League game problem - help pls!

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I played my first ever league game tonight and played in one division above my level due to lack of players. This was also an away game.

My first opponent had short pimple on both sides and I struggled to play against him. Obviously he was good at using his strength and I was everywhere. I managed to catch up after two sets down and level then lost the deciding set.

Second opponent was much easier and I won 3 str sets but still felt very nervous.

Last game was a disaster. I felt very unsettled and never managed to attack. He was very good at pushing and he instantly moved back soon as he knew his return was too high.

I was definitely out played here but I felt I could do much better. Lack of experience maybe? What can I do to get myself settled in before a league game? I even practiced for 10mins at home beforehand.

Please help.

Al

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I played my first ever league game tonight and played in one division above my level due to lack of players. This was also an away game.

...


I was definitely out played here but I felt I could do much better. Lack of experience maybe? What can I do to get myself settled in before a league game? I even practiced for 10mins at home beforehand.

Please help.

Al

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

It is definitely lack of experience - in a way you have the worst case scenario: playing competition for the first time, in an unfamiliar venue, while playing up in a higher division, AND also playing for the team and not just for yourself. So, it will only get better from here :).

You'll get better with more matches - and probably will discover mental tricks that help you cope with nerves. I occasionally found it helpful to pretend that match outcome does not matter (hard, but possible :rolleyes: ) - it helped me to relax on a few occasions. But I know - easier said than done.
 
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if you have a training partner you're comfortable with warm up with them, then do a little warmup match type scenario, like this one.

"first to score 5 points in a row wins, if you score a point you get to serve."

So if your friend starts with the ball and you score against him, you have to score 4 more points in a row with those 4 points being your own serves. This gives the nervous feeling when you get near the number 5, you don't want to mess up. Kind of like the feeling of being 10-8 in a game.
 
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no matter where you play, what divison, who you play with, try to enjoy table tennis, enjoy your game, don,t try to play for winning that will disturb the way you normally play. The more match you play, the better you will be.
I played my first league in London D3, I lost the first match because I though my standard was higher than D3, I was nervous because I wanted to win so badly, I wanted to show I could play better. But after the first match, I changed my attitude, I wanted to play what I normally played, then I did not lose any game at all, at the end of the season, I only lost one match totally. My % was almost 100%. Next yr I played D1 , although I only had just more than 50%, I enjoy the league match, by playing with so many different players, so many games, my table tennis improved very very fast.
 
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I'd also say lack of experience and therefore it is quite normal to be nervous a bit. You cannot train that. Have fun playing those league games, try your best but don't have too high expectations of your own results. The more you play competitively, the better they get.

I've been playing table tennis for over 20 years now, always in leagues and tournaments. For quite a long time I have been the first player of our second team now. Even after two decades of experience I am still nervous when I have to play with our first team although there is not much difference. I can beat everyone there but also lose against everyone and there are a lot more spectators. That's it. Still I feel a lot more pressure although for example I love playing with a lot of spectators in tournaments i.e.. Only time and a lot more appearances in our first team can help me there, but that is ok :)
 
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Many good posts already. I just can repeat, what was said already.
The more you play, the more relaxed you get, if you don't put too much pressure on yourself.
Best thing is to ease up, and enjoy yourself, as you can only learn and improve.
Facing someone in a league match with double sided pimples on your very first league match can be quite challenging, so you shouldn't worry too much about that.
 
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When you get nervous, instead of trying to relax and forcing that nervousness to go away, use it to your advantage. You have adrenaline pumping through you and deciding to try and suppress it may not be the right choice when you can use it as an asset.

I may be wrong about this, but it's helped me recently.
 
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albertwong8:

Excellent advice already given! I would've posted similar.

3 points not mentioned which I offer:

1) Some members advocated relaxation but didn't mention some methods on how to relax. I wrote this in another thread on some relaxation techniques that helped me.

These work for me, I offer you these in hopes it can help you or set you on a Path of Self-Discovery to see what works for you.

1. Sit and just breathe. Concentrate on the in-breath, concentrate on the out-breath. Zone out background noise, only 'hear/feel' your breath. Long deep breaths.

VARIATION: breathe in for a count of 4 (or 3 or 2 if you can't do it for 4 count long deep breaths) -hold for a count of 4 - exhale for a count of 4 - hold for a count of 4 - repeat = inhale 4/hold 4/exhale 4/hold 4

2. IIRC, this is called 'progressive relaxation'.

Relax your body by tensing each body part up, and then let go/relax. Feel that letting go after the tension, that's relaxation physically, mentally just let all thoughts go. Proceed to next body part and repeat throughout your body.

When you need to relax, recall that relaxation after the body part tensing. If you cannot get into relaxed state during TT, physically tense your body and then let go. In time, you shouldn't have to tense up to relax, you will be able to go straight to relax.

If you need to 'anchor' it to some act or thing ... if you touch your racket a certain way, or bounce the ball off the racket, or bounce ball off the floor, or think of a word and associate it with the relaxed state, or a routine of a few motions and/or coupled with the 'trigger word'.

Personally, before a serve, i hunched my shoulders up to tense up, then exhale and unhunch my shoulders simulataneously, bounce the ball off the floor 2x and then serve. I can't get into a relaxed state right off the bat. Still need to physically tense up. Sometimes I just breathe in/out with 2 long breaths.

3. Close your eyes, visualize/recall pleasant times or a beautiful scene... mountains, fields, waterfall, virgin snow, good beer/drink, good food, sharing intimate moment with loved one, recall childhood vacation, etc. Feel how happy you are in that visualized/recalled scene. Feel relaxed.

At some point, you don't have to close your eyes, you should be able to get into that relaxed state.

Truly hope these helps.

EDIT: Baseball players have a whole routine, generally tar the bat, loosen/tighten their batting gloves, take a few swings then approach the batter's box ... once in, dig in and it's on

Basketball players before foul shots will bounce the ball a few times, look up at the basket, etc.

You get the idea.... good luck in finding what works for you!


2) "Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success."

Do you have a high percentage serve and/or high percentage 3rd ball attack? Go for it! An example: I like to smash and have a decent side-top serve... my partners sometime pops up the ball. If the ball doesn't ball fly out, i followup with my high percentage smash.

This is a double-edged sword though... as you are using what is in all likelihood your strongest attack and if it doesn't score for you, you may get disheartened. Which leads me to tip #3.

3) Focus on the here and now. Don't dwell on lost points. Do not put yourself into a downward spiral. Play one point at a time. Have confidence in yourself, after all, if you doubt yourself, you have one more Opponent to overcome.
I close with a Lesson from my martial arts instructor:

Parable of the Cherry (for first time fighters, either before or after they fight)
The three questions:

1) Do you remember the first time you had sex?

2) Were you any good at it?

3) Have you gotten better since then?

Question 3 means in time you will have more experience and will improve. Everyone starts mostly as inexperienced beginners and through dedicated training and playing one will improve.

Good luck and have Fun in your TT training! Truly HTH!!

~osph
 
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When I'm playing better with more focus, I take my time before serving and letting them serve. If you have thoughts in your head that aren't about the point that's about to happen, hold your hand up and don't let them serve yet. They have to wait for the receiver to be ready before they serve so you have time.

When you're about to serve, first think about what serve you're going to do BEFORE you serve. Then think about how you think they will return your serve. And then think about how you're going to attack it. FINALLY you can toss the ball up and serve since you're prepared for the point. There's a reason pro's have near 30 seconds between each point.
 
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