Arrrrr you Match Fit?

When Marin Cilic was beating Roger Federer, the commentators mentioned that he had been working on learning not to think too much. In a Murray match I watched, he berated himself for not trusting his legs. While our Elephant seems slow and incompetent when it is learning a new skill, once it gets going, our Rider is more of a spectator or coach and largely has to keep quiet. As in tennis, you may get the occasional glance into the crowd, but if you start relying on the coach you have a problem.

This is why when training the Elephant, you need to create the situation and atmosphere in which the action will occur. When studying for an exam, it is not good enough to know the material. You need to be 'match fit' - your Elephant needs to know the material. Elephants don't sit back and ponder - they either know it or they don't. If they don't, they tend to panic and there can be a knock on effect.

An early mentor for my bigger exams taught me to break down questions by the marks and time allocated and practise until I could answer in that time. So for 180 minute exam worth 100 marks, I would spend 1.6 minutes per mark (shaving 0.2 off as a buffer). So 5 minutes for a 3 mark question. In preparing, you do as many past papers as possible 'in exam conditions'. For technical exams, you often find you struggle to answer the questions in the 3 hours in practise conditions. For discussion questions, you have to work up to being able to manage to carry on for the full 3 hours.

Whether tennis, piano playing, or in an exam - your Rider claiming to know something is not enough. When the heat is on, that is when you have to have internalised something. Your Rider may be able to rely on 'Googling it' - but your Elephant is the one who needs to get the job done.

P.S. Happy 'International talk like a Pirate Day' - Arrrrrr