Mechanics tips

[rainmaker]

Of the suggestions listed above the most helpful for me have been the self-talk, and the taping. I don't find mirror work helpful at all. I can do great in front of the mirror day after day, and still be screwing up on the floor. Self-talk helped a lot. I wrote myself a little patter, and memorized it. I don't use it now, but it got me out of some bad habits.

The other thing that helped was one particularly noisy game where the table simply couldn't hear anything. I had to carefully signal everything in order to get the point across. Realized later, my whole pattern had changed for the better on that particular evening. If you're doing the kind of games where ther are like five spectators, try to find a good MS tournament and work yourself into the consolation or championship game. You can learn a lot in a very short time.