concentration and emotional control

gianluca soderini Asked 14 years ago

Hi Alois,

Thank you for your prompt reply to my previous inquiry.

I would like to know your opinion regarding a good way to improve concentration and emotional control while playing a table tennis match, and also I would like to ask if you have any plans to elaborate on this topic.

Thanks,

Gianluca

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Gianluca,

We are thinking of making a DVD on the basics of emotional control. This is such a big topic though and I hesitate to go into it without going into it fully.

I think one thing to always remember is to go out there to play your best table tennis. If you can stick to this you wont have too many problems. However sticking to this can be really difficult.

There are several techniques you can use to try to ensure you are getting towards yuour optimum emotional level for competition. One is to simply take a deep breath and then focus on your strategies.

We will attempt to tackle this topic soon.

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andrew brand Posted 14 years ago

please get around to this topic asap! my main problem is when i feel i am making too many mistakes (even when im not im told) i tend to get dis-heartened and beat myself up inside, this leads me to play worse as the session goes on. it is really a big thing for me. when i lose confidence i give up trying and hate myself for it later on. this really ruins my table tennis quite often, when i feel confident my game is much much stronger. please cover this topic soon alois, i need your help!

by the way, the training secrets dvd is outstanding!

Leslie Unknown Posted 14 years ago

I personally think it comes down to experience. At the moment I'm playing seasonal comps at club level where in my 1st season I didn't register my 1st win until my 6th match or so. In addition my 5 set record was something like 2-8. After the season , I believed that if you concentrate too much on score that you don't play with the same conviction that you should be. I remember during those crucial points in winnable matches that instead of playing my regular looping game i would try to chop everything back and more often than not I would end up losing the game.

I made a note that for the 2nd season that I would forget about the score and just hit all my strokes with correct technique. If you lose, you know that at least you played with your maximum ability and can continue to improve. As for the beginning of the 2nd season my record now stand at 4-2 with a 3-1 record for 5 set matches

Esteban Mendez Posted 10 years ago

Hi Alois,

I've recently been having problems dealing with my emotions during a match. I can't concentrate as much and I often wind up making more mistakes. I can't describe the feeling, but it happened when my opponent was very intimidating to me and these feelings were making me do itty-bitty mistakes that I feel I shouldn't be making. I know that mistakes are a part of learning but they happen and it becomes annoying during that match. I don't take my emotions out on the game or my opponent or anything, but it just shows on my performances in the games when I miss a smash or miss a simple topspin or when I try to do a short serve, it faults, or when the ball tips my bat on the edge. It's like at that moment, I unlearned everything and I suddenly "forgot" how to play. Any tips on helping me improve my game against an intimidating player?

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 10 years ago

Hi Esteban,

It is about focusing on what you are doing and the process you need to play well. As soon as you start to focus on what your opponent is doing you will lose focus on what you should be doing.

Think about your strategy or your technique whichever you want to be thinking about at the time.

A good way to make the transition is to take a deep breath and then focus back where it should be.