Reddit reviews Argumentation and Debate: Critical Thinking for Reasoned Decision Making

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.

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.