Le Grange learns more about self-confidence in America
Pretoria's top Judoka believes his recent participation in America has prepared him to reach new heights in his career.
South Africa’s judokas are just as good as, or even better, than their counterparts in the USA; however, at the last three Olympic Games, the Americans medalled while there was not much to get excited about from a local perspective.
After training and competing in the USA for a few months DJ le Grange, who is considered to be one of South Africa’s top judokas, said he now realises the reason for the Americans success.
“As far as physical conditioning and technical skills are concerned they are no better than us. It is all about self-confidence. I know many would disagree arguing that the Americans will always have an advantage because of better funding. The reality is that their funding compared to others sports in the USA is quite insignificant,” said Le Grange after his return to Pretoria.
According to Le Grange the big difference between the Americans and local Judokas are that they believe they are the best and sometimes their self-believe borders on arrogance.
“I guess it stems from them being proud citizens of one of the world’s biggest countries. From a personal perspective I can say in the past there were times when I competed internationally that I totally psyched myself out. That is not the way to win any fight,” said the Judoka who finished second in his weight category at the New York State Championships.
Le Grange is confident the turning point in his judo career was last year when he won a gold medal at the African Open Tournament in Yaounde, Cameroon.
“It was the first time that I competed believing that I am good enough to win. Our coach, Nikola Filipov, should take credit for that.”
Le Grange has set himself clear targets for 2018. His first goal is to ensure his place in the national team. He believes it is important to have that assurance so that you can focus on preparation for international participation.
“My main two focusses this year is to medal at the African Championships in April. If I do so, I will qualify for the World Championships which is important. I need to compete against the best to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo,” Le grange concluded.
After the SA Trials Tournament Le Grange and two more Tuks Judokas, Michaela Whitebooi and Unelle Snyman will leave to train in Japan.
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