Any tips on how to stay calm for tournaments?

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Actually personally instead of being calm I try to get pumped up ! And get into the zone !
Tchoo !!! Chorei !!! But keep focused and keep the brain working !

Your opponents will get many more nets and edges if you persist in this.

Ba'al has spoken.
 

MOG

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When I was much much younger and more foolish I actually played a few matches when very stoned.
My play was dreadful and I really lacked any enthusiasm to compete and play hard. I just did not give a Sh*t!!
 
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Probably mentioned, but showing up early to get a good warmup is basic but I think very important to get you mentally focused and prepared. I think I read a practice match is good, I would fully agree as I always think I play my worst on the first match I have in a tournament.


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When I was much much younger and more foolish I actually played a few matches when very stoned.
My play was dreadful and I really lacked any enthusiasm to compete and play hard. I just did not give a Sh*t!!

One plays best when one plays without giving a Sh*t! It is the highest level of enlightenment one can attain.
 
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On a somewhat related note, if I am playing against someone who seems nervous, how can I take advantage of that?

There's one guy I play a fair amount. Earlier in the year he seemed to get really nervous during casual matches with me and sometimes even seemed like he was hyperventilating. But still he managed to beat me more times than I beat him.

We have a huge tournament coming up soon and there's a chance I have to play him. I need to take advantage of everything I can!
 
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Apply pressure by not beating yourself. Tape some practice matches. See if there are recurring situations where you systematically give away points. (Amazing how many people have these issues and cant see it in real time, Ivecseen it with a 2500 player). Then change that. Your clubmate will have a mental breakdown.

The single best tool for improvement is a tripod and a cheap video device.
 
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MOG

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Videoing my games made me stop using long pimples, despite a significant improvement in results and wins against previous never beaten players.
I was disgusted with my pimply blocks and the amount of cheap points I won even against very good players where they mis read the spin or not spin from the pimples. It was alarming and filth.

So I switched to short pimples. Which is not quite as bad.

It did highlight however just how weak my return of serve and footwork was.

It also highlighted that over 80% of my opponents don't actually serve legally!!
 
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MOG said:
Videoing my games made me stop using long pimples, despite a significant improvement in results and wins against previous never beaten players. Really?

I was disgusted with my pimply blocks and the amount of cheap points I won even against very good players where they mis read the spin or not spin from the pimples. It was alarming and filth. Really?

So I switched to short pimples. Which is not quite as bad. Triple haha, now I KNOW you are pulling my leg. Dude, there are SO DAMN MANY Div 1 O40 or O50 lady players in Korea with inverted FH piledrivers (who POWER KILL SKULLDRUG your weak high pushes) and Short Pips BH who can take your spinny loop and chop or bump or slice return it as any damn spin they choose to mess you up and make you look sillier than Benny Hill... or even worse, just BH SP drive through your spin and say "Take a Seat Garcon"

You tell me what is more filthy.


It did highlight however just how weak my return of serve and footwork was. That is very well done, good job.

It also highlighted that over 80% of my opponents don't actually serve legally!! Quadruple bahahah !!! So true.

Please see my comments in bold under sentences in quote.
 
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On a somewhat related note, if I am playing against someone who seems nervous, how can I take advantage of that?

There's one guy I play a fair amount. Earlier in the year he seemed to get really nervous during casual matches with me and sometimes even seemed like he was hyperventilating. But still he managed to beat me more times than I beat him.

We have a huge tournament coming up soon and there's a chance I have to play him. I need to take advantage of everything I can!

Dude, etiquette, respect for humanity, and common decency demands that you hug him, and say "It's OK, I'm just here to smash balls in your face".
 
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Interesting that someone mentioned Bjorn Borg as the zen type.... if you watched that movie "Borg v McEnroe" you would know that as a teenager he was far from zen but his coach gave one piece of advice that I try to drill into my son which goes something like....

It's not a match, it's not a set, it's not a game it's just one point then another point"
 
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Apply pressure by not beating yourself.

Sadly this might have worked against me in my recent tournament. I made it to the final, only to have to play the same guy I mentioned in my previous post. He didn't seem nervous like he was earlier this year, and he made few mistakes. Late in the match, which was close, I was too afraid to make any mistakes, so I started serving weakly without much spin. He had been trailing in the match, but came back to win.
 
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Another under-rated thing is good sleep, eating, and good mineral/vitamin levels for the days before the tourner.

Those commercials where a dude gets seriously crazy being hungry too long are exaggerated, but pretty much true of how the ewffect of poor nutrition, vitamins, minerals, and hydration affect body and mind.
 
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Sadly this might have worked against me in my recent tournament. I made it to the final, only to have to play the same guy I mentioned in my previous post. He didn't seem nervous like he was earlier this year, and he made few mistakes. Late in the match, which was close, I was too afraid to make any mistakes, so I started serving weakly without much spin. He had been trailing in the match, but came back to win.

It's a narrow path and you can fall off either side. You dont want to get passive. But videos of several of your matches can often show you patterns you habitually fall in to that hurt you so you can avoid them.
 

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It's a narrow path and you can fall off either side. You dont want to get passive. But videos of several of your matches can often show you patterns you habitually fall in to that hurt you so you can avoid them.

The flip side of this is to have one or two things you know you are good at, relative to your overall level. Then at crunch time just do them and nothing else. That feeling you had was choking. You are winning, but you feel so much fear of losing that you are compelled to change what you did to get the lead in the first place. When you feel a choke coming on, you can just run your best play(s) over and over until you win the match, or the opponent makes you stop. And if he starts jumping your best play then any change probably gets you one free point from the surprise.

People tend to overestimate how quickly the opponent can adjust to something. If he is just misreading the spin then maybe so. But if a player is simply lacking a skill, they are not going to learn to do it during a match no matter how many times you go back to it. For example if I play someone who can't push short, and can't bh block a spinny loop after moving in to receive on their fh side, the match is over already and I won. By the same token if somebody has high quality long fast serves to my bh they could serve that all day and I'm dead.

In general to reduce nerves I think it's much better to take the positive approach of saying "This is my best thing and I am going to win with that." Baal's thought process of negative situations and how to avoid them is ideal for training, but not so much for comps, imo.
 
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I recently wrote about the method I developed over the years that has helped me to play better in tournaments.
The forum doesn't allow me to post links because I'm a new joiner but just google for "vincent oberle table tennis 3 steps" and you will find it (it's called "The 3+1 steps").

Maybe you find it useful. It has helped me a lot.
 
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