Nervousness
Mental Preparation
Abhi Joshi Asked 13 years ago
Hi Alois,
I am Abhi. A lot times I used to get nervous during my tournaments and I am not able to play my natural game. I get mentally pressured at matches with unknown players usually and that creates a big bad difference in my match. Is there any technique to remove my nervousness during matches?
Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago
Hi Abhi,
This is a really common problem. In fact it is so common that every single player feels it at some stage.
There a lot of ways to work on this. The most important thing is that you need to practice these situations. Try to play as amny matches as you can and see if you can get some players that are close in ability to you.
We have many answers to questions on this subject in our Ask the Coach section that will help you. Take a look at the section on Mental Preparation.
Thoughts on this question
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Apurva Chakravarty Posted 13 years ago
I completely agree with alois! I've also had this problem as it was more significant when i started of table tennis but, as i gradually started to play more it turned out to be less of a problem. I know that when going into a game one would think that "what would happen if i lose?". I think the most important part is being confident in your game (technique). It'd lessen the nervousness if you tried on observing the opponent's weaknesses. For example, is the a penholder? aim for the backhand or are they weak with spin?
Abhi Joshi Posted 13 years ago
Hi Abhi,
You are right, it is really difficult to put yourself in the same situation in practice. You can try things like putting a small prize for matches during practice, a drink or the loser has to do something for the winner.
The most important thing is to focus as well as you can during training. It will never be the same but put yourself into as close a situation as you can.