Psychological problems

Hi guys,

I have a tournament at the weekend and I was wondering if you could help me with these problems so that I don't make the same mistakes. One of the main issues I have is that in training, my standard of play is really good! I beat some top players in training, but at tournaments I get nervous and don't always play the game I should do. Here are the other problems:

1) I get nervous during matches ( sometimes at the very beginning, but normally during close games and games/matches that I am losing.

2) My arm feels very nervous , as if it's almost shaking. This doesn't help my shots as they start to miss, as well as my serves.

3) I am an attacker. But sometimes I am too sacred to attack so I just do a weak chop over the net which generally means the opponent gets in first and puts me on the back foot.

How can I stop these problems?

Matt D

Hi Matt,

Firstly this is normal and most players feel this to some degree, even the best players in the world.

The key is finding ways to control or accept the nerves that you are feeling.  Take a look at our lessons in the Sports Psychology section of our site.  This will give you some good insights in ways to deal with you nervousness.