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Overcoming ladder fear - Page 2

Blogs > rkffhk
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Hulavuta
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States1252 Posts
March 18 2012 18:19 GMT
#21
I don't necessarily think that's true. I for one had ladder fear, but when I actually did sit down to play I had a blast. I believe ladder fear mostly comes from all of the meta-hype around it. Rankings, points, leagues, W/L ratio, all that stuff. If people could just hit find match and it only had as much "effect" as a custom game, there would be very few, if any, people with ladder fear.
Done with Team Liquid for a while. Don't expect to find me here.
holdthephone
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States523 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-18 18:40:26
March 18 2012 18:39 GMT
#22
i totally thought this was going to be about the phobia of actual ladder climbing and heights.

i can never stand on the top step. fuck that
Metak
Profile Joined August 2011
296 Posts
March 18 2012 18:40 GMT
#23
I saw this on TLO's (iirc) background.

"The greatest barrier to succes is the fear of failure."

Might not help you directly, but being aware of this very true statement can set your mind a little more straight. It did for me.
FloKi
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
1490 Posts
March 18 2012 21:44 GMT
#24
Getting over ladder anxiety at start can be difficult.I used to have major ladder anxiety,like for the first game of the day i would be so nervous it would make me sick to my stomach.The way i got over it is by playing 30+ games a day for 2months,no matter what,even if i was sick,headache or not even wanting to play i forced myself.Eventually all that anxiety just disappeared.
Where do whores go?
Grohg
Profile Joined March 2011
United States243 Posts
March 18 2012 23:26 GMT
#25
On March 18 2012 23:34 fire_brand wrote:


This video.


I'll have to queue this up to play when I ladder. So good, especially the end...ZvZ, brings tears to my eyes.
You can't spell slaughter without laughter.
reapsen
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany559 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 15:06:24
March 19 2012 15:04 GMT
#26
Okay, let me try to structure my respond:

1. What is the reason for your ladder-fear
Thats pretty obvious: you have such high expectations at yourself!
You are:
- Getting coached
- Doing some shit with yabot all the time
- Reading books
- Even want to qualify for code a and whatnot...

Therefore your brain tells you, that you should be good at this game! You should own the average-joe casual player ezpz.

2. You do not actually fear the ladder, you fear being disappointed in yourself.
Your real fear is that all this won't be reflected by your "ladder-ranking". That all your efforts might not pay off. You might not get past Gold League or whatever. That you might be disappointed in yourself.

Hell, you might even lose to a cannonrush from a silverleague player. Oh boy, how tragic would that be! All your internet-reputation and credibilty would vanquish, you will be publicly laughed at and humilitad to the bones, oh wait.. no, all that would in fact not happen, you would just play the next game.

See, you fear something that a) isn't even there yet and b) is completly irrational.

3. How can you overcome this?
The only way to overcome this is exposure! You just have to do it. Thats it.
Okay, you probably could just stop playing, but thats avoidance. Its like if you are scared of elevators to always use the staircase. Also that is obviously not what you want.

Face these Facts:
1. Its just a game. The most horrible thing that could possibly happen, that you lose because of some stupid shit. So what?! Its not like you get hurt or something. EVERYBODY who have played this game loses to stupid shit sometimes. Even the top 0,5% of players. Its normal.

2. Nobody (except you) cares what your ladder rank is. Its not that your personality is based on your ranking.

4. A few practical tipps
Artosis said it best: If you want to become good at this game, you just have to play it.

If you are physically afraid to press the "find match" button with your finger, do this:
Leave the room, let a roommate press it for you, come back in as soon as a match is found. Now you HAVE TO play. Repeat this for like 10 times and you will see, that playing ladder games is just not that scary.

Very important: Change your goals. DON'T set yourself a goal like: "I must win at least 45 of my first 50 games because i get coached and shit and i should be really good." See how much irrational pressure you put on yourself there. No wonder, you don't enjoy the games.

Change your friggin goals! Try something like this:
Press the Find Match Button and if you see for example a Terran is your next opponent you say: "Wow, cool a Terran! Awesome. I am curious if my sweet build will work against him."
If you win, cool! It seems your build is already quite nice.
If you lose, cool! You learned something! You now know, that your build needs some tweaking.
EITHER WAY, the result of the game is: "Cool that was insightful! And also it was FUN!"

4. Bottom line
- Be happy about the fact that you can try out your builds against random strangers! Because that is really all that laddering is.
- Have a little fun!
Hulavuta
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States1252 Posts
March 19 2012 15:28 GMT
#27
Actually yeah, number 1 is so right. I remember when I first got coaching, I was afraid to ladder for a week, because I felt I had gotten much better (and in truth, I had) but I was afraid that if I lost, it would mean that I did not actually improve, and I was just full of shit.
Done with Team Liquid for a while. Don't expect to find me here.
HornyHerring
Profile Joined March 2011
Papua New Guinea1059 Posts
March 20 2012 16:36 GMT
#28
Ladder fear? The best way to overcome it is just not giving a fuck about the game. Works for me. Never had a breakdown and was never sad, upset or angry about loosing.
oh, hai
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17922 Posts
March 20 2012 16:42 GMT
#29
On March 18 2012 21:50 Snaiil wrote:
You seriously think about that "Find Match" button this much instead of actually pressing it? Just fucking do it, it's not that complicated.

Pretty much

It's not like it's hard to click it or anything.
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
BenBuford
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Denmark307 Posts
March 20 2012 20:09 GMT
#30
1/5 blog rating for sexism.
I don't care about the rest of your content with an opening sentence like that.
BenBuford on twitter.
megapants
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States1314 Posts
March 20 2012 20:35 GMT
#31
you have be ready to face disappointment. no matter what happens, there is a time when you will not meet the expectations you had for yourself. so why delay it? why spend all this time thinking about it instead of just doing it? just believe in your abilities no matter what the outcome, no matter how much practice you have had, no matter what anybody says about your personality or your skill or your way of life. that is what confidence truly is, just doing what you want to do even when you know there's a chance you'll take a wrong turn.

you will be alive at the end of the game, and in the end, that's the most important thing. you will live to fight another day.
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