Going to my first tourney tomorrow..How to stop jitters ?

[Dinotard]

Hey guys. I'm a relatively new smash player and I've just recently wanted to get into the competitive seen with Smash 4.
I've been playing consistently on Smash Ladder and Playing various friendlies, trying to get good.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Smash Attack at Next Level Arcade and its going to be my first true step into the smash community.

I'm pretty excited. I know I'm not even that good, I consider myself decent at best. I'm definitely going to get bodied but I"m gonna try to see how far I can go. The issue is my nerves. I'm not necessarily used to playing around people so I know that My nerves might get in the way of my performance.

What would be a good way to prevent this issue from happening So I can play my best?

What works for you guys?

 

[Rashid]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzpUv5T_1Co

 

[san.]

You can't unless you never got them in the first place. Only way to stop it is to play as much as possible in-person. It's difficult to overcome the fear of the unknown for what your opponent will do while keeping your own playstyle intact. Then there is a lot of background noise, to the point where you can't hear the game. Many players opt to listen to music during matches.

I don't recommend money matches unless the skill gap isn't too large or if it's the only way to play with that top player seriously. Money matches with players somewhat close in skill is great. Slightly lower to help with your fundamentals and followup game, and slightly higher to improve in disadvantage and quick thinking. Around the same skill provides both.

 

[Syde7]

Some stuff that has helped me:

1. Before and during the tournament, stay hydrated... with water, as opposed to soda or whatever. In virtually any activity, your body performs better in all facets (including reducing nervousness) when properly hydrated.

2. Eat a good dinner the night before and a good breakfast. Stay away from heavy, greasy foods as they will make you feel sluggish, which can in turn lead you to use heavily caffeinated or sugary stuff to get amped up, which will cause some jitters.

3. Get a good amount of sleep. Not too much, not too little. Being well rested is really important.

4. Before the tourney do some sort of light exercise. If you're embarrassed, take a short walk or go behind the venue or something and do something as simple as a few jumping jacks, running in place. This helps to remove nervous energy while getting blood flowing and making you more focused.

5. Take a tennis ball, or stress ball, or something like that and squeeze the bejeesus out of it between sets if you don't have time to repeat #4. If you don't have one, clenching and unclenching your fists can help.

6. Breathe properly. Take a few minutes before your match to breathe slowly and deeply, yet comfortably. This will help keep your heart rate down.

#5 & #6 can even be done DURING a match (between games), or even DURING a game (when you're getting star KO'd for example and you have a few seconds to spare).
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7. Don't think of the outcome of your match, focus on playing the game. Don't think about who you'll have to play if you win, or if you lose, your chances further in the tourney if you win/lose. Take each match a step at a time. Think only about the game you are currently playing, stock by stock. Once that's done, think about the next, so on and so forth.

8. Play a bunch of friendlies, and treat them as such. Don't try to prove anything during friendlies. Get all your nervousness, your mistakes, etc, out then. But, don't play TOO much, as you could wind up tiring yourself out, or peaking in terms of your performance IN friendlies, or too early in the tourney.

Hope this helps. best of luck!

 

[Amazing Ampharos]

You just have to have the right attitude. You said yourself you consider yourself decent. You're going to a tournament. You're a good player. Even if that's not true (I don't know you and have no idea), you need to look at it that way. Trust that you have actual skills that can win you games, utilize those skills to the fullest, and you'll do as well as you can do. Also remember that, no matter who your opponent is, you have an equal shot of winning in that you both are playing the same game and have access to the same tools. It's not like football or something where being the worse player means you have physical disadvantages; they only have knowledge and experience over you which means that the only thing you have to do to beat absolutely any player is figure them out. Even if someone is beating you soundly, just look at it as a mystery to be solved and not as a case of you being inherently inferior.

Here's a fact that should help you out. You will probably not be the worst player there. If you're on smashboards looking for how to improve, you're already better than the worst players at most events. To be realistic you probably won't place that well at your first event and the best players there probably will body you, but you shouldn't go in expecting to just lose every game since there are probably going to be a lot of people there who are in fact very beatable for you. Tournaments aren't just about getting first or going home; beat those players you can beat and take pride in however you place. Don't let nerves get in the way of you placing as highly as you deserve; trust in the fact that you belong and that you can win games, and even if you are paired with someone who is very strong, steel yourself and put up the best fight you can while trying to learn from whatever will inevitably go wrong.

 

[Dinotard]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm gonna do my best