Getting the Team Ready! Part 2

This is Paul Swaney or ThinkAhead on www.chesskid.com! I'm going to get your team even more ready for big events.

In my last article I talked about some of the strategies I liked to use to help my school chess club win four state titles at this years Virginia Scholastic State Championship. I am going to continue where part 1 left off, and talk about some other ideas that I used to help all of the students get ready!

As a coach, one thing I started to really observe is student behavior and activities between rounds. My observation of this started at the last Super Nationals where many of my students competed. Many of these national and state championships take up the entire weekend. What I noticed was that several players in these events just never gave themselves a break from all of the excitement and activities all weekend long. Eventually, these players simply would run out of gas and have a tough time finishing the events.

Kids didn't relent - they played chess, bughouse, iPads, tablets, card games, computers, homework, several physical activities, shopping, tons of fast foods, etc..., and all right up to the next round, weekend long!

What I started to do for this year's state championship is to have the team gather in the team room 30-45 minutes before the next round to just rest and regroup. We would shut all the lights out, encourage the students to just try and close their eyes and relax. We would see if anyone needed a light snack or a bathroom visit all before the next round started. I would take five or 10 minutes to give the team an encouraging pep talk and remind them to slow down and use their time. I also believe that gathering everyone before the round helped to build necessary team spirit. Do not underestimate what your students do between rounds as part of their tournament performance.