It’s All In the Preparation   NZ Bulletin – September 2006   Having a pre-determined plan for a competition will provide significant confidence.  Being confident on Show Day will bring you one step closer to achieving the ultimate state of Peak Performance.     Last month I wrote about how to develop your own Competition ‘Game Plan’ which included the Four P’s Of Preparation…   Practical – The ‘Lists’ – the Plan that will get you to the day completely prepared.  Personal – Your specific competition goals and your individual tool kit to keep you focussed on the day Performance – your training, your rehearsal prior to the event and your warm up  plan/routine for the day Praise – your personal reflection/celebration and key learning’s analysis that is applied to ongoing training and competitions.   I outlined the Practical components last month which I have now been religiously incorporating across two shows that I have recently attended.  Doing these ‘lists’ has made an enormous difference to me with the most noticeable being in my confidence just to get on and ride my horse.  I used to have all of this information in my head, being very proud of how clever I was at remembering everything.  Now that I have actually written all this down I have been astounded at how I have been able to now just focus on my riding with an uncluttered mind.  I really recommend you give it a go if it’s not something you already do.   The second component to my Game Plan is “Personal Preparation”.  Again this is written down and within the folder that is in my truck on Show Day.  This is literally a one pager that incorporates my Goals for the show, my three key words that keep me focussed and my Tool Kit for the day that I will use to help keep me on track if unforseen challenges occur.   Your Goals for the show are really important as they will ensure that your expectations are not unrealistic which would cause stress on the day.  They must also be within your overall Goals for riding so that you keep this ‘one’ show in perspective and not see it  as the be all and end all.    For my dressage I set a goal of a percentage that I would like to achieve with each test.  This has been developed in conjunction with my trainer to ensure that it is realistic for my current training.  My second goal is to achieve my Personal Best which means that I am focussed on my own results, not other competitors and not on winning ribbons. My final Goal is to identify a learning that will assist me for future competitions.  In other words to observe other riders at my level who are performing well and to identify a tactic they incorporate that is consistently expected at this level and will assist me in my future competitions.   Within my Game Plan folder I also summarise my “Tool Kit” (detailed in June 06 Bulletin) with key reminders that I can use to prompt me if I feel myself getting distracted.  Just reading through this prior to getting on my horse at my recent competitions has helped me to focus on the task at hand and filter out unwanted thoughts.  I have been incorporating my tool kit for the last few months in everyday training which means they really work in times of stress as the cues I use are an established routine that I respond to.  I also find that my horse responds to this as well in the competition environment and they seem to help him into the routine when everything is a bit distracting.   As part of your Personal Preparation have a cue that reminds you to concentrate on the moment or have ‘self awareness’.  A lot of new research into Sports Psychology is highlighting the absolute key to maximising performance is relative to an individuals ability to just be “in the now”.  This is as simple as being aware of your surroundings, your horses smell, the feel of your leather etc.     Many of us have experienced competitions or events in our lives when we feel like our feet don’t even touch the ground or it’s over in a blink.  We get caught up and swept up in the activity without really being aware of it occurring.  Make a point next time you are competing to actually stop and ‘smell the roses’ as you go. (Of course you can now afford to do this as you will be so prepared with everything else!)  You will be amazed at how relaxing and enjoyable this can be and as this is your ultimate state for “Peak Performance”, even more reason to give it a go!    Next month I will elaborate on the ‘Performance Preparation’ component of a competition game Plan.  In the meantime I can be contacted at nicki@perfromancehorse.co.nz for past articles etc.   PS – My husband had an accident four months ago and shattered his ankle and leg; he had his final operation this month after a challenging time for him and our family.  I picked him up after this operation and we went to lunch where we had a fortune cookie that gave us the message “One life…Go for it”.  I have taped this to our fridge to live amongst the many thoughts, photos etc that we clutter our fridge with – our six year old Patrick read it and I asked him what he thought it meant, his reply was… “You get one life Mum, so you need to make sure it’s a happy one!”  How true.