Another thing I learned on this tour and competing at the elite, international level is this:
Confidence is key
Even if you have a better grasp of the game, a better strategy, more athletic, better technique, stronger...even if you are all-around better--if you lack confidence in your game and/or in yourself, there's a pretty good chance you're going to lose. A player with shitty technique but lots of confidence will probably win. This is because they aren't second-guessing themselves; they aren't over-thinking; they commit, 100%, to what they are doing without a shred of doubt in their mind. That is invaluable.
Dr. Alan Goldberg, a renown sports psychologist, explained it best when he said, "self-confidence can give an average athlete or team the courage and focus to defeat a stronger opponent. Self-confidence can motivate you to attempt and accomplish the impossible. Likewise, lacking self-confidence, an athlete or team will consistently perform way below their potential. Low self-confidence can kill an athlete's enjoyment of the sport and turn him/her into a dropout statistic."
I couldn't have said it better myself. And during the last 3 weeks I learned this lesson the hard way. Moral of this story...find ways to grow your confidence. Hopefully within the next few months I can give you some strategies to try and fill you in on what's worked and hasn't worked for me. God knows I need to build confidence in my judo game!