Specific Advice Needed

[EnviroBen13]

Hey folks, reaching out to the forums as I'm currently having a problem with myself/2 buddies who play on the team with me. I'll list our issues down below, and if I could get feedback on any that'd be great:

Myself: I've adopted an approach to buzzing that routinely lets me lead my team in points, but is also leading to a good number of negs, which I'd like to try and mitigate.
Friend 1: This friend in particular suffers from a lack of mental "strength." He's dynamite in morning rounds, but really tapers off by the afternoon rounds, and being the second best scorer on our team, this really hits the team in consolation or playoff brackets.
Friend 2: This friend simply doesn't have confidence. He has potential, but he can't bring himself to buzz.

Answer to these, and any other general tips/tricks y'all have learned on the circuit, would be greatly appreciated in helping our own team succeed. Thanks folks!

[Santa Claus]

1. Best case scenario you’re negging because you keep guessing when you’re like 60% sure until waiting for 90/100%. Study more so can actually identify those early clues and wait til you are actually certain.

Worst case you’re just making unwise buzzes when you don’t know - just don’t do that.

2. Your friend needs to caffeinate at lunch. Buy him a big Dr. Pepper or something for tournaments.

3. If they want to buzz more aggressively, they should focus on learning clues so they can buzz with 100% confidence earlier in the question.

[Jacksondahammerbidney]

Hey folks, reaching out to the forums as I'm currently having a problem with myself/2 buddies who play on the team with me. I'll list our issues down below, and if I could get feedback on any that'd be great:

Myself: I've adopted an approach to buzzing that routinely lets me lead my team in points, but is also leading to a good number of negs, which I'd like to try and mitigate.
Friend 1: This friend in particular suffers from a lack of mental "strength." He's dynamite in morning rounds, but really tapers off by the afternoon rounds, and being the second best scorer on our team, this really hits the team in consolation or playoff brackets.
Friend 2: This friend simply doesn't have confidence. He has potential, but he can't bring himself to buzz.

Answer to these, and any other general tips/tricks y'all have learned on the circuit, would be greatly appreciated in helping our own team succeed. Thanks folks!

Problems and solutions with you: I don’t see very many problems with you. Don’t stop negging because you’re scared of getting it wrong. Bet on success. Be an empowerer

Problems and solutions with player 1: I struggle with this too, but eat a great lunch, making sure that you just relax in between rounds, and have fun.

Problems and solutions with player 2: I struggle with this too. I would push Player 2 to be overly aggressive. Sometimes you have to use another extreme to balance it out. It’s not going to be immediate, but it’s going to help your team incredibly. Buzz even to the verge of being reckless.

[IndianaMan13]

2. Your friend needs to caffeinate at lunch. Buy him a big Dr. Pepper or something for tournaments.

This, so much this. Dr. Pepper is the biggest performance booster in QB from my experience. Additionally, make sure your team is eating well during lunch, have something relatively lean yet still filling (Chick-fil-A is always a good choice, the homophobia chicken is unfort quite tasty), and subtly encourage the teammate who is having trouble keeping up energy, this is just personal preference but I like an almost exaggeratedly energetic style of captaining, but whatever works for you while still keeping your teammates energized. For your teammates who is struggling with confidence just get him speaking up on easy bonuses, its good for keeping teammates engaged and raising their confidence, and other than that just get him buzzing in practice whenever possible.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

For your teammates who is struggling with confidence just get him speaking up on easy bonuses, its good for keeping teammates engaged and raising their confidence, and other than that just get him buzzing in practice whenever possible.

This has always worked for my teams (for reference I've been a quizbowl captain at some level since 2018). If you know the answer but you think someone else might as well, wait for them to tell you and then give the answer if they're correct. It always bumps their confidence, sometimes significantly.

"the homophobia chicken is unfort quite tasty" also might go in my signature

[geoff]

Myself: I've adopted an approach to buzzing that routinely lets me lead my team in points, but is also leading to a good number of negs, which I'd like to try and mitigate.
Friend 1: This friend in particular suffers from a lack of mental "strength." He's dynamite in morning rounds, but really tapers off by the afternoon rounds, and being the second best scorer on our team, this really hits the team in consolation or playoff brackets.
Friend 2: This friend simply doesn't have confidence. He has potential, but he can't bring himself to buzz.

You: With great power(s) comes great negs, most people up their negs when they up their powers so it's not too much to worry about now, good on you for being aggressive

Friend 1: Tell him you don't care if he negs, he'll have more confidence if you're by his side.

Friend 2: Give him an IV with caffeine (for legal purposes this is a joke), but get him some soda, coffee, or tea. Caffeine helps me for afternoon rounds

Hope this helps!

[Jacksondahammerbidney]

2. Your friend needs to caffeinate at lunch. Buy him a big Dr. Pepper or something for tournaments.

This, so much this. Dr. Pepper is the biggest performance booster in QB from my experience. Additionally, make sure your team is eating well during lunch, have something relatively lean yet still filling (Chick-fil-A is always a good choice, the homophobia chicken is unfort quite tasty), and subtly encourage the teammate who is having trouble keeping up energy, this is just personal preference but I like an almost exaggeratedly energetic style of captaining, but whatever works for you while still keeping your teammates energized. For your teammates who is struggling with confidence just get him speaking up on easy bonuses, its good for keeping teammates engaged and raising their confidence, and other than that just get him buzzing in practice whenever possible.

I used Diet Coke for Run for The Roses and it instantly worked, we beat a team in the first round of the playoffs that we had just scraped by on the last tossup 440-100, and played much better against Wayzata A than we did before "lunch", which for me was Nerds, Reeses and Diet Coke

[1992 in spaceflight]

2. Your friend needs to caffeinate at lunch. Buy him a big Dr. Pepper or something for tournaments.

This, so much this. Dr. Pepper is the biggest performance booster in QB from my experience. Additionally, make sure your team is eating well during lunch, have something relatively lean yet still filling (Chick-fil-A is always a good choice, the homophobia chicken is unfort quite tasty), and subtly encourage the teammate who is having trouble keeping up energy, this is just personal preference but I like an almost exaggeratedly energetic style of captaining, but whatever works for you while still keeping your teammates energized. For your teammates who is struggling with confidence just get him speaking up on easy bonuses, its good for keeping teammates engaged and raising their confidence, and other than that just get him buzzing in practice whenever possible.

I used Diet Coke for Run for The Roses and it instantly worked, we beat a team in the first round of the playoffs that we had just scraped by on the last tossup 440-100, and played much better against Wayzata A than we did before "lunch", which for me was Nerds, Reeses and Diet Coke

I'm going to gently suggest that eating something besides Nerds and Reeses for lunch is going to do nothing but good things for your play.

As I've gotten older, I've also found that sleeping well is a good performance booster, as it's easier to recall things (for me, at least nowadays) when I'm not fighting my body wanting to fall asleep.

[Jacksondahammerbidney]

I was unprepared, a fresh 5 inches fell on the ground that morning and the nearest restaurant was an hour round trip. Maybe it becomes my ritual for state, HSNCT, and beyond?

[DispatchedCeleryWarrior]

I was unprepared, a fresh 5 inches fell on the ground that morning and the nearest restaurant was an hour round trip. Maybe it becomes my ritual for state, HSNCT, and beyond?

You should realistically also sync biorhythms with your teammates before each tournament to maintain optimal performance.

[DonutEnjoyer]

Hey guys. I'm friend 1, as in literally. I know where Ben lives. Due to a heart condition, I am not supposed to drink caffeine. Anything else I can do? Besides sleeping. That's not happening before an SB tournament.