EPTJST-Ero_Sennin now in Complexity Academy under the name vGEroSennin. I am a Certified Athletic Trainer and also a pitching coach and instructor, and I'd like to address the issue of travel that players and the like have to face.
The problems associated with travel may occur several days before a competition, but their debilitating effects can last a long time. Four major sources of problems are associated with travel to competitions.
1) Travel fatigue. Fatigue becomes increasingly more bothersome the greater the duration of the travel excursion. Reaction time, perception, mood, motivation, and thought processes can be negatively affected by travel stress.
2) Jet-lag. When an athlete trains consistently and habitually, the body adapts through regulated function. That function becomes a daily cycle and is part of an individual's "circadian rhythm". When several time-zones are crossed through travel, the body does not adjust immediately to such sudden time shifts. The rhythm of the body is sensitive enough that if activity is regularly partaken at a particular time of the day, it will be prepared to exercise/practice at that time of the day. It learns to anticipate the need to exercise, or practice. Thus, when traveling, opportunities must be given to adjust this internal clock.
3) Activity sequence alterations. Not only does the body get used to performing at particular times, but it also adapts to the sequence of regular daily activities. So, basically, if a player is used to following a distinct pattern of activities each day, the body develops a regulated cycle to accommodate that pattern. If travel prevents that pattern, the individual will be stressed because of the sequence disruption.
4) New environment. The lack of familiarity with the cues, venue, and resources of a competitive environment increases the stress on an athlete. It's suggested that the player get some time to become familiar with the new surroundings.
The above four sources of disruptive stress require a player to use some resources to adapt to the new game environment.
So, what can the player do about this?
At home, establish daily activities according to the time standard of the competition site. This may be difficult to do, but it would ensure that the player's body would not suffer jet-lag. He might only suffer travel fatigue.
As soon as the player arrives at the competition, explore the surroundings. This will allow the player to cope better with any problems should they arise because he will have an idea of what and where resources are available.
Attempt to arrive at the location at night so that the player can rest and overcome travel fatigue after a brief initial exploration of the new surroundings.
Spend more time at the unfamiliar competition than would be spent at a familiar one.
A "rule-of-thumb" for estimating the time for adequate adaptation to occur is one day for each one hour time change, and three days for daily event sequence change and new environment familiarization. The calculated period would allow most players to adapt fully to the disruptive stress produced by travel.
Easier said than done, I know, but I'm just laying it out there for ya.
