Saksham_Sahgal's blog

By Saksham_Sahgal, history, 21 month(s) ago, In English

Even after a lot of Practice why do I perform well in virtual contest but fail to perform well in real contests? . How can I overcome the fear of rating fall , and learn to perform well under pressure ? Does anyone have any suggestions that would help?

I had been giving some virtual contests , and i see i mostly perform well in them , and get a good rank , but in actual contest i almost always end up performing bad , even though i know i could have easily solved those questions if i was not under pressure .

Any suggestions for overcomming this would be really helpful :>

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21 month(s) ago, # |
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Virtual contests are very different from real contests because they don't simulate system tests. I mean, in a virtual contest you submit your solution and if it gets accepted, then you can happily move on to the next problem. But in a real contest getting AC doesn't guarantee anything, especially if you are relying on intuitive guessing and have no strict proof of correctness for your solution. So in a real contest you may have to spend additional time on extra testing. Or just hope for the best, which is still an extra mental burden on you.

The fear during a contest is also related to adrenaline. Adrenaline provides a temporary boost to both muscles and brain, which manifests itself as having more strength and better reaction speed. But it's also somewhat similar to overclocking a processor in your computer. Some people just enjoy better performance, the others get fatal BSoDs and kernel panics.

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21 month(s) ago, # |
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Because you are nervous during the contest, knowing that no one will help and there is no solutions. And during the virtual participation, you think that you can watch the analysis and see the solution

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    21 month(s) ago, # ^ |
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    If you watch solutions doring virtual contests -- you are a complete loser.