Nervous in tourney

[L33thal]

Hi. I'm kind of a new player. I've been following Smash for years, but I've only been playing against human players like 4 months ago. I don't really get to play people that much (like maybe twice a month), since I don't use Facebook and I'm not tight with other smashers.

The thing is, I always get nervous in tourneys. The game feels so much different when I'm playing other people and when I'm playing at home. I just tend to "panic" a little and go into auto-pilot. I even get this way to a lesser extent when I'm playing people outside of tourneys. I feel like I don't have a lot of experience playing with people and it's hard to get comfortable whenever I'm playing someone else.

How do I get over this and feel like I'm in control when I only get like 3-4 hours of people-playing-time for a month before tourneys?

 

[gmBottles]

Playing against bots is very different than playing humans. I recommend trying to find local Smashers to play with for some real practice before entering a tourney. In my first tourney, I just tried to remember to have fun, and I forgot all about all the people that were watching, and I wasn't nearly as nervous. But finding people in your local scene is pretty important. Good luck :D

 

[SAUS]

Playing against bots is very different than playing humans. I recommend trying to find local Smashers to play with for some real practice before entering a tourney. In my first tourney, I just tried to remember to have fun, and I forgot all about all the people that were watching, and I wasn't nearly as nervous. But finding people in your local scene is pretty important. Good luck :D

This is good advice. To top it off, knowing more of the locals means you will probably know more people at the tournament. This can make the experience more comfortable, and make you less nervous.

I find focusing on the game and ignoring all the surroundings is the best. It is hard to do so, but try your best to just focus on the game. Take a deep breath if your chest gets cramped up. I have found that to be helpful.

 

[EPsilon933]

Join a facebook group for you Smash region. Fests and tournaments can get posted there frequently. Go to them

You aren't used to the environment where there's people watching and playing against you. It simply feels different which can make you play differently, even causing you to forget about things you'd normally be able to do at home

Want people to watch you. Once that happens, you'll think about it less. At least that mentality works for me. I'm a showoff. Don't care about losing. Losing is awesome

 

[mattergamer47]

I always have insane tech skill at home and usually when im playing alone but when i go to tournaments I have to make an effort to short hop constantly, but when im alone its easy as heck. idk