Becoming more consistent in actual matches

Dhaen · Nov 26, 2016

When I play matches in training, I seem to be attacking the ball consistently from my backhand and forehand. But in actual matches (in a tournament or a league), I'm not able to get more than two shots on the table. This is especially a problem on my backhand. Can someone try and help me on how can improve on this?

Murre5 · Nov 26, 2016

Are you nervous? Or why do you yourself think you are doing more mistakes during matches.

Some stuff I like for tournaments etc is to be there early. Just go there watch the place and take it easy instead of rushign there and trying to find a warmup partner. Even having one decided before hand is better. Also warming up a lot, I'm guessing if you are playing training matches you are doing that in the end of your practice sessions so you have been playing for an hour or so?

chuckjordan2 · Nov 27, 2016

Do you take post-training notes and/or post-tournament/league notes? That is close to video taping yourself.

And then there are notes you can make for yourself before a match. Although hard to pull out during a match. They can help keep you on track.

What have your friends told you? Anything constructive?

RajaLoopah · Nov 27, 2016

Nothing beats experience to gain confidence in tournaments

Garrison · Nov 27, 2016

Try to play against more different players. Maybe your problem comes from being used to the same spin and speed from the couple of players you practise against. Focus on your footwork, maybe in tournaments you don't move as much because you are thinking of something else. Obviously videos would help for deeper technical advice.

Dhaen · Dec 3, 2016

I think I might be nervous as well as not having enough time for warm ups. And yes, I play matches after my training session. No, I do not have any videos of me playing.

Thanks for the help guys.

gmiller2233 · Oct 19, 2017

Mistake

TableTennisTom · Oct 19, 2017

I think this is fairly common. When you play a practice match you will be far more relaxed, you will be familiar with your opponent's style and the outcome of the match doesn't really count for anything. When you play a league or tournament match, you will have more nerves or tension, your opponent may be unfamiliar and you have the extra pressure that the match counts for something. And remember the other player is not there to make you look good. The other player is trying to make you play bad. What can you do about this? If the issue is nerves, you can do something about this (read my article here: How to deal with nerves in table tennis matches or read this thread on the same topic). Consistency will come with time and lots of practice. You will have to practice, practice, practice. There are no short cuts. Practice. Then more practice. Try and seek out players whose style you find difficult and practice with them too.

Baal · Oct 19, 2017

+1 to what Garrison wrote. Unfamiliar players will bring out the worst in most people until you get a lot of experience playing unfamiliar players (often in new places). That like a lot of things is something of a learned skill.

Andy44 · Oct 20, 2017

Really no substitute for experience against many different players, but practicing choreographed points (such as five ball drills) can be helpful.

fxri · Oct 20, 2017

maybe you should read the inner game of tennis

corbytoffee · Oct 20, 2017

Garrison said:
Try to play against more different players. Maybe your problem comes from being used to the same spin and speed from the couple of players you practise against. Focus on your footwork, maybe in tournaments you don't move as much because you are thinking of something else. Obviously videos would help for deeper technical advice.

Great point. Always encourage players to get out of their comfort zone (their own club) and play as many different players as possible.

yoass · Oct 20, 2017

TableTennisTom said:
[…] If the issue is nerves, you can do something about this (read my article here: How to deal with nerves in table tennis matches or read this thread on the same topic). Consistency will come with time and lots of practice. You will have to practice, practice, practice. There are no short cuts. Practice. Then more practice. Try and seek out players whose style you find difficult and practice with them too.

That is a great post, and I the referenced publications struck a chord with me. I used to choke pretty badly when young, less so now, and the key (to me) was, quoting TTTom's article: "[…] to re-evaluate my goals. I wanted to judge my performance on whether I played well. Winning or losing was less important. If I lost but played well, then I would sleep ok at night. If I won and played well, I would sleep great at night."

Exactly. Note that this may sound simple, it does take while to make that shift, to be able to accept an "honourable" loss. I do think one can learn to master this art of letting go, gradually.

tropical · Oct 21, 2017

Many folks I know play like 2000+ players during practice. In real challenging matches they are like 1500! These folks rarely play tournaments and matches with people with different styles.

I normally have easy time with folks not familiar with long pips and struggle quite a bit with folks playing me so many times.

ajtatosmano2 · Oct 21, 2017

It's normal. I am just the same, even when I feel myself totally relaxed or when I feel myself being on fire.
Experience is the real thing. Be confident. If you're playing at home in the league train for a longer time but not so hard. 1,5 hour should be good. But don't train seriously, like in a normal training session! Do a long warmup, easy drills. Wang Liqin said to do 2 hour of simple FH and BH drives before matches (not right before) to get good feeling and control (I don't know if it's true)

talbon · Oct 21, 2017

Dhaen said:
When I play matches in training, I seem to be attacking the ball consistently from my backhand and forehand. But in actual matches (in a tournament or a league), I'm not able to get more than two shots on the table.

What are the reasons for this in your opinion?

pgpg · Oct 22, 2017

talbon said:
What are the reasons for this in your opinion?

Nerves, perhaps - there is nothing on the line in training matches.

gmiller2233 · Jan 17, 2018

TableTennisTom said:
I think this is fairly common. When you play a practice match you will be far more relaxed, you will be familiar with your opponent's style and the outcome of the match doesn't really count for anything. When you play a league or tournament match, you will have more nerves or tension, your opponent may be unfamiliar and you have the extra pressure that the match counts for something. And remember the other player is not there to make you look good. The other player is trying to make you play bad. What can you do about this? If the issue is nerves, you can do something about this (read my article here: How to deal with nerves in table tennis matches or read this thread on the same topic). Consistency will come with time and lots of practice. You will have to practice, practice, practice. There are no short cuts. Practice. Then more practice. Try and seek out players whose style you find difficult and practice with them too.

Great article Tom. Thanks for posting.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ndragon · Jan 17, 2018

Don't worry my friend you aren't the only one.
I found for me personally, service receive really mind Fs me and throws me off concentration for everything else. Once I'm stable I find the reason is then simply because the return from opponent is always not what I am used too and so I have to adapt, not always adapting fast enough. Training and very familiar opponents are a bad way to judge your skill and consistency imo.
How to improve on this...just keep training. Maybe make the training random placements, perhaps try training with a couple of other people too

CroneOne · Jan 17, 2018

I had the same situation. All of the points above make sense. There are so many elements in competitive game play that are not common in training. Heck you may play someone who does absolutely everything different than your coach or training partner. I found myself searching for an answer in a game that my training level couldn't solve. I'd have to go and research why a certain thing was beating me or get the coach to explain it. The more mysteries that you encounter in games, then train to solve in training, the bigger your game knowledge will grow. Look at how the Chinese operate when they lose. They analyze, come up with a solution then train it into their ability.

Becoming more consistent in actual matches

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