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the best advice i could give is to judge as often as possible. the understanding that you have as a competitor (whether in policy or not) is wholly different than what you see in the back of a room. just like with any other subject, practice is best; in this instance, judging puts into question both what you learned and what you hear.

"mastering" the activity is subjective. if you're in a uil school, mastering means being able to conform to the district/tournament norms, while introducing and using everything else (kritiks, counterplans, etc) strategically. on the other hand, if you're in a school that primarily does tfa, "mastering" could mean getting used to spreading and evidence production, as well as burying yourself in the popular kritikal literature (cap, psychoanalysis, colonialism, etc--we'll eventually figure out the k for this year).

as long as you demonstrate willingness to learn, and don't act like you know it all, then you'll be fine. if you can defend your decision in context of your paradigm- whether on the ballot or in an oral rfd- then you'll be fine. you will learn, you will grow. you will make a bad decision. then you'll make an absolutely horrendous decision. then they'll get better. the entire thing is a process. you'll do fine.

edit: make friends both in and out of the district (especially if you intend on going national at any point). treat this just like the ideal class environment. you ask questions, you get answers. those answers will sometimes be terrible, but they may also be incredibly helpful and insightful. for example, my first year of judging at nationals (i had just turned 21... still pretty young), i was judging round 14 (we were down to six, seven, eight teams or something like that). i was really really worried that i would fuck something up. but the network that i had encouraged me and convinced me in my own abilities. mastering- or perfecting, rather- this activity means that you always take advice and insight, regardless of your skill level.

edit 2: because i apparently didn't read the end of the post. read read read on the topic, and the event. the book that was recommended earlier (this one) would be a good source. a more topical place to look would be at the open evidence project.

you can definitely use your phone as a timer in most events, although there are other timers available if you want to clout chase (although, i hear that using phones instead of timers is the hot new thing in pf, so be wary). Because the classic 12 button timer that most camps/tournaments gave out has been discontinued, there is really only one option left for good, durable and effective timers:

https://www.amazon.com/CDN-TM30-2-Alarm-Timer-Alarm-Vibrates/dp/B004S0SO9M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538057146&sr=8-3&keywords=debate+timer

as for stands, get one. once again, clout chasing, but also they are pretty useful. obviously an investment, but it was definitely worth it (i've had mine for just short of 5 years, still works)

https://www.amazon.com/Tabletote-Portable-Lightweight-Adjustable-Notebook/dp/B005IXSXPI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538057268&sr=8-1&keywords=debate+stand

I've been debating for seven years and I still have yet to master anything. I don't think my debate coach would say that either, he'd going into his 36th year (I think).

I think the best thing to keep in mind is keeping an open mind. ALWAYS be willing to learn and be wrong. The worst coaches are the ones who are unwilling to adapt as the debate world changes. Wake forest has a hand book and there are debate textbooks out there written by debate coaches, pretty sure this is the one my university uses for the debate class. That might get you started.

Contact a university that does policy debate in your area (Or at least another high school). I'm sure the coach would be willing to meet with you.

Many debate camps put up their lectures on their various websites for anyone to watch. Those will definitely help.

Psychoanalysis concerns a set of psychological theories; in debate, it usually refers to the theories developed by Jacques Lacan. It relates to debate because some theorists, such as Slavoj Zizek, use psychoanalysis to explain policy issues. Teams run it effectively when they can reduce the psychoanalytic jargon to plain English and explain it specifically in the context of the debate round. The best introductory book, imho, is Conversations with Zizek, particularly Daly's introduction.

You can find this at your local Barnes and Noble, it's very neat.

https://www.amazon.com/Tabletote-Portable-Lightweight-Adjustable-Notebook/dp/B0001EMA80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478309515&sr=8-1&keywords=tabletote+laptop+stand

i'm pretty sure there's only one and this is the one that most people are buying. however, if you need your soda right next to you as you speak, you can opt for this version with a bottle holder

https://www.amazon.com/Tabletote-Portable-Lightweight-Adjustable-Notebook/dp/B005IXSXPI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1478309540&sr=8-2&keywords=tabletote+laptop+stand

Oh yes of course; https://www.amazon.com/Debate-Team-Tenth-Anniversary-Directors/dp/B001MYQ430 here’s the link

I personally use this one because I can set it to alarm or vibrate:
https://www.amazon.com/CDN-TM30-2-Alarm-Timer-Alarm-Vibrates/dp/B004S0SO9M/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=cdn+timer&qid=1566922418&s=gateway&sr=8-5

Brand doesn't actually matter that much, but make sure to get one that has numbered buttons so that you dont have to press your three buttons a million times before each speech/cx.

http://www.amazon.com/Projector-Adjustable-Presentations-Notebook-Computer/dp/B003GEKXRM

Up to 46" instead of TableTote's 29"

I'll give you some advice, if you really need more than two usb's, you can get one of these a lot cheaper than it would be for trying to buy a computer with a bunch of usb ports already attached.


[To answer your question more thoroughly, I personally love Toshiba's Satellite Brand,] (http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite) there high performance laptops are highquality and top of the line. I bought a C55-A5286 from them last year, and it came with a 750 gb hard drive and 16gb ram. Its more than effective at anything you'd need to use for debate. I even use this laptop to play counter strike with no problems at all.

I will disclose two things about the satellite that you may want to consider before buying 1. I had a keyboard failure within the 1st year but it was replaced with the Toshiba Warranty but I had to pay for Fedex shipping. I sent the laptop to them on a monday and I got it back on a friday. 2. The screen on my laptop was especially fragile. I broke the screen after inadvertently having my knee make contact with it while I was sitting down at a debate tournament. The laptop is currently hooked up to a PC Monitor and works just fine. I use a Dell Inspiron for my debate work, it has 4gb ram and 500 gb hard drive and it still does all the work relatively quickly.


If your laptop is slowing down I'd consider looking at what you might have cluttered on there before you lay down a big wad of money on a new laptop.

It's hard to find, but this book pretty much devastates that res

http://www.amazon.com/Normal-Life-Administrative-Violence-Critical/dp/0896087964