Be yourself! It was hard for me to find my place emotionally when I competed in racquetball. I had an acquaintance who showed up at tournaments and between games would smoke cigarettes and drink beer, He was a great player and he was also a con artist. He only did those things at tournaments to bait people into thinking he never practiced.
I tried that route and it sure did not work for me. I tried the “get fired up” route and that sure did not work. I was too tight and nervous. I tried the opposite way-get loose and have fun thing.
I finally began to find my mental comfort zone when I began to focus on the present, not the past. The past killed me. “how could I have missed that setup? Why did I take that shot?” All in the past. The future also killed me. “Only three more points and I win.”
When I stayed point by point good things happened. I had to be intense, I could not let up but I also had to be relaxed. That is not an easy thing to do and it takes practice. I imagined my mind as a pool of water and tried to take the ripples off the surface. If I could calm the water, I could slow the game down. When that happened I could execute. Those days are gone but I have many athletes that I work with who have the same issues.
I am a coach, not a mental trainer. That is why I send my athletes to a sports psychologist or performance coach. Athletes need an objective point of view to guide them through the tournament wars!