Virtual Competitions

 Well, here we are in a second lockdown and it's taken me a while to get around to feeling like blogging again. I'll write a separate post about the lockdown, as it's been a little overwhelming and deserves its own discussion.

I wanted to share here my experience of online competitions, which I ended up testing out when the second lockdown hit, forcing me to close my classes at the end of October 2020. I think the initial trigger was the need for something positive to focus on; something that could still drive me forwards while I felt like I was being restrained. 

I decided to use my PSO credit from the cancellation of the Manchester competition and got the last spot for PSO Scorpio. Unfortunately, I rushed the process a little and left myself little time to prepare. I found myself in a situation where I only had one opportunity to film my routine and I had not really explored the choreography and its limitations to a sufficient extent. As bad luck would have it, I also felt mildly ill that week, possibly due to stress with the last classes at the studio or possibly due to contact with people carrying the virus the previous week. The result was a routine with potential, but that I was not happy with as a final performance. I immediately began working on a new routine and resolved to try again as soon as possible.

The day of the Scoprio competition, I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the performances and loved taking part! It was more exciting than I had imagined and really had the feeling of a live competition. I felt all the more encouraged to keep competing. Despite my reservations concerning my performance, I took second place in my category, Championship Level 4 Masters, which I was delighted with!

Realising that the best time to work on competition training is while I have time at home during lockdown and boosted from my Scorpio result, I turned my attentions to the next event and promptly signed up for PSO Sagittarius. The livestream will take place on 12th & 13th December, but I will post my video here afterwards. This time, I learnt from my previous mistakes. I ensured that I would have several opportunities to film and I chose days when I felt physically at my strongest. I wouldn't say that the result is perfect, but it is a huge improvement and that is all I can expect :-). I am proud of this performance, which makes a big difference to me. I am very excited to participate and my final placement is not necessarily a more important result than my own satisfaction!

Throughout this process, I have learnt more about competition technique and preparation, which will inevitably make me a better coach. I now have experience not only of the PSO scoring system, levels and categories, but also of online virtual competitions. When filming my routine, I was surprised to feel the familiar rush of nerves, as if I was going on stage for a real competition and have learnt that the preparation and performance are not as different as one might imagine.

After Sagittarius, I will probably prepare another competition, depending on how long lockdown continues. In the meantime, I am also hoping to coach some other pole athletes and will be putting more time into extending my current online pole class programme.