Insane in the Membrane

Like most athletes, I have a very meticulous way I approach my throws and during season, even the events leading up to competition are very routine; this is both good and bad. If everything falls into place and all the stars are in line, then I tend to have very good days, but if one thing falls out of wack, it could ruin everything. Remember last week when I said I couldn't find my rhythm in the ring? Well, a large part of that was due in part to the fact that I couldn't get the proper grip on the shot put out of the back of the ring and it was throwing off my whole throw. I mental visual every throw--in practice and competition, and when I'm in the back of the ring and if things don't physically line up with how I mapped them out mentally it seriously throws off every throw. I've been trying to get to the point where I get in the ring and just go so I don't have time to think about how odd things feel sometimes, but I haven't been successful yet, but it's something I'm still working on. I'm trying to get in and go because if I'm in the back of the ring too long, I have too long to start thinking and my mind starts thinking about all kinds of things. Throwing, and really any sport, is 50% physical 50% mental. I've got the physical, it's the mental I'm working on and it's something I've been working on since my sophomore year. I've gotten a lot better, but I'm not nearly where I want to be. My road to becoming a NCAA champion starts in my mind; I've already conjured up the thought, now it's time to buy into it. Right now, I'm fine. It's when the doubt and the quesitoning comes that I'm at risk of losing sight of why I came back this year. But, what I've come to realize is that sometimes I'm going to have bad meets and I'm not going to perform as well as I hope, but as long as I'm better than my competition on any given day, I'm still going to come out on top.