It's nearing match day and you have done as much physical preparation that you can do.

You are confident that you are prepared physically for the challenge ahead, you have trained hard and have focussed on the skills that you need to succeed.

Now is the time to bring all of the physical and mental preparation together to develop your pre-match routine that will make you confident set you up for success.

Here is a six point plan for your pre-match preparation:

Get Organised!

Now is the time to make sure that you are organised for the event.

Have you got all of your equipment together? When do you check this? Get into a routine of checking your equipment at the same time every week when you pack your bag.

What are the travelling arrangements? When do you have to leave? Do you know where you are going? Are you leaving plenty of time for traffic jams? Etc

If you are racing at a meeting, what time is your race? Where do you have to go?

If you are playing tennis, what court are you playing on and what time?

You get my drift here!

Make sure that you are fully prepared before you turn up.

There shouldn't be any surprises or last minute panics.

You need to feel confident, which leads me nicely into the next step.

Feel in control

In order to be confident on the day, you need to feel in control leading up to the event.

You need to feel that you can handle anything that is thrown in your way.

By feeling in control you are prepared for the unexpected as you have mentally rehearsed the different scenarios that you could face beforehand.

That way, you go into the event knowing how to deal with it in advance!

So external factors such as the weather, opponents, surroundings and conditions have all been taken care of.

You know your stuff and you feel in control.

Fine-tuning!

No piano involved in this one!

In the days leading up to the event forget about making any changes to your skills or techniques.

It may be tempting to do it, but now is not the time.

Instead, now it is the time for mental preparation and fine-tuning yourself for the big day
It's a time to visualise successful outcomes and to run over your gameplan again and again and again.

What you need leading up to your event is familiarity.

Don't go making any drastic changes!

Match Day!

So now that you've arrived at your venue, now what?

Here is a 5 point plan for when you arrive:

• Review your goals and objectives both in your head and on paper
• Go over your gameplan and remember to stick to it!
• Take in the surroundings and conditions - what do they mean?
• You have already visualised this place before and have learned to expect the unexpected.
• Check out the opposition. Any changes to the line up? What is their body language like? Etc

Nearly there….

Keep any last minute adjustments to a minimum.

Now is the time in the last few moments leading up to your event to do whatever works best for you in order to get focused and energised.

Some sports people like to find a quiet corner where they can put their Walkman on and listen to some music.

Others like to rant and rave at themselves for them to get into that performance zone.

People get energised in different ways, there is no right or wrong way - everyone is different.

If you are a coach or play in a team, respect the wishes of others in these moments and let them do there on own thing to prepare.

What works well for them may not work well for you!

Regimes, rituals and superstitions

In order to feel in control and to have familiarity with your surroundings no matter where you are in the world, a lot of people develop rituals and superstitions.

This can range from putting your equipment on in a certain order through to a regimented pre-match warm up routine performed EXACTLY the same way before every event.

I have heard that Michael Jordan used to look for his Father in the crowd before a match and after this his ritual was complete! But it made Jordan feel good and confident and ready for the match ahead and that's what rituals and superstitions are all about.

They are about creating certainty and confidence so that you are prepared and ready.

Life Coach