That's just mental

When I first started work at Toyota, the smallest things would cause me stress. I'd be unable to switch off when I left the office and I'd regularily be visited by Matsumoto san or Chiba san or one of their counterparts in my dreams. You'd worry about the consequences of getting something wrong, not having it prepared in time etc etc. Of course, over time, you realise the consequences are never as severe as you imagine and life indeed goes on.

With that time comes experience. You learn that there is always another day and another way if you find yourself blocked. I've realised this and become better able to detach myself from stress. Of course, you can't live exclusively apart and indeed a certain amount of it is necessary to keep the 'tension'. Being able to recognise it, take a step back and analyse it more objectively helps to relieve it. You can't always control it but you can get it to a place where it is managable.

Of course it is important to note that my job does not create an undue amount of stress on a regular basis but like any job, it has a certain amount. I can manage it much better now than when I first started.

In a sporting context, confidence is a little bit similiar. When it's down, you know it's down but you have to figure out how to manage it and restore it. The impact a lack of it can have on your game is that you will stop communicating, calling for balls, attacking the ball, start misjudging the ball, picking the wrong options etc etc.

I don't remember suffering from this too much but at the moment, I find myself in a mini-crisis. The perception may be that I did fine in the football in Amsterdam but there were a few signs that all was not well. I've mentioned in both hurling reviews that I felt my own performance was way off.

Often, when someone doesn't play will they will first look elsewhere for the problem. Maybe they will isolate incidents where they made errors and find someone else to blame. Rarely will they look at themselves first. I was thinking about the hurling in the last few weeks and what has changed this year v's last year. I changed from a 36" hurley to a 35". Furthermore, I went away from the ash hurley to the cul tech hurleys. I also changed my helmut to one of the new mycro ones. Their bars are more condensed than the older version and thus impact your view more. However, I walked around the kitchen with my old one on last night and in reality there is not a whole lot of difference. Plus, if it doesn't effect others, why would it effect me.

It's difficult to cast any judgement on the real impact of these factors. It's true that my striking and judgement of balls is down a bit but actually when I replay different incidents over the last two tournaments, the issue was more with timing than anything. For example, on Saturday, I was in position and reach to make a number of blockdowns. There is no way I'd have missed them last year but I did on Saturday. As a result, i was taken for scores from play in each of the three games I played outfield.

I may think the problem is confidence but that example about the blockdowns is a case of timing and the relationship between the two is not that strong. Timing is more linked to preparation and there in lies the problem. I simply have not trained enough over the past few months to expect to achieve any higher level than I have. In fact, this is the case with too many of the hurlers. They may not recognise it as a confidence issue (and they may be right) but they don't recognise it as a preparation issue either. None of us are gifted enough to bluff it and we have learned the hard way.

In any task you take on in life, you must prepare properly. In hurling or football, you must have the fitness work and the skill work done. Each scenario you face in a match must be fresh in your mind from training. You must have been there and seen it on the training field. Then your body is ready. Your mind is ready too and the combination brings your confidence. It's no coincidence people will tell you they were at their best when they were at their fittest. It's a simple formula.

To say it's a crisis in confidence is too vague and difficult to find a magic potion to solve. Poor (personal) preparation. Now that can be solved.