Getting Your Head in the Game

Have you ever been in that situation where you’ve got a league or ladder match, a tournament, or just a long day of ranked grinding ahead, and no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to get into the right frame of mind? You might not even realize it, but the mental preparation before a competition makes a world of difference. When you find yourself struggling to lock in leading up to a competition, it can be just as detrimental to your game as any other shortcoming.

Get Your Head Right the Night Before

One of the most common stories you’ll hear of someone who’s struggling before a competition is that experience of lying in bed with their brain running a million miles per hour. Not only do you end up psyching yourself out, but you’re also preventing yourself from getting enough rest, which is a whole other can of worms for the competitive mindset. It’s easy to sit there and run through past mistakes or do the math on everything that could go wrong, but this isn’t productive… It’s mental busywork that does little more than second guess yourself.

Sometimes in situations like this, it can actually help a lot to just write it down. You’re working through the information that’s running through your head, processing it, and expressing it. You can just type it up on your phone or jot it down on a piece of paper, but it’s better to just get it rather than leave it to ping pong around in your brain. Once you’re able to break out of the loop, your mind can settle down, making it much easier to get quality sleep. You’re not wrong to want to plan ahead, it’s just critical that you do so at the right time and in a productive manner.

Prepare for What Can Go Wrong

There’s one popular practice that you’ll hear from athletes, esports pros, or even just successful types in all walks of life, and that’s to visualize success beforehand. Some people do this for a job interview, while others will do it for a ladder match. They’ll imagine playing their A game or just absolutely nailing whatever the task is, and that makes plenty of sense on paper. The thing is, it can leave you unprepared for when someone throws a monkey wrench into the works.

It’s more effective to consider the variables that could go wrong and plan how you’ll adjust and respond. We’re a broken record on this, but that adaptability is the key to so many things. Being prepared to make an adjustment, having ideas that you can use when you’re unable to play your game as you would ideally intend, that’s what makes you hard to beat. The goal in any competition is to take someone off their game, leave them feeling uncomfortable, and put them on the back foot, so prepare to be agile and dance around whatever is coming.

Take Care of Your Body

This can sound controversial when it comes to gaming, as some believe it’s a completely non-physical activity, but your physical state directly affects your cognitive performance. That means your reaction time, your ability to make quality decisions, and your ability to stay composed under pressure are all affected by how you take care of yourself and how you feel. There’s a reason you see so many pro players and top aimers in shape: it’s become common knowledge in the community that physical health and wellness impact overall performance.

It’s also worth noting that exercise is a great way to clear your mind when you’re feeling that anxiety fog sweeping in before a big event, and it can help with that sleep issue too. Being conscious of what you eat has a similar impact, as you want to eat something that won’t spike or crash your energy levels, and ensure that your food won’t sit like a brick in your guts or cause any other interruptions.

The Day of Competition

This one is critical; make sure you give yourself adequate time to warm up properly. If you’re rushing through the process, you’re starting the session with that frantic energy that can become a fertile ground for growing anxiety. Give yourself enough time to warm up, prepare, and get ready before a match or event, and you’ll go into it much more level-headed.

When things go sideways, because they so often do, have a process ready to mentally reset. Take a deep breath, talk yourself off the tilt ledge, think productively and helpfully, and then get back into the game. A process like this may sound small or silly, but training for it and keeping it in your back pocket for when you actually need it will make a difference. Players who stay composed under pressure aren’t just some genetic outliers who are naturally calmer… they’ve just trained and prepared with these ideas in mind, so they’re ready when the pressure ramps up.

One Last Thing

Competition at any level requires more than just your mechanical skill, you have to have the mentality to put every aspect of your game, including those mechanics, together to be successful as a whole. You have to perform under pressure that you don’t run into every day, and while more reps can help desensitize you to that, nothing will help quell your nerves more than knowing you’re appropriately prepared.

Players who put themselves in the pressure cooker repeatedly while maintaining their cool aren’t just talented, they’re prepared, and you can be too with the right mindset and process.