This report is a check-list of details that the leadership of national team should take into account, both during preparation in home country and when travelling to the place of competition.

Travelling

Depending on the distance and location of the place of competition, there are several possibilities how to travel there:

Private cars

• Advantages:
  • Flexibility in the town of competition, making it possible to take individual special wishes into account (for example, at what time to start or end a training session, or what to do while the minigolf course is reserved for another training group).
  • Travelling to the place of competition is possible on different days, if some team members have professional or other duties that restrict their choice of travelling days.
• Disadvantages:
  • Coaches or players need to consume their energy by working as drivers.
  • Risk of traffic accident, car theft, etc. (It is not advisable to travel with private cars if the travel destination is in an “uncertain” country, where the crime rate is high.)

Bus

• Advantages:
  • Everyone is travelling together, which strengthens the team spirit.
  • Often quite simple to organize in the town of competition.
• Disadvantages:
  • Weaker flexibility, compromises are often necessary.

Flight

• Advantages:
  • Fast and comfortable travelling. Recommendable when travelling by land would take more than 10 hours.
• Disadvantages:
  • The weight limitations of luggage are an essential problem for minigolfers. Each ball container weighs up to 6 kg.
  • Often quite high prices of flight tickets.
  • How to organize the travel between airport and the place of competition?
  • How to organize the daily travel in the competition town? In the ideal case a good hotel is available near the minigolf course, but if this is not the case, the team must use rental cars, taxis or public transportation. (Rental cars are the best solution, as they give great freedom and flexibility. The second-best option are taxis, but in some “uncertain” countries the use of taxis may be quite adventurous. Public transportation is usually the least comfortable option, because of longer travel time, difficulties with carrying heavy luggage, etc.)

Hotel

When choosing the hotel, the following aspects should be taken into account:

• Short distance from the minigolf course.
  In the ideal case, the hotel is within walking distance. This gives the players unrestricted freedom to leave the hotel at different times (as the starting times of players vary during competition days, and some players may want to practice longer than the others). Most notably, during breaks in competition due to bad weather, the players can comfortably rest in the hotel, instead of getting tired and stressed at the minigolf course. (In my opinion this is an extremely great advantage, because the time spent sitting in the rain at the minigolf course may sometimes be very lengthy, and could be used in better and more relaxing ways at the hotel.)
• A quiet location, what comes to car traffic, is naturally an advantage. In city center it is usually sufficient if the rooms are on the backyard side and not on street side.
• Sufficient space for parking the cars.
• A bountiful breakfast buffet.
• Comfortable room facilities (shower, toilet, television).
• Conference rooms for team discussions.
• Possibly also SPA services (sauna, swimming pool, etc.).

It is recommendable to send a person to review the facilities on site, and to scout for the location and opening hours of supermarkets, restaurants, etc.

Other preparations

• Equipment check-list and agreements: who brings what?
  • heat bags
  • cooler boxes
  • towels
  • sponges
  • chalk powder
  • special clubs and tees for beton lane no. 7
  • ...
• Checking the ball reserve, ensuring that all balls that have been played so far (in Nations Cup or other training occasions) are available, as well as possible alternatives (e.g. balls used by other countries).
• Putting maps for all players and coaches.

Coaches

Coaches have a very essential role in the success of the team in a major tournament. The better the team organization functions as a whole, the higher is the probability that each player can reach his full potential, and the team can travel home with some of the coveted medals in their luggage. Choosing the coaches is therefore a crucially significant task.

In addition to specialized knowledge about balls, the coaches should also have great social and psychological abilities, because psychological factors often play a decisive role in tournament success. Coaches are at the center of action all the time, standing by the lane that is being played, and able to immediately intervene if something unexpected happens. How can I get a player up from depressed feelings after a series of poor performances? How can I motivate him? What should I talk about? What should I keep quiet about?

To make this interaction function well, there must be a great trustful confidence between the players and coaches, which is built during a longer period of time, in several confidential discussions. The two weeks that a travel to a major tournament lasts, are certainly not enough for this task.

Apart from the coaches at the minigolf course and the team leader, it is an advantage to have yet another person at hand, who takes care of the physical well-being of people. Delicious salad, some cheese etc. every now and then gives energy and a refreshed ability to concentrate.

If the financial budget allows, I would also strongly recommend a physiotherapist. When we have so much minigolf in the daily calendar, it is difficult to avoid muscle tension in the back or other body parts.

Training

The practice session before a major tournament is approximately 7…10 days. A training plan is necessary for these days, to get the most out of this practice, and to use the limited time optimally. Apart from the general training plan of the team, individual players should also have enough freedom for their personal habits and preferences.

In the ideal case, the experiences from Nations Cup and other training occasions are fresh in the memory of players and coaches, so that the team does not need to start everything from zero.

Training methods:

• Practicing the lanes in groups of 2 or at most 3 players, using the notes and maps done in Nations Cup and other training occasions.
• Interval training of opening shots on the most important lanes.
• Playing rounds with normal points count.
• Match play rounds man against man.

To recognize the progress of training and any remaining weaknesses, it is necessary to analyze the results of practice rounds. The schedule of training groups in major competitions leaves plenty of time also for analyzing this data in team discussions. In my opinion it is most meaningful to analyze the total average score of the whole team on each lane, rather than evaluating men and women separately (to get maximal statistical reliability for the analysis).

On such lanes where no “best possible ball” has yet crystallized in the minds of the coaches, statistical analysis of different balls is recommendable.

In addition to the team discussions, the team leader should also arrange private discussions with each player, to better understand and respond to the wishes of each individual.

How to spend the free mornings and evenings (when the minigolf course is occupied by another training group), should be more or less freely chosen by the players themselves (apart from the obligatory team discussions). Leisure activities can be arranged, but the players should not be obliged to join if they feel reluctant.

Competition

On the morning of competition days the team leader should speak some encouraging words to the team, to ensure that everyone starts playing with the best possible feeling and team spirit.

Short private discussions may also become necessary every now and then.

Otherwise everyone must simply give “all they got” for the team, at every moment. This includes spreading the fire to others when one is having a break between rounds.

After the competition

A successful project includes also retrospective analysis and feedback, to learn something for the future, and to sum up the lessons that have been learned this time.

It is recommendable to collect written feedback (tournament reports) from all participants, and to share and process this information in further discussions or e-mails.

Budget

The place of competition naturally affects the costs to some extent. The price of travelling, accommodation and other services varies greatly from country to country.

The following list assumes a team of 17 persons (11 players and 6 coaches), who travel on site 10 days before the competition.