Techniques for focusing and concentration

Ganesh Desai Asked 13 years ago

Hi, I have played many tournament matches and I have observed myself playing strangely sometimes, foolishly, very confidentially I have seen myself in all these kinds of play. But at such times I have had lack of concentration, focus and stroke mistakes and sometimes tension too(nervousness). How do you counter all this? How to focus on the ball constantly and concentrate? Is there anyway to calm ourselves down? Thank you!

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Ganesh,

This is a million dollar question.

The best way I can recommend is to make sure that during your training you are totally focussed and put yourself under a little pressure during training.  YOu can do this in a few ways like counting the number of strokes you make.  Make a game out of your drills and other ways that will help you to concentrate during your session.  Then when you get to a game situation you will find that you have already been in the situation many times before and will feel more comfortable.

This will also help with your concentration.

In a match situation, if you do feel nervous, one simple way to help yourself is to take a deep breath and focus on what you need to do for the next point. 

You can also look through our list of previous questions under the topic of Mental Preparation.  There are some really good tips to be read there as well.