Need some competition tips from you Judo guys !

Howdy folks,
today after practice my judo teacher told us that hes looking to arrange a visit to a proper competition about a month from now and really wants us to compete. we would be competing against guys who've had about as much mat time as us (its a college judo program, once a week). I'm both excited but nervous already, i dont wanna get smashed and i've never competed in any kind of sport since i played football (soccer) when i was little.
any tips on preparation, gameplans and how to act etc would be really helpful as i dont get much time to talk to my teacher because we try to get as much judo squeezed into the 1 hour we get alotted. i'd appreciate any advice :)
thanks a bunch

man dont worry about getting smashed too much. thats when i usually learn the most. just go out there do your best and have fun. (:

Focus on establishing your dominate grip, move then attack. Make sure you commit when you attack! Dont focus on a large number of throws, work on 3 to 4 that all build off of one another.

Don't count on your ground game to win. I'm not sure about where you are, but the judo tourneys around here only allow a few seconds of the ground before they stand you back up. Abandon the mentality of "it's ok to be taken down because I can work from there" because of the whole win-by-ippon thing. Get caught be a clean throw and the match is over.

If you want to work on your grips throw your gi top over a chin up bar, establish the grips you like, and get as many pullups as you can.

Sick I need to try doing some gi-ups

^I think I have a vid... I'll check in a bit and post it if I do.

Like Herzog said, commit to the throw. Think it's only natural when training to not 100% commit to a throw on your training partners, but in the comp just let it go, cause your opponent will be.

Win or lose you will learn something you wouldn't have learn in a training environment so compete every chance you get IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATohJRozV7g

Couldn't find it so we shot this tonight. I'm grabbing the sleeve with my left hand and the collar with my right. Be prepared for your fingers to be stiff when you get down

Awesome Dylan thanks a lot for that vid, i could barely manage one straight pullup a month ago(im heavy), now im doing about 6 unbroken so i'll definitely implement these into my workouts :)
and thanks to Zog, Nathan and Tim for the advice, i've noticed i get pretty indecisive and hesitate a lot, but today was a great practice, my throws and trips are feeling much smoother and powerful. just wish i could get some reps in over my 2 week break i got coming up. guess its solo drill time for me lol if anyone gets bored and doesnt mind typing lots, i'd love to hear about your first time competing, judo or bjj, just having an idea what to expect will help my mind a lot i think.

If you have trouble doing them just get your grips and jump up and try to hold on as long as you can until your arms can no linger stay flexed.

Best of luck!

Practice how to proper fall so you dont get inyured. Besides that work on your foot work and you will be ok

When it comes to throwing, one of the things to always keep in mind is that, when you throw, the person has to be coming into you... and that works both ways, for you to look out, and the other way around. It was always rule #1 in my book, and still is.

When defending shift your hips away from the direction he is attacking from while maintaining good control, as if to block his hip with your own. If you are too slow though in defending or resetting you stance it can set up ippon seonagi for him. If you get this "block" it opens up a world of counters and if you have good grips he will be really off balance and most leg sweeps should do the trick. If not just keep him moving and threaten with a lot of reaping throws like Uichi-gari. Throws like that tend make less experienced Judoka hesitate.

I found a lot of success even against black belts if you can control their hips. You feel an attack is coming ground yourself and check the hip with your hand. If you are holding a high grip, don't leave out there because he might get under it and slam the sense out of you. If you can respond quick enough, it interrupts their rhythm of attacking and it's just all about control and off balancing them. Ground game in Judo is difficult, and I wouldn't really rely on it less you are great with positioning on the ground. You have to act at a much quicker rate since the rules are only 8 seconds to achieve a dominant controlling position and maintain it for 25 second to score the full Ippon, less you scored already with the initial throw. And always getting caught in full guard since it's considered a neutral position and you will be stood up. If you find yourself in a position to use submissions, stick to the Ezekial chokes since they can be set up from damn near anywhere and it should game over for them. I hope this helped. Good luck with you competition! You got this!

There is no set time for limit on the ground its about progression, always work toward putting them on their back or a submission, working towards a pin will generally give you a bit more time in the progression. Even if you have a sub locked in, you need to finish. You can be stood up with a armlock extended if you aren't finishing it right away.

Awesome, i'll be sure to take as much of this as i can on board!
Chris if i remember correctly you're a Judo black belt right?