Nervousness

Hi Alois, my name's Elgin and I'm Malaysian. I recently went to a ping pong tournament and there will always be something to bug me which is my nervousness. I've trained for 2 years already but I'll still be nervous even though during training when I just simply have a match with my coach. In tournaments, I'll get nervous when it is my turn to play and It becomes worse when I'm being told if my opponent is a state player or for short someone who is better than me as I see him play in his previous games. My coach told me not to get nervous but I'll get nervous when I play with my opponent. I've tried jumping, shouting but it just works a little bit. The funny thing is I'll always feel anxious to play my game but when it is my turn my legs will wobble. Do you have any suggestions or any advice of what should I do to overcome this weakness? Thanks

Hi Elgin,

Getting nervous is very common for all players.  One simple thing that you can do is take a deep breath when you start to feel nervous.  Then focus on the tactics you need to employ for the next point.

It is important to understand the feelings you get when you start to get nervous.  When you can recognise these feelings, you can act on them earlier.

We are in the process of filming a series on this topic that will be available for Premium members.