Strategy or Not

In a competition do you think it is good to go in with a strategy ready to know what strikes you will do right away, or do you think it is better to just attack from instincts?
I know when sparring you shouldnt be thinking about what you are going to do, but do you think you should go in with a gameplan or would that not work?
Explain your reasoining

When sparring in competition you should ALWAYS have a gameplan for different kinds of opponent. Your strategies should be designed against different kinds of opponents. I usually divide the types of opponents I might face into height and build categories. So I think about:

-tall and well built
-tall and lanky(thin)
-average height, average build
-short and well built
-short and slight

These are of course, just general strategies that will change when I actually step into the ring. The best way to know your strategy is to scout around opponents you might face, before you fight them. That means watching other people's matches and not just your own. You'd be surprised how much watching someone fight previously can help you suss them out.

I remember watching an ESPN boxing match, pre-fight interview. One of the fighters had come into the fight saying that he had not created a fight plan, and was planning to just go with the flow. The other fighter in response siad "No one comes into a boxing ring without a gameplan." Needless to say, both fighters attempted to fight a certain way, the second fighter won though.

Don't base your opinions on what a fighters style is on their height and build. Wait until you've seen him him/her fight. Or if you don't get a chance to see them, study their movements at the start of the fight.

Take it from a guy who got rounhoused in the head from a short fat bloke!

Look at what way your opponent moves, do they step in before their kicks, do they have a wider stance when kicking, do they chamber their side kicks back, what stance their in etc. theyre the kind of things you should be concentrating on. Not their height or build.

The best way to get a set of gameplans in your head is by sparring against as much people in your club as possible. The more experienced you get the less you actually have to think about game plans because they will automatically be in your head.

in competetion, your strategy is going to be largely dictated by the rules of that specific tourniment. that being said, general gameplans are a good idea. but my idea of what a game plan is, is a little different.

knowing how to play on the weaknesses of different body types is one way to do it. in lue of that i would add to play against the weaknesses of what ever style the person might use, even deeper, what his instructors specialiaze in.

the standard - "if he kicks alot, then try and take him down" is one, however like i sad before, not every tourniment will allow ground fighting. so, if your interested in that kind of thing, then play to win at the tourniment. use the rules as much as you use your techniques.

i think that having strategy to beat body types is one thing, but since not every one knows how to use there bodytype to its full advantages, its less important then learning how they fight. people have a habbit of mimicking without understanding the in's and out's of why. so, if they come from a teacher who likes to attakc with certin combo's, then side step and counter. or what ever your good at. try and hit a grapeler in the head on the way in. grapel a striker.

its better to be better at winning, then kicking alone. fight the fighter, and all that jazz.

in my expirence