.
9. Focus on your weak points.
- Where you focus is where you will go. In the few hours before a comp, you are not likely to fix much of anything.
- And, you will always have something to fix.
- This is the time to overshadow your glichy parts with the awesomeness of everything that is great!!
- Focus on your strengths and enjoy them, and others will want to come to that party too.
10. Expect the results of this one competition to immediately change your life.
- Most competitions are great just because of the experience.
- They also help you measure your progress or gain ranking.
- They are also worth about 20 lessons because you suddenly and clearly remember everything your coach told you, though this memory may only come right after your heats.
- Some competitions can actually create opportunities for you.
- The thing here is that although the opportunity is created, it will still always be up to you to make something out of it.
- Competitions create the platform for a both great enjoyment and opportunity, but again never forget that it is still really up to you to make it happen.
Author: Miss P [Celebrate DanceSport]
Cover Photography: Egorich.ca
Exclusively for Dance Comp Review
Facebook Comments