Mental Endurance

Strategy

Devin Hirsch Asked 9 years ago

Hi Alois,

I recently played in my fist sanctioned tournament, and there are a couple of things I wanted your advice on.

Firstly, I was playing very well, until I lost my first game (round robin.) After my first loss I started playing really poorly, and lost a lot of my games afterward. It was the worst I remember playing in a long time. I lost my confidence in all of my strokes and played way below my regular level.

Secondly, I played around 7 games in 3 and a half hours. I'm in good physical shape, but my brain started to get tired and I started to lose focus on top of having lost my confidence! Thinking about tactics for the next point and remembering the proper technique became extremely difficult.

Can you give me advice bouncing back from losses, and focusing harder at the game at hand? It's a big weakness of mine. Also, I would appreciate some tips on mental endurance and keeping a fresh mind. I struggle with focusing after I've played a lot.

Thanks,

Devin

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Devin,

I guess this is a common thing that happens to a lot of players.

If you feel yourself losing confidence, it is often a good idea to go outside after one of your matches. Being inside a hall for a few hours can get you into a bot of a rut. Going outside thens to bring back a bit of perspective.

Make sure you are eating consistently during the day. We often forget to eat so that by the end of the day you are low in energy which will also effect your ability to concentrate.

Lastly, think about retaining your routine above all. Your pre match routine and your pre point routine as well.

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Thoughts on this question (3)

Yoshithraaj Aalla Posted 9 years ago

Hey there Devin,

You can also consider listening to music. You see often it happens that you may not be able to go out of the hall. My club coach suggested this. He says listening to music helps refreshing the mind, so listening to some good music after loosing a match help to stay in rhythm.

Devin Hirsch Posted 9 years ago

Thanks a lot! I will do all of these. If anyone else has advice, please let me know!

Karmel Barghouthi Posted 9 years ago

Don't over think in your opponent style, this will confuse you and force you to go out of your own style.
hope this helps
sorry for my bad English.

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