I usually do the same thing in training matches - to the point where there are multiple people who repeatedly keep saying things like "if you play a little less risky you wouldn't lose so many points".
Yeah, i know that situation with these older guys that really think that it is the most important to win pointless training matches
On the other hand i can understand it, because these people have their "technique" that will never change so all they do in training matches is try tactics and strategies to win the match instead of improving strokes. each to their own.
I guess it is hard for people from the "outside" to judge what is a shot that is reasonable to take or attempt in a training match.
There are guys that try shots in training matches that i do know they could not even do 3 times out of 10 if they did tried it in a regular drill, so what's the point in trying something that has an incredibly low rate of success in a scenario where you are in need to react quickly ?
This one guy will push my first backspin serve into the net and instead of adjusting his push his next attempt is always to smash as hard as possible. Of course the next backspin serve will end up in the net. I guess that's the bliss of youth simply not giving a f*ck or simply not having the cognitive ability or maturity to decide what stroke to do. Proper stroke selection is what i think is the thing that will improve only by gathering experience and can not be drilled that well if you are a beginner with bad habits.
But it has brought me from having zero FH confidence and reliability to me liking my FH more than my BH now. And yes, I'm doing more BH attacks in training matches to get that up, too.
Same here, i force myself to use the right strokes even if they have less success rate, because if you dont hit them in training, you'll never trust it in game.
Sometimes I do have to take care to not get stuck in high attack mode and tune things down to a more reasonable level for real matches.
Especially in the off season where you probably only have training matches you might get into that attacking mood as default mode which could carry on over into the league which i am aware off and trying to remind myself that i shall not go gung ho in the league.
I was just debating with myself if i should just start the first set in league matches by playing for safety and checking out if the opponent is willing to lose the set, instead of me forcing a win.
I think I need to change up the intensity in training a bit more, too, so I have an easier time switching modes and adjusting to the opponent.
If i review my training matches i often see that i totally mix up all serves just for the sake of it instead of calmly observing where the opponent is standing and choosing the appropriate serve. That is what many old guys do quite well. It's quite often that i find them targeting the elbow with serves.
