Steve Roller (1980’s ranked in top 5 in US Javelin)

I know many of you will spend many a long hour getting ready for the upcoming season.
Time in the weight room and endless throwing repetitions to grove that technical nuance into an automatic component of your throw. Then there's the time spent evaluating your last workout or planning the next. It's easy to focus all of the energy on the physical aspect of the event, satisfying yourself that the time spent in this type of preparation will entail a better overall performance. Indeed in many cases it will.
But how many of you have been to important competitions and felt out of the competitive groove? A little nervous?, unable to control your technique?
It has been my personal experience that the best method for overcoming these problems is visualization; practice the situation.
In psychology they call it desensitization, in drama rehearsal. It is the mental preparation that enables the other physical components to fall into place. It is as important to success as any other aspect of competition.
I would recommend at least one practice session a week that focuses on situational competitions. (One throw to qualify, Have to throw a certain distance, Bad weather, etc.) Go back to performances that have haunted you for various reasons and try to rehearse it over and over until you can find the best part of your competitive spirit in those situations.
There may be other ideas on what to do to handle the stressful situation. This is what has worked for me.

Tom Petranoff (former Jav World Record Holder)

Nice to see a good post like this. I agree but think you need to practice more like every day. When I went to bed I would practice it every night for 20 minutes or till I fell asleep. Very important for success