I don't think you can overestimate the importance of ADJUSTments, especially in tournaments. Sometimes you can even make your adjustments before your match if you scout your opponents.

in the words or actions of tom spear ( timing is everything) knowing when to do something is very important. everyone knows how to execute a shot or pass (unless they are learning the game)

there is adjusting to someone's game or putting pressure on someone also

Without a doubt adjustments are the key to winning tournaments.

Great points.  Good advice for any sport/game.  Recognize and perfect your best skills so you are confident when you need to use them, but be flexible and ready to adjust to new opponents and playfields.  Its far too easy to get stuck on a plateau.  Its takes extrodinary effort to keep pressing ourselves to get better, instead of waiting for someone else to give us a reason.

 Lou 

Nice succinct guideline Mr. N!

I would say the closer to a beginner a player is, your three points of (1)Simplify, (2)Perfect, and (4)Execute are much more important in concentrating on.

Too many times I've known, played and seen scrub and intermediate players work on their mind game, without the necessary preparation and polished skill set required.  There is also a strange pitfall I've seen with so many beginner or intermediate level players:  (5)Adjustment when not needed:  It was never broke, so they HAVE to fix it and break themselves.  Curious, but I'm sure you've all seen this:  "That shot or pass made too much sense, and I really can't be doing that... let me try something more inferior as befits my knuckleheadedness."

"I've scored three straights in a row on this goalkeeper, so he/she will probably be waiting for it... Lemme give that up, like every retarded player should against players with equal or less experience as I have."  Or, "my pass with a fake keeps working, SO let me try something else I haven't been having much luck with, because my beers & mixed drinks are telling me it is high time I stop boring myself and go for the gusto so I can look really good." Now who hasn't seen a player in a match, having played excellently and dominatingly up to a certain point, suddenly try irregular and uncalled for shots and passes out of the blue?  As if they leaned over a bit too far and their brain fell out!  But that is why we still have to play matches despite even the best rating and ranking systems.  It will also always be a race, especially for comparably skilled and experienced opponents, between your SELF-CONFIDENCE and your SELF-DOUBT.  Which sub-Master player hasn't heard or thought to themself: "I can do that shot 99 times out of a hundred, and that pass even better, but now, in a match, I can't seem to even hit the or roll the ball correctly?"

Obviously, as a player progresses and gains more game experience, (3)Read and (5)Adjustment [with this corollary: only against opponents that HAVE adjusted and done so correctly enough to hurt your game]  become more important, all the way through championship and world-class players, because their polish, their skills, their tendencies and styles have become more solid.  They have (1)Simplify, (2)Perfect, and (4)Execute down to an art, not just a science, and are also playing predominantly more highly-skilled opponents in their division, who absolutely (3)Read better, and definitely will (5)Adjust.

I like how you laid that out, and only add, "If you're winning or playing well in a match, and nothing's broken, go fix your car, go fix your dog or your cat, fix your partner if need be :D , BUT LEAVE YOUR GAME ALONE for now!"