Protracted Slump

Alois

I need help!

I guess I'm not the first player ever to suffer a protracted slump, but I was hoping if I explained to you my theory of why I'm in this slump, you might be able to use your experience to suggest ways to overcome it.

First of all, late last year I won a division 3 tournament that had a very deep field and came close to beating a division 1 player in the open tournament.  I felt on top of my game...that I had gotten over that hump separating the average basement hack from a real table tennis player.  I could practically feel my head swelling.  I fully expected I would trounce all my opponents for the remainder of the pennant I was in.  From this great height of hubris I was to get a rude awakening.  Instead of trouncing opponents, I saw my level of table tennis plummet for the final 3 weeks, and I fared no better in the playoffs.  It was an ignoble end to the year.

During the off-season, I tried to change my mindset.  Whereas in the past I had been quite reactive, and had mainly concentrated on keeping the ball into play and counter attacking, I decided to play proper table tennis.  That means immediately driving long balls and flipping short ones.  This was due in part to watching a LOT of world class table tennis.  If you watch enough of these you start to think "I can do that!"

The result of trying to change my game has meant that my slump extended indefinitely.  In the off-season I played a lot of games and my record is approximately 1 win and 70 losses.  My main problem is consistency.  I am getting better at driving a push and forcing a pushing rally to become a driving exchange, but if the opponent returns consistently I seem to have trouble hitting 2-3 drives in a row. 

Now that the new pennant is about to start I am hoping that pride will force me to snap out of it.  But in the event force of will is insufficient, do you have any advice?

The combination of hubris and trying to change my game has been my undoing to date.  At least I have been cured of the former!

Hi Ji-Soo,

I think expectations can be really damaging.  I think the key to what you have told me is that you felt on top of your game and you had got over the hump...  When we get to this state we forget about the basics of watching the ball and just expect the ball to go on.  This seems to be the reason for the start of the slump.

After that it can just get ugly.  Trying to change your game... 

Maybe pride is one of the reasons for the slump rather than a solution.

There is too much baggage happening at the moment.  Worried about how you are playing, how well you were playing, your record in practice games, etc etc etc...

Get back to focusing on the ball during a game. That is all that is important.  If you can do this well, the rest will start to fade away.  Foregt about all those expectations.  Take every ball on the table that you can.  Be happy with every point you get... get back to focus on the ball for the next point.