Mind Over Ladder

Nightshade_

United States549 Posts

February 15 2012 05:32 GMT

So with the new season starting for ladder, I was reminded of last season, where I went 1-19 before a second win. This naturally gave me a fear of laddering today, but I mentally shrugged and said "screw it." I played calmly, reacted calmly, and won most of my games.

I've been doing this for the past week with all my games. Last season was my worst, being behind 20 games at the start of this week. Somehow I came to the mindset of "Whatever, screw it, let's play."

With this mindset I've not been worrying about winning in each match, and instead search for ways to survive and do damage, not end the game.

I've heard of pros spending more time on their mental state during training more than spending time practicing the game. This may be an exaggeration, but not being a pro player I can't say if it or not.

Are there mindsets and thinking processes you guys do as well? Are they similiar? The same?Thoughts?

PolskaGora

United States547 Posts

February 15 2012 05:41 GMT

I don't know, what I do is kind of cliche, but whatever.

What you really have to do is convince yourself that this is just a game and that you're playing for fun, for the epic action and mechanics involved. Then you tell yourself that as long as you do this with determination, you will naturally get better. It's not easy, but you just have to repeat it to yourself over and over again. The way the brain works, you'll actually convince yourself that this is the true, similarity to how when you smile despite not necessarily being happy will actually end up brightening your mood. Being scared of laddering is counter productive, you'll end up being lower in ranking than if you were to take some hits but play more games overall.

Allied

United States129 Posts

February 15 2012 05:44 GMT

I go into every game with a certain strat i wanna try it whether it be an all in or macro game etc.

I practice for a couple of games when i get the matchup then i switch.

I'm about to start doing the 3 builds per matchup rule that Polt does apparently.

MadProbe

United States269 Posts

February 15 2012 05:56 GMT

Yeah I went thru what you just explained last season...

At first I didnt want to ladder. I feared losing and a lot and having a terrible terrible record.

So at the beginning of the season I said "screw it, i dont care what my profile says-- even if i get demoted to diamond (which was a posibility)".

What happened? Best season ever. I played way more games than any other season. I stopped raging whenever I lost. I got wayyy more points than ever before. And I got wayyy better at the game!

It was by far my best season yet. My profile had a kickass win/loss record with loads of points.

Kinda funny how that works...

Wohmfg

United Kingdom1292 Posts

February 15 2012 05:56 GMT

On February 15 2012 14:41 PolskaGora wrote:
I don't know, what I do is kind of cliche, but whatever.

What you really have to do is convince yourself that this is just a game and that you're playing for fun, for the epic action and mechanics involved. Then you tell yourself that as long as you do this with determination, you will naturally get better. It's not easy, but you just have to repeat it to yourself over and over again. The way the brain works, you'll actually convince yourself that this is the true, similarity to how when you smile despite not necessarily being happy will actually end up brightening your mood. Being scared of laddering is counter productive, you'll end up being lower in ranking than if you were to take some hits but play more games overall.

I like this post. I think a lot of the time, trying to improve is paradoxical; if you are entirely focused on the outcome (a win in the case of laddering), your outcome will be affected negatively whereas if you focus on all the other aspects outside of the outcome (mechanics, improving, learning from mistake while not being afraid of making them) then the outcome you are trying not to focus on will come naturally!

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