Take care of your fencers so they can focus on fencing

Your fencers have enough to focus on during their bouts. Try to eliminate any unnecessary decisions or complications for them on competition day.

Communicate a clear idea of what you want your athletes to do before the event begins (such as if you expect them to arrive at a certain time, and warm up by themselves or as a group) and make sure that all your fencers are aware of what you expect.

Make sure your students are on top of simple things, like knowing the time of their event (so they wake up and arrive on time), making sure they have all their equipment and it’s been marked as inspected, checking in at the venue and possibly even doing a “walk through” the day before. The benefit of the “walk through” is to become familiar with the venue. Learning the layout, finding bathrooms and outlets or even just seeing how long it takes to get there will be helpful on tournament day. If these things aren’t addressed, it could add stress and be a distraction for the rest of the day.

Miscellaneous items such as nutrition, rest, travel arrangements, tournament food/drink are also important and need to be attended to so they don’t get in the way of the student’s focus. Parents can and often do help with this aspect. There are also fencing things that must be addressed, like starting their mental preparation routine, warming up, and knowing their strip number. These are the things a coach needs to keep an eye on to make sure they all happen and are done well.

Additionally, have some tools on you so you won’t have to scramble when your fencer is on the strip. Scrambling for tools adds unnecessary stress for them (as well as you) that can easily be avoided. I usually keep a 6mm Allen wrench, a tip screwdriver, and a small bit of tape (usually a piece on my shoe). Also, because I coached between 25-35 women for 24 years, I used to keep hair ties in my pocket. Interestingly, those hair ties were used the most during competition.

Track the mood of your students

The mood of your students will vary from tournament to tournament, and will even fluctuate throughout the duration of the tournament. You need to keep careful track of the moods of your student. Observe things like what time they arrive, how they warm up, and their disposition when entering the venue. This will give you a starting point for guiding them.

While they’re getting dressed, have a little chat with them. Ask questions like, “Which strip are you on? Are you checked in? Do you have water? How many weapons do you have?” Watch how they respond and you may be able to sense their mood. If they’re enthusiastic or respond in a positive way, the mood is good and productive. This can indicate a good performance for the day.

I remember one time I saw two teammates from another team laughing while warming up. They were in such good moods, I knew they were going to be trouble for us. They both ended up making the final.

Keep in mind that all athletes approach tournaments differently, and that works for them – you have to keep track of their normal dispositions: sometimes students are just edgy before tournaments. Their feistiness is how they generate energy. If that’s their “normal” behavior before tournaments, then let it be unless it consistently creates problems for them.

However, if your athletes are irritable or cranky, or are in a mood that isn’t normal for them, there may be a problem. Now is the time to either solve the problem (whether it’s a problem in fencing or unrelated), or discuss letting it go if it can’t be solved now.

There are many techniques that I have found over the years that can change a student’s way of thinking or even change their mood.

One way I call “change the channel” like on a TV. Simply put, tell the student think about something else. Give them something else to focus on that has a more immediate need for attention that they can understand. For example, say something like “Remember, relax, distance first and finish strong” or “Fence like you’re at the club” or “Be the better fencer.” None of these are about technique but about an emotional state and a personal image to boost confidence and to remind them of their capabilities. This show of support coming from you, the coach, can turn everything around for your student.

The second technique I find effective is “monkey bars,” a mental preparation process. Imagine you are all on monkey bars and going hand over hand across to the other side. You can’t go to the next bar until you let go of the bar behind you. If you can’t let go, the others will pass you by. Let go of your problems so you can go forward. If you let go of your past problems, you can go forward. I’ve seen this have immediate impact on my students at the grueling NCAA Championships which is a 24-person round robin of five-touch bouts. There are no eliminations! You must fence all 23 bouts! One fencer in particular had never fenced better at the NCAA because, while there were some very frustrating calls for her, she immediately got back “en garde” and went on to get the next point. If she started to hang on to past events in the bout or even tournament, I’d shout out “MONKEY BARS” and she’d snap back into the present situation.

Lastly, there’s the “smile” method. Tell your students to put a smile on their face, a smile on their heart, smile on their mind, or a smile on their liver (for some reason liver is funnier than kidneys). These images usually put an an actual smile on their face and relaxes them. Humor is a great way to break tension. If you’re witty, try to combine humor with the present situation and they can see their situation in a lighter point of view. It is here that my Second City improvisation class has shown many of its uses.