Sometimes you just have to dig in and want it.

Watching the 6th overtime of the Syracuse vs. UConn game I marvelled at the first 3 pointer by Syracuse to put them up for the first time in any of the OT periods. Just a moment before I was shaking my head that a player would try for that shot when so many mid range to 3 point shots had not been falling, but then again Syracuse was having trouble hitting anything within 2 feet of the basket during overtime.

Once Syracuse got ahead of UConn, you could tell that the Syracuse players felt that the would win. Before they were in “we’re not losing this game” mode, but now they were in an even more aggressive “we’re going to put this away” mode.

A few seconds later there is a foul and a Syracuse player goes to the foul line. He nails both free throws. This is amazing.

You may not think that hitting a couple of free throws is that big of a deal. I mean, there is nobody guarding him, and it’s something that is practiced every day. How special can hitting a free throw be?

    Consider this:

  • The game was in the 6th overtime. (The longest game in NCAA history was 7 overtimes.)
  • Players used to playing 30 to 35 minutes per game had racked up 50+ minutes of playing time
  • The game started at 9pm, it is now after 1am
  • Syracuse had never been ahead in OT until now

The physical strain of the game had to be enormous. Going all out and coming from behind to tie up the game during each overtime must have also had their bodies pumping out all of the adreneline available. Now try to shift gears to the mental exercise of a free throw. They are hard enough during regulation, but in overtime every shot is that much more crucial.

I can’t really imagine the mental strength needed to calmly nail those free throws.

Try to put yourself in the situation. You’re gassed. You’ve been going all out and your body is pulling from physical reserves that you may not have tapped in months or years - maybe you didn’t even know you had those reserves. Now, you’re put on the line for free throws. It’s a rote action, a rehearsed skill. There is nobody in your face, no movement to let you “feel” the shot.

It’s just you, the ball, and your head.

What goes through your head at this point? Some athletes freeze up at this point for fear of failure or an inability to concentrate where there is no opponent to focus on.

This is why coaches have their players shoot free throws at the end of a practice, and why the really driven players stay late to shoot some more. To be depended upon in crunch time, you have to have the comfort of stepping up and doing it when spent both physically and mentally.

How can you apply this in fencing? Find ways to simulate the high energy 14-14 DE bouts when you have almost nothing left physically, are keyed up, and need to settle down to work that one touch.

How do you train for your own “overtime moment”?