Tips for surviving Topdeck training trip

Topdeck training trips are starting again next month and I have had a few people asking me for tips and suggestions on how to prepare for them. In my opinion there are 3 main things that will lead you to not perform as well as you could on training. 1. Being underprepared 2. Not having enough sleep and 3. Not having enough confidence. Here are my suggestions on how to combat each of these.

1. Preparation
Do your study before hand! I can't stress this enough. I know it seems like a lot, I have had several people tell me already that their homework looks like too much but trust me, when you actually get out there and need to use it, whatever you have is suddenly not enough. You WILL want more recipes, or facts or whatever and at that point, you wont have any time or internet to get them! This results in staying up late night after night to try and find these extra bits of information. Which leads me to my next point.

2.Sleep

Get as much sleep as possible when you can on the trip (at night). Point number 1 directly effects point 2. If you have more information before the trip, you will have more time to sleep whilst on it rather than sacrificing sleep for study. It sounds like the logical thing but trust me once you are on the trip, it is much harder to prioritize sleep than you think.

 

3. Confidence

A lot of the trip (from the trainer's side) is about playing with your mind. To keep your head straight and stop you from giving up have some physical positive thoughts to pull out when your confidence is low. Quotes, pictures maybe a letter, whatever works for you and gives you a bit more of a push forward. Print it out and stick it in a book or your wallet. You wont be allowed to use any technology on the trip so there is no use having it on your phone.

 

On the same kind of note – a really positive song can get you through some of the hard spots. You wont be able to listen to it very often but at the end of a night (this is probably about 2am) I would put in my headphones and concentrate on Rudimental's 'not giving in'. This hardened my mind and sent me to sleep with positive vibes.

 

And finally and equally as important -

Look out for the other members of your TT. This is important for sooo many reasons. The training trip is not a competition. You are not 'up against' these other people. It will be a hard time for everyone and it may also be your first time being in a group that is so varied in personalities and cultures. Help who you can and you will be helped in return. Share information and stories and get to really know everyone. You will be very close with them for the whole trip, and then again when you are working with them! Your TT group will continue to help you out for the rest of your season on the road so being a friend from the beginning will help you for the rest of your TD career.

Good luck to everyone going into training this year,
I hope to see you on the road!