Scared in tournaments
Mental Preparation
Ali Zarei Asked 10 years ago
Hi Alois. I'm playing for about 4 years.When I go to club and play with my friends and other players , I'm better than most of them and I can win them 3-0 or 4-0 . But when I play in a tournament with just those players I feel scared even if the other player is a lot weaker than me or the tournament isn't important at all.Also in our city the number of tournaments is very low.About 1 or 2 per each 4 months. In some of them if I can play my real game I can even win that tournament but in all of them I have knocked out in the first or second match. I feel very scared and unconcentrated And I can’t even play 20% of my real game, footwork or topspins and I simply lose to the weaker opponent with a bad result. WINNING is really a dream for me in tournaments. Please help. I will be very glad and appreciated. THANKS
Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago
Hi Ali,
The first thing is to try to focus on how you are playing not the results of the tournament. It is obvious that the tournaments mean a lot to you so you are getting yourself quite tight before you play.
Take a look at our lessons in the Sports Psychology section of our videos. I think these will help you.
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Hitting the Ceiling
When the ball hits the ceiling the point is over. You must hit the ball directly back onto the table otherwise you lose the point. In International tournaments the roof needs to be at least 5 metres above the playing surface but in local competitions you might often encounter much lower ceilings.
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 10 years ago
That reminds me of an interview I once saw with Persson. He was talking about all the competitive table tennis he played when he was young. He said that the most useful lesson he learnt from these was how to lose! This is interesting but really true. We lose a lot in our table tennis "careers"...especially when we are still working on the fundamentals, but even afterwards we always face opponents who are better, or who are just playing too well on the night. Eventually, you realise losing is not the end of the world - and life goes on. Once you "get used" to losing, you can then just focus on the table tennis itself.
Nice one Ji-Soo.
Ali Zarei Posted 10 years ago
I agree Ji-Soo Woo.And u Galois.Thanks.I think when u lose a lot u get used to it and then you realize that you can focus and play well and even win the match.OK I will try it.Thanks again.