Excitement During Matches

Hello,

What I have noticed about myself is that during matches, I tend to get a little (too) over excited after I make an amazing or "lucky" point. Perhaps it is great defense by me or great offense. Whatever the matter is, I always have a hard time staying in focus during and even after the point which then leads me playing much poorly and the opponent gaining the point. Do you have any tips for me to stay in the zone while playing and good ways to recover from good points?

Thanks,

Julian

Hi Julian,

Firstly it is good that you have identified this in yourself.

To maintain calm one simple thing is to take a deep breath and focus totally on the breath.  This will help you to centre yourself and then maintain the calmness that will allow you to play the next point effectively.

When you have taken the breath, you then can think about the tactics you want to employ in the next point.

Take a look through our Sports Psychology section for some other ideas.