I get nervous

Hammad Hammad Asked 14 years ago

Hi coach. when I play in tournaments, i get nervous and unable to show my true potential. is there any way to decrease nervousness and play my real gaeme?

also tell what to do when I play against players I have never seen before?

thanx

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Hammad,

Nervousness is very common, in fact I don't know anyone that doesn't get a bit nervous before a match that is important to them.

The answer is to find ways to calm yourself before you play and during the match. Some players use relaxing breathing techniques, others accept that they are going to get nervous and just deal with it the best way they can.

This is a big subject and one we will cover more fully in a lesson or DVD in the future.

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Piers Grey Posted 14 years ago

What I do to calm my nerves before a game is remember that as long as I play the best that I can on the day thats all that really matters!, so it doesn't really affect me if I lose a game because I know I did my best and that's all I can do and I should be pleased with myself. Even if didn't nessercary play the best I could of done, I know that everyone has bad days and good days and that on that paticular day I just had a bad day.

Anyway it doesn't really matter because its experience that you can walk away with that you can use to learn and improve off of so if I know that my backhand wasn't very good in the game I'll work more on that when I practice in my next training session. On the plus side it gives a focus to improve on when practicing anyway!?!

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago

I've long had this same problem and I've come to the conclusion that the only way to learn to stay calm in a high pressure match is to give yourself as much experience with high pressure matches as possible. In other words, enter as many pennants, competitions, tournaments etc as you can. You'll find yourself having more experience playing deciding rubbers, being down match points, deuce in the 5th set, come back from 0-2 down, playing finals, etc... The more experience you have playing high pressure games, the more 'normal' they will become. As Tiger Woods said (despite his recent scandals, the guy remains the most mentally tough sportsperson on the planet), being nervous is a good thing, it shows you care. Just need to feed off it and don't let it overwhelm you.

I get nervous

Table Tennis General

Hammad Hammad Asked 14 years ago

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Thoughts on this question

Piers Grey Posted 14 years ago

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago

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