Preparation for the intramural school competition

Table Tennis Mental Preparation

Last updated 11 years ago

Wayne Sy

Wayne Sy Asked 11 years ago

Hi there coach I would like to ask something about mental preparation again. You see coach, we have our intramural competition next week and my opponent is my team mate. Well I play better than my opponent but I am afraid that he might be able to beat me. This is a very common mental problem I often encounter when I play with a weaker player. And also, I think I also view the competition something extremely important. I think that this is not a positive factor on my game, what should be my personal perception to the tournament? should I treat it something very important? or can I treat it just like a practice session? And also coach, can you please give me some ideal mindsets I need to have during the competition. thanks coach :)


Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb Answered 11 years ago

Hi Wayne,

You are best going into the day thinking about playing your best table tennis. It's good to think of the tournament as important and you should try to develop a mindset that you play your best table tennis under pressure. You can develop this over time as you improve your skills and do trust your shots in these situations. Having said that, you should realise that this is just a tournament and there will always be another one. Thinking of this as a do or die tournament is not helpful to most people.

When you are playing you need to focus on each point and not focus on the result. The best way to do this is to develop a pre-point routine. This can be quite simple but make sure you follow it each point. It will help you focus. A basic pre-point routine can be to bounce the ball on the table a few times and imagine the serve you are going to do. Then play!

Good luck at the tournament. Let us know how you go.


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