Hey y'all! How's studying going? It can begin to get really hard to find motivation this time of the year, but it's also a great time to look back at your resolutions and goals! What did you want to achieve? How can you better work towards those now, with new and inspired zeal and experience from this season? I know that one of my goals at the beginning of the season was to memorize all of the material. And even though I haven't done it perfectly (and procrastinated for most of the season... :P) I still managed to learn a good amount of it, and I'm proud of that. Be proud of what you've accomplished, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, because you made an effort to learn the Word of God and to get better at a sport - never be ashamed of work and time that you committed to quizzing! God is proud of you! As you can see from the title, today we're beginning a series on how to deal with "high-stress" competition. This post is going to cover why we get stressed out, and ways to deal with it before and during the competition. The next part of this series will discuss the base of the stress, how to kill it at it's root, and finally all the wonderful benefits that come from that (which are not only quizzing-related)! So here we go! Why we get stressed out about quizzing Basically, most people are (either consciously or subconsciously) concerned about what their family, team mates, friends, and opponents will think of their performance. And often times those standards and expectations can just be our own, and not anyone else's. When we think too much about what other people think, that insecurity is based on what we think of and expect from ourselves, because chances are that in reality most of us have great, supportive adults in our lives. But if someone actually does expect something from you, that you constantly feel pressured to live up to, it would be a good idea to take a good hard look at that person and the expectation, and consider if it is actually valid. How to deal with performance-related stress before the tournament A good way to kick stress out right off the bat is to do your best to prepare for the competition. This does not mean that you have to study until three o'clock in the morning every night - that would be an example of how to wear yourself out and end up not doing as well as you could ;). It just means that you should make quizzing a top priority - that you should go out of your way to spend more time studying; in the car, the shower, getting ready in the morning, listening to the material while doing chores or cooking, and those little fifteen-minute windows of possibility throughout our days that we look over. Also, rest and recuperation are imperative to both your preparation effectiveness, and your stress level. Allow yourself to rest if you need it, even if you feel like to need to study every moment possible, because pushing yourself too hard is not healthy at all. How to deal with performance-related stress during the tournament If you're stressed out during the tournament, it can cause you to make mistakes and get upset when you could be having fun - its not cool :P In order to deal with this "in action" tension, there are several different methods; using calming essential oils, breathing techniques, and even doing jumping-jacks and push ups between rounds and during time outs are common, and some people even like to fill up on caffeine to get the job done (you just have to keep an eye on the crash :P). But in the end, reminding yourself of the reason you're quizzing is the strongest way to get rid of stress during the tournament. It really doesn't matter how well you do at the end of the day, because it's just for fun, and your worth does not come from your performance. So that's all I have for you guys today! Don't forget; in the next part of this series we'll be discussing the base of all performance-related stress in quizzing, and then the benefits of kicking it out of your life!
Stress and worry are literally the most useless emotions known to the human race :P And, there's no reason to have them as companions in our every day life (or at all). Go forth then, in the power Jesus has equipped you with, to overcome and destroy these parasites! Good luck to everyone in their final days of preparation for regionals, and during your time of preparation for nationals! I look forward to seeing you all again soon! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory
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Hey guys! Today I thought I would talk to you a little about "next level quizzing". This can be both from the perspective of rising to your next level and improving yourself, or from the perspective of rising to the level of the best. Where are you in your goals right now? Where do you want to go? How hard are you willing to work? Also, you may want to check out my post about different levels of quizzing which has correlating, color coated, printable study guides! To me, there are three main areas in which we can focus on becoming better: studying, jumping, and answering questions. Studying - Time, Quality, and making a Schedule Time is essential; you may get a lot from the material from focusing well over short periods of time, but soaking in it is a good idea - especially for captains/co-captains (so that we get a deeper understanding of what's going on). We need to make sure that the time we are spending studying is actually having an effect - that we not only have quantity, but also quality. If we're not paying attention, we might not get much (if anything) out of the session. A sacrifice of time, together with our full attention, can have some awesome results! Making a schedule is also a good idea if you're having trouble getting into it. Knowing what to study and fun ways to do so is very helpful when you're struggling to find motivation. If you don't make a schedule regularly, my post "Composing a Simplistic Study Outline" would be a great place to start! Jumping - Pre-jumping, Team Strategy, and Reflex/Timed Styles Pre-jumping is a basic necessity for taking quizzing to the next level. It can seem a little daunting, since you have to finish the question and answer it, but after some practice it becomes a piece of cake! You have to get out of your comfort zone to pre-jump sometimes, and you have to assume that you know all the answers, so that you don't have to analyze it before you jump - as my old coach used to say, "Think on your feet, and not on your seat". In tournaments, its a good idea to have a team strategy. For example, someone to jump on memory verses, someone to jump on according to's, generals, etc. so that everyone knows what to focus on in the quiz round. Also, team strategy through splitting up the questions helps the individual quizzers know what to practice/study, and helps the team to support each other and share the load against a good opponent. The way I see it, there's two pre-jumping styles: reflex and timed. The timed-style is usually what the memory and according to quizzers use. They practice jumping on their question specialty, so that they jump right as the necessary information is revealed (i.e. just as the first syllable of the verse, or verse reference, is said) which is pretty consistent for these types. The reflex-style, on the other hand, requires the quizzers who specialize in pretty much all other types of questions, to hear what the quiz master is saying, and then anticipate when the unique information will be given. For general questions, it can be anywhere from two to five syllables, for situation it can be as little as the first sound, and contexts are kind of unpredictable. Question specialty - Why, How, and Studying Accordingly Pretty much all of the top quizzers choose and focus on a specific question type, and we call that their question specialty. When you have one type of question to focus on, it makes practices more intense, study time more beneficial, and tournaments simpler. Also, you're better able to help your team, by giving them some near-guaranteed points per round, as the fruit of your work. Most people find their question specialty either their first or second season, and that just by figuring out what they enjoy the most and what they're best at - and then they usually sick with and build on that for the remainder of their quizzing career. You can switch your question specialty later on (I'm focusing on according to's right now for my team, even though my original specialty was generals), but it can be difficult. Of course, each question type requires slightly different skills, and many different ways to study and practice them. In my post about Behind the Scenes of Top Ten Quizzers, I asked five different people what their number one tip would be for their question type - two according to quizzers, two general question quizzers, and one memory quizzer. And since I specialized in generals, I wrote a Part 1 and Part 2 about how to rock those! Taking yourself to that next level is definitely a challenge, but it's nothing you can't handle! I would encourage you, that while you're improving yourself, to not lose focus of why we're doing this.
In the end, the person who places thirtieth at a tournament could be getting more from the material, and growing more in their walk with the Lord through quizzing, than the person who gets first. Ask Him why He said what He did, and what those weird parables mean, why the drops of His blood and sweat had your name written on them. When we do well in quizzing, as we're learning to do, we have to make sure that it's actually accomplishing some eternal good - or else it means nothing. But the awesome news is, that once Jesus is the foundation and center of our motivation, quizzing becomes so much easier! It destroys any performance-related stress, gives the sport real purpose, and enables you to grow closer to God while participating in an awesome and fun ministry! I hope that these things help you along on your quizzing journey, and motivate you to keep chugging along in your walk with the Lord! Thanks for reading! Keep calm and quiz on (and out)! Your fellow quizzer, Mallory |
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Trending Posts:Author:Mallory is a graduated Teen Bible Quizzer originally from the Southern region, moved to the Northwest, coaching quizzing over the book of Matthew. Check out our
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