Hi! I’m getting super pumped for SEC, and while I was practicing, I thought to myself: “I wonder if there are any methods of practicing, that will help with hitting all the tricks in my routine?”
Well folks, let’s hear it. What are some ways you practice, even if it is a little wacky, what helps you hit tricks with ease. ;D
Record yourself or watch yourself in a mirror so you know what you look like when presenting your routine. If you record, just make it so you can watch it yourself so no one takes your routine. But that’s my tip to you. Watch yourself. And watch howl you look presenting every line of your routine. Making sure it looks good. Don’t over do it practicing. And know when to take a break.
Contest or not, try to finish your session with your most successful attempt. It helps muscle memory, if you finish with a weak attempt that’s pretty much your starting point next time.
There is a interview with Rei Iwakura on the WYYCv wedsite andd one of the question was how he practices, go check that out. Go to the WYYC wedsite and go to blog.
Replicate contest conditions best you can. I know of people who have recorded an announcer saying their name and played it before practicing. I’ve practiced in a room with fans on before outdoor contests. Wear the same clothes and use the same yoyo you’re planning on using.
For contests, practice in front of friends.
Warming up is VERY important, few people do that. I personally tried this myself, with warming up everything is just a lot better and it’s not much an effort to warm up anyway.
For general purpose, practice effectively, not hard. That means if you do something wrong, try to find the root of the problem and then correct it. If you keep practicing the same thing even though you know that it’s wrong, worse you can end up being good at doing it wrong, it becomes difficult to unlearn.
Im going to be in the Sports 1a division in southeast classic! Which one will you be in? Anyways I’m practicing as well and I pretty much have my routine down (just working on the horizontals) just recite your routine over and over, take a break and try and forget the competing part of the contest (reduces nervousness), and think of some new tricks to spice it up. If you come early we can maybe practice together
I’ll gonna be doing 1A Pro at SEC and I’m excited but a bit nervous cuz now theres some pressure for me to do well. I’ve mostly been doing daily runs of my routine and finding out the best ways to recover from my most common mistakes, like how to get rid of a knot I often get in a certain point in my combo
Sounds awesome! I am also in the Sports 1a division. Name is Alec Jones if you want to know. We can definitely practice together. Maybe if we are both booked at the official hotel for the contest, we can meet up there? If not, we can just do so at the contest.