If you haven’t read Part 1, read it here:
How to Prepare for a Tournament (Part 1)
There is no universal way to prepare for a tournament. We all approach it differently because we have different needs. As I'm known for making simple things complicated, let's compare it to ordering food at a restaurant.
One to Three Days Before the Tournament
It's okay to train before a tournament as long as you do it right. It will be different for everyone, so don't look for prescriptive advice on what to do. Just understand that it's easier to agree on what NOT to do.
When I was a junior, I thought I needed to rest the day before a tournament so I could be fresh. Yes and no. At professional levels, players even practice the day of their match, often in the morning. When I was training under Kim Dong Moon, he said that it wasn't really training, but general maintenance so that you don't "forget" how to play. Bear in mind that it's common to play only one match per day at the highest levels, so it's a very different thing when some tournaments have 8-10 matches on a single day. That's why it depends. How you train to survive multiple matches in one day is very different from how you train to play just one.
The question to ask yourself is this: would you rather be under-trained for a tournament or over-trained? It's an individual choice, but I’ll give you my answer.
I'd rather be under-trained (that's how I play tournaments now anyway 🙃). It's because your potential upside is often greater with under-training. I like to think of it as the difference in studying for an exam the next day by stopping at 60% and sleeping, than to pull an all-nighter to get all 100%. When writing the exam, I'd rather be able to use as much of the 60% than to struggle with remembering all 100%. In all my years of school (and there were many), I've never done an all-nighter. I've failed courses before, but those were different because I actually gave up on studying altogether. It'd be like seeing the draw and giving up all training because I believed my opponent was too strong.
Over-training has you prepared, but in an obsessive compulsive way. The worst that can happen with under-training is that you perform at the level of your preparation (i.e. underperform). The worst case for over-training is far more catastrophic. If you over prepare and still fail to perform, it’s much more discouraging. There's also likely a greater risk of injury, as trying to push through a fatigued state presents new challenges. With under-training, you start at a low amount, and try to add more to it. With over-training, you start at your max, and then try to maintain that for as long as you can.
Of course, we are discussing the extremes, and the majority of us will fall somewhere on that continuum. The best recommendation for most people is to start in the middle, and then try nudging yourself more toward one side and see which one works better. Ideally, try to make a judgement before the your final tournament placement. Make an assessment after the first game of your first match, assuming your tournament day preparation hasn’t changed. Congratulations, you’ve done a pseudo-scientific experiment! The problem with using the final outcome is that it can be influenced by hindsight and confirmation biases, due to confounding variables. I can continue to ramble on here, but let's end this idea, as we still have other things to cover!
For partner events, if you want to match shirts colors, it's best to coordinate earlier (a day before is probably good enough). It's also good to coordinate when your partner is showing up and how they’re getting to the tournament. Remember, you need a partner to play your doubles events! This is absolutely crucial for request partners. Check to see if they’re playing other events, and the best thing to do is to contact the tournament for their contact information. Reach out and make sure they’re going to play! You don’t want to show up to a tournament and not play because your request partner isn’t playing for whatever the reason.
If you want to scope out your opponents, see if they have any competition video and watch them play. Worst case, you can look at their tournament results and see how they've performed in the past. If none of this is possible, just watch your favorite players instead and hopefully it puts you in the spirit of competing. You can do some visualization too, but it's very personal on how people prepare. I'll share my process in the final section.
Most importantly, double check when you're playing, and work backwards from that. If I play at 9:00 AM, that means I need to be there 30-60 minutes before to warm up (let's say, 8:00 AM). I would like to eat first, so I have to factor in digesting time (let's say 1 hour), so I would need to finish eating by 8:00 AM. Wait, but I need to get myself to the venue. If it takes 30 minutes to drive there (including time to find parking!), can I eat on the way there? If yes (McDonald's for the win), then I can get to a McDonald's at 7:30 AM, then drive, eat, and arrive by 8:00AM. This means I need to be ready to leave by 7:30 AM, so however long it takes me to get up and prepare, this might mean I would get up around 6:30-7:00 AM.
Pro Tip: If you're playing in the morning, it's best to prepare the night before. Get your clothes out, stencil your rackets (for you sponsored players), and pack your bag. Will you need a snack? Protein? Electrolytes? Compression sleeves? Video recording device? Tripod?
Better yet, just make a (reusable) checklist. Maybe I will draft a template one day.
Day of the Tournament
As you've pre-planned your schedule the day before, all you need to do is to execute. Show up in advance to warm up and settle into tournament mode. Listen to music if you like, and go through your pre-tournament rituals if you have any.
Check-in with the tournament to make sure they know you're here. Find a place to change your shoes and warm up. Stretch, roll, massage gun, or whatever you need to be ready.
Find your partner or coach so that they know you're there, and minimize screen time. Too much screen time can make it difficult for your eyes to adjust to the shuttle, so this is a real performance tip. Set up your video equipment earlier if you have any.
Other than that, there isn't much left but to enjoy the experience! Pay attention to the schedule to approximate when you're playing, and listen for your name to be announced.
After your match, if you have additional matches, then prepare accordingly. Rehydrate and refuel as needed. It's important to check the schedule first and then decide based on where the current schedule is. Many tournaments often have a match list online. If you have a lot of time in between, then consider leaving the venue for a while. Some people might nap, go out and eat, or whatever is comfortable. I do recommend leaving the venue because it can be a bit draining to stay inside for an entire day.
If you're done for the day, it depends on whether you have matches the next day, or if you're done the tournament completely. If you are done early, as mentioned earlier, it's worth staying to watch later rounds to get a sense of the level of play. Especially for beginner and intermediate players, you can get a lot of inspiration from watching live. If you dare, why not go ask some questions and interact with the top players? It can be intimidating, but the worse that can happen is that they'll just say no because they're busy preparing. Nobody will give you a hard time because it would be bad karma for their upcoming match. Athletes can be very superstitious. Not me though 🙃.
I've also written on how to reflect on a tournament (yay, more reading!). You can check it out here or save it for another time.
How to Reflect on a Tournament
Everyone goes through a tournament differently. Perhaps it may be useful to understand how someone else experiences a tournament. We often only see pieces of an experience from others, because we're often too focused on doing our own thing, as we should be. It's valuable to reflect on our tournament experiences if we want to improve: what went well (or …
How I Prepare for Tournaments (Now)
Here's what I do for tournaments now. This is very different from what I used to do when competing internationally, but what I do now is a better proxy for most people as I'm competing recreationally. This is an important distinction, but I'll include how I mentally prepare which may be of value for some people.
Tournament Goal:
Simple. Don't get injured. Then enjoy the experience!
And yes, assume I've entered the tournament too.
More Than a Week Before the Tournament
For training... what training? No more training for me! I'll play and spar with some of the juniors, or play in some groups here and there, but there really isn't much training anymore. If I need training, I’ll spend two to four weeks to prepare. Four weeks would be for physiological adaptations, like building stamina or improving strength. For badminton, two weeks is plenty given my former training background. Your mileage may vary.
4-7 Days Before
Check the draw. Do I know any names? If yes, check their recent results. If no, carry on. Check the schedule. Clear out my weekend plans. Check with the wife to see if she wants to go watch.
1-3 Days Before
Try to play some kind of badminton (all my badminton is relatively low volume, so it's fine). Don't aggravate chronic injuries. Spend more time on mobility.
Double-check schedule. Coordinate with partners about shirt colors. Have enough changes of clothing (e.g., I usually bring one shirt per match, but you do you). Charge recording devices. Make sure Yonex rackets are strung at least two days before. Stencil rackets after re-stringing.
Plan schedule of when to get to tournament.
Visualization of how to play: often I consider what the essentials I need to play when things aren't going well, rather than when things are going well. As I have former playing experience, I'm more concerned about how to turn OFF my monkey mind from attempting ridiculous shots, but that clearly doesn't always work.
Pro Tip: One of my key visualization strategies is the pre-mortem adapted from business by Gary Klein. Assume really bad scenarios and visualize how I would deal with the problem. If I can't serve, then how would I fix that. If I can't defend, then how would I play? If I can't smash, then how would I win rallies? The idea is to think of catastrophic situations, and as unlikely as they are to happen, if anything similar to it happens you'll already know what to do! It's very hard to come up with a solution under stress, so if you can prepare ahead of time, that's being prepared! Scout's motto. Also, do chat with your partner in these situations, so they're not in for a surprise.
Getting a good night's sleep is under-rated. Some of you might be nervous or excited to play, but do your best. Do not take any substances to help you sleep. I'm clearly not a doctor, and this is also not medical advice because I'm saying NOT to take things. Obviously, if your doctor says otherwise, then remember: you have a different thing to deal with. Not a badminton thing.
Day of Tournament
Execute plan and get to the tournament with time to warm up (I used to do 60 mins, but now I arrive about 30 mins before). Check-in, greet the organizers, warm up, find my partner, and set up my GoPro.
Remind myself (and partner) not getting injured is the priority, because even if we lose, there could still be a next time. That's a lot harder if someone gets hurt.
For the chance of winning, there's always a risk of losing. However, we cannot control the outcome, so it's best to focus on our choices. I plan out what I want to do before the next rally, and then let the rally play out. I then reassess if I need to change anything, or simply try again. Adjust iteratively. If we get to 21 points first (or winning by two), great! If not, try again. I'll talk to my partner if anything needs to change, otherwise, I usually let them play and adapt to them.
And that's it! Next tournament will be the Badmintology 14.2 x Smash Champs Grand Opening Tournament 2025 at the beginning of August!
Have fun and don't get injured!
