Rushing my shots

Mandy Sutter Asked 12 years ago

When playing matches against better players than myself, I often start rushing my shots and making a lot of mistakes to the point where sometimes my game goes completely to pieces. It also happens near the end of matches - even when I'm well ahead, I'll often throw points away and end up losing. No amount of telling myself to calm down seems to help. Is there a trick or technique that might help? 

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Mandy,

This sounds like a matter of nerves and tension.  The only thing is to reduce that tension.  Before each point, where you are starting to feel yourself rush, take a long deep abdominal breath.  Then focus on your tactic for the next point.  Breathing between points is a simple way of calming yourself down.