The Trouble With Tab Stalking

Tab-stalking. I first heard that word at my first national circuit competition, as a freshman. Within minutes, I was frantically checking pairings, seeing who was in my room and how many NSDA points they had, or their tournament results. Before my first round had even begun, I had guessed what rank I would get in every single room. Five speeches later, the ranks I got were completely different. 

One of the most common premonitions in any debate competition is recognizing someone in your room who is "good." Far too often do I hear debaters or speakers seeing a name and saying, “I can’t win this round" or "I’m not getting the one in my room,". Nowadays, I even hear people recognize the school a competitor goes to and freak out over the fact they are from that school. At the same time, people see novices that they’ll be going up against, and they think it will be a quick and free win. Sometimes, there is a mentality that, "If you don’t recognize the name of someone, then they are probably not a good competitor."

This cannot be more wrong. Seeing who is in the room, then making a prediction on the result before the round even begins is a dangerous thought that limits a person’s ability to ever do well. 

It took me two years to learn that.

Let’s go back to the example of the first national circuit tournament I was ever at. Florida Blue Key in 2022. I still remember seeing who was in my room in the first round, and thinking I could get the rank of two. I remember making a similar prediction for each round, even assigning a round as “my drop round”, because everyone else in that room was much better. 

By the end of the tournament, comparing my projected ranks based on competitors to what I actually got - it was completely different. Not only that, but there were multiple rooms where a novice took the one, and a more experienced competitor got a lower rank.

This happens time and time again. When someone who is supposedly really experienced and a strong competitor drops prelims or an early break round, people are shocked.

The truth is - this genuinely does not matter. Just two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to compete at Florida Blue Key yet again, and I kept making predictions on my ranks. In one round, just based on the name, I guessed I would get the four. Even if I gave a perfect speech, I was confident I wouldn’t get higher than a four, and that round would have to be my drop round. Breaking into quarters, and then semis, the same mentality persisted - that everyone else in the room was better than me, and I wouldn’t break. 

It was only when I got to finals, that, while I was sitting in the prep room, did I realize names don’t matter.

Look at it from this perspective. I do extemp, so let’s take that as an example. Most people who are judges are usually not completely familiar with the national circuit. That already provides an advantage - your judge doesn’t know who you are until you give a speech. And even if they do - judges don’t assign ranks purely off name recognition. 

At one of the national championships towards the end of the season a few years ago, a previous finalist well known across the extemp circuit had nearly all last ranks in a break round. The only speech that actually matters is the one you're giving in the moment.

Disregard other competitors, give your best speech, and you will be fine. Whether a reigning national champion is about to be debating you, or a novice is arriving at their first tournament, all that matters is the speech that is given. Other people don’t beat you just because they exist. Sure, a novice is statistically likely to do slightly worse than a national champion. But that doesn’t invalidate the fact that novices can give championship-level speeches and more successful competitors may bomb a speech.

One of the best ways to not worry about who is in your room is by actually not checking who is in there. A lot of tournaments are known for having competitor codes. Don’t click on those codes to see who it is (shout out to the NSDA National Tournament for hiding who people are behind the codes).

If the tournament doesn’t use codes and blankly publishes the name, then either: 

A) Just ignore who’s in your room. 

B) Ask a trusted friend, coach, or even a parent to just let you know what room you are in, what side you are on, and/or what speaker you are. This allows you to not make any assumptions about who you are going against, avoiding both under and over confidence. 

It’s okay to be nervous. Every debate tournament that I have been to, I have been nervous. I have been seen freaking out before breaks were dropped, and I have never stayed to see the banner drops at any tournament, resorting to a friend calling me to inform me. 

But all it takes is understanding that it truly does not matter who is in your room. Stay calm, drink some water, and even go on a walk before your round. My predicted ranks have almost never been the same as the ranks I actually got.

If you know who’s in your room, realize that they aren’t going to win simply for existing. No person is unbeatable, and that’s been proven time and time again. You too, have the capability to do well and even win national championships. The first step is realizing that.