Let us talk about the mental / psychology aspect of the game.

says Making a beautiful shot is most important; winning is...
says Making a beautiful shot is most important; winning is...
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I believe there is no specific thread to discuss this subject matter. Let us begin. There are just too many thread asking about equipment, dime a dozen so to speak.

1. Last Thurs, 2024.11.21 I had a wonderful and marvelous game with an unconventional player. One side inverted, one side anti and he is a player who is better than I am. I was in the zone, so to speak. The match went all the way to the decider ( Fifth set ) but I lost 9-11 in the end. At one point, I was leading 9-6 but I could not convert. Anyway, it was a superb game, I was so focus and laser sharp during that match. The feeling is so wonderful and addictive. I was so sure I could defeat Ma Long if I wanted too.

2. Last Fri, 2024.11.22, that is the very next day, because I was so addicted to that feeling, I went back to my club to challenge all and sundry. To my quelle horreur! I lost to all and sundry! Even to players whom I have won easily previously and even to players that are at the lower rung of the list. What happenned? I am speechless! I am confused.

3. So my question is, why does a player can play like someone who can take on Ma Long one day and came crushing down like a house of cards one day.

4. Let us share our stories.
 
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says former JPEN, now CPEN
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emptying the mind is pretty crucial to me if i want to play at my best

i dont mean just doing whatever mindlessly but more like trusting your instincts and feeling to play the game for you

its a little too easy for me to start hesitating and play half-assedly if i kept thinking about mistakes ive made or whether or not my form and technique is good in the middle of a game

so just trust yourself and be daring to make mistakes, paradoxically if you think like that you perform much better

its also why i find that i play better when im trailing behind in sets like 2-0, i find that at that point im losing anyway so when i made mistakes i had a "whatever" attitude, and surprise surprise i play better than the last two sets and even score back a set for a comeback

thoughts about tactics and strategy should be reserved for intervals where you get ready for the next point or when its ur time to serve

relatively speaking, talking is easier than doing all of these though, occasionally i still get frustrated :ROFLMAO:
 
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I believe there is no specific thread to discuss this subject matter. Let us begin. There are just too many thread asking about equipment, dime a dozen so to speak.

1. Last Thurs, 2024.11.21 I had a wonderful and marvelous game with an unconventional player. One side inverted, one side anti and he is a player who is better than I am. I was in the zone, so to speak. The match went all the way to the decider ( Fifth set ) but I lost 9-11 in the end. At one point, I was leading 9-6 but I could not convert. Anyway, it was a superb game, I was so focus and laser sharp during that match. The feeling is so wonderful and addictive. I was so sure I could defeat Ma Long if I wanted too.

2. Last Fri, 2024.11.22, that is the very next day, because I was so addicted to that feeling, I went back to my club to challenge all and sundry. To my quelle horreur! I lost to all and sundry! Even to players whom I have won easily previously and even to players that are at the lower rung of the list. What happenned? I am speechless! I am confused.

3. So my question is, why does a player can play like someone who can take on Ma Long one day and came crushing down like a house of cards one day.

4. Let us share our stories.
you can have your ups, and same your opponent can have his downs
and next day you guys alternate

look at harimoto, he was in superb form one day where TB won't call him 2800 and the next day TB is back calling him 1800.

there is as technical part and a mental part and for some professional players, mental is a huge problem.

on the technical part, it could also be related to injuries or discomfort, or fatigue.

in the OB space, luck also has a lot to do with it.
some shots goes in, some shots not, its half luck and half skill
 
says Forehand kaboomers
says Forehand kaboomers
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I believe there is no specific thread to discuss this subject matter. Let us begin. There are just too many thread asking about equipment, dime a dozen so to speak.

1. Last Thurs, 2024.11.21 I had a wonderful and marvelous game with an unconventional player. One side inverted, one side anti and he is a player who is better than I am. I was in the zone, so to speak. The match went all the way to the decider ( Fifth set ) but I lost 9-11 in the end. At one point, I was leading 9-6 but I could not convert. Anyway, it was a superb game, I was so focus and laser sharp during that match. The feeling is so wonderful and addictive. I was so sure I could defeat Ma Long if I wanted too.

2. Last Fri, 2024.11.22, that is the very next day, because I was so addicted to that feeling, I went back to my club to challenge all and sundry. To my quelle horreur! I lost to all and sundry! Even to players whom I have won easily previously and even to players that are at the lower rung of the list. What happenned? I am speechless! I am confused.

3. So my question is, why does a player can play like someone who can take on Ma Long one day and came crushing down like a house of cards one day.

4. Let us share our stories.
In my opinion, I think it's that you're burned out. Also, you didn't specify enough.

If you really really want to regain that feeling you may be too focused on it, making you play worse. It's something like that you shouldn't chase success, do what you love and success will follow.

Of course take my opinion with a grain of salt, I'm at a way lower level than you.
 
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In my opinion, focus is useless if you don't know what the h*ll is going on in the match you are currently playing. Okay maybe I was a bit harsh, it's not completely useless. Its better then not keeping any sort of focus.

I often hear people talk about focus as if it makes them play better. If they play good, they kept their focus. If they play bad, its because they couldn't keep focussed. But what the heck does it mean to keep focussed?! Just keeping focus alone, isn't enough. At some point in the match, you need to know what to focus on.

You have to ask yourself 2 questions during a match:
1: What points am I winning?
2: What points am I losing/is my opponent winning?

And it doesnt have to be complicated at all. It can be as simple as "The points I get the first attack I usually win" or "The points that my opponent attacks first, I usually lose. Then you could ask yourself "How can I get the first attack more often?" "How can I prevent my opponent from attacking first?"
"Hey I got the first attack but didn't win the point this time, why is that?" Maybe because I attacked right into his backhand and he is ready to block there and pressure me back." "Next time I should maybe play into his middle, or wide forehand."

If its 9-9 in the decider and you still dont know what to do on your own serve, or what to expect on your opponents serve, you might as well let a coin toss decide the match for you.

Confidence is another important mental aspect. Even if you know what to do, you need the confidence to execute your winning strategy. The greatest example that everybody here has probably seen in Wang Chuqin. He has a very demanding style of play that requires him to get that forehand kill shot in to finish the point early. Because the longer the rally, the less likely it is to be Wangs point.

But recently he hasn't had the confidence to play his own game like we know it. He was hesitant to attack in the relentless way he usually wins his points. Hesitant to step around the backhand corner and go for a winner, or to go for a proper backhand flip on the opponents serve.

Well yesterday we saw a very confident Wang Chuqing in the final that was not hesitant at all to finish the points early. The result speaks for itself.
 

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I doubt your change from Thursday to Friday was anything related to mental aspect. Most likely you didn't sleep well, or busy day at work, ate too heavy lunch, legs more tired, some prosaic shit of that nature.

Of course when you don't feel as good it does affect your mindset after a while. Once you started thinking, WTH?! Why I play so shit today? that line of thinking doesn't make you more successful. Not saying mental has nothing to do with it, only that your mental is like 90% how your body feels, even though you don't know it.

Is funny, like even we players forget that ping-pong is a real sport. There is your training, experience, skills you bring everyday to the table. Of course that level matters a lot. But then how our performance fluctuates around our level is so much determined by day-to-day physical state. Like every other sport in the world. Same same.
 
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I don't know but it might be related with self(peer)-pressure,
I've been facing with similar issue when I praised or said you'll win against this guy or I say myself that I will win this match, I need to win etc.
Then boom, stress level increases then I become worse.

But if I accept defeat, or go mentality with it will be fun experience whether I lose or win, then I play better.

or same happens If I miss couple ball in the warm up or match, I feel I will lose next shots also, then my wrist, foot etc locks and I miss the follow up shots.

I guess I need to only concentrate my play rather than result. We may say it's all about anxiety.
 
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says Pimples Schmimples
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and he is a player who is better than I am.
Play well V a player you believe is better than you = feeling good about your game, even if you lose.
It's a lack of killer instinct, lack of winning mentality because you console yourself as the plucky loser. Its common and I suffer it at times too.
2. To my quelle horreur! I lost to all and sundry! Even to players whom I have won easily previously and even to players that are at the lower rung of the list.
Because now you are expecting to win rather than lose, so anything other than victory will feel bad.
And playing poorly V similarly ranked players will feel bad. All expectations.
3. So my question is, why does a player can play like someone who can take on Ma Long one day and came crushing down like a house of cards one day.
Expectations and pressure.
Removing them means your playing just for the fun, as it was V inverted pipsy.
But going in and pressuring yourself because you expect to play as well as a prior level reached is a recipe for failure.
4. Let us share our stories
I tend to (try to anyway) warm up and see how I'm feeling before getting any ideas for how the evening will go.
A few wks ago I played a tournament with 80% of players were better than me, I had zero expectations. And I played so freely that I performed very well.
Against the eventual winner I was 8-3 up in the decider and lost it. Because when I won the point that made it 8-3 instead of 7-4, I started to think about winning 😔
When a superior player is beating me I tend to think don't lose the lesson, loosen up and have a go.
When someone I'm better than is beating me I tend to blame myself and get annoyed which makes things worse! 😂
Human nature eh.
 
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I always said its 50% a mental game. More so now when the sets go to 11 than when they went to 21.
I am usually in on mode during training, then when it changes to match (at the end of the training) I am usually spent and don't concentrate. I loose a lot of (short) matches I shouldn't. Last night I was exceptionally alert and not at all spent when the match phase started. Behold... I didn't loose a single match...

Yes its (at least) a 50% mental game, If Your head is not there You will most likely loose....
Also the first few point are extremely important. If You are 3 points up You can relax (a little bit) and then Your next point is much much closer.

Cheers
L-zr
 
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Most recent tournament where I really enjoyed and played well... I didn't know my opponent's ratings :) No expectations, just that we were matched in a group because we're supposed to be fairly even.

...so I guess the best for me is thinking that I'm equal to my opponent. I have to play well to get the edge on them, but there's a little room for error so I don't have to be extremely strict either.
 
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So, now we have heard the why(s), let us move to the how(s) to prevent it stories, shall we....
Yes, to me the answer is training. And applying your training in matches.
Exactly by training. But what do we train?

You need to know your strengths and how you generally win points in match play, and train different ways of converting rallies into your strengths a.k.a. score more points.

I will take myself as an example here.
Whenever I get my forehand in the rally uncontested, its my point 95% of the time. So I work on different ways of creating that situation. Most of these situations will be from my own serve.

My best serve is the pendulum. Most opponents have trouble reading the exact spin on it and put the pressure on me. So I can get the first forehand in uncontested.

But this won’t work against all opponents. As of late I have been playing against better opponents that will punish me for stepping around too much. Their receives are less obvious and harder to anticipate, which gives me less time to get a proper forehand in.

So currently I am working on different ways to build up to my forehand in the rally, rather then forcing it in.
 
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So, now we have heard the why(s), let us move to the how(s) to prevent it stories, shall we....
EZ.

1- Train more! 💪

2- More match practice/experience (Classic 'exposure' approach for psychology)

3- Don't think of result of matches, don't pressure yourself, don't let anyone (I must win, If I lose.., I need to ..., my rating.., my team... ❌)

4- Focus on the point you are playing, not before, not the next (I should've hit that one, if I can't get 2 points, I'll lose ❌)

5- Make a strategy, stick to the plan (I'll serve this, than that happen, than will do this ✅)

Of course, easier said than done :)
 
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EZ.

1- Train more!

2- More match practice/experience (Classic 'exposure' approach for psychology)

3- Don't think of result of matches, don't pressure yourself, don't let anyone (I must win, If I lose.., I need to ..., my rating.., my team mates... ❌)

4- Focus on the point you are playing, not before, not the next (I should've hit that one, if I can't get 2 points, I'll lose ❌)

5- Make a strategy, stick to the plan (I'll serve this, than that happen, than will do this ✅)
3) I agree, but... Not an EZ thing to do....

Cheers
L-zr
 
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Of course I'm joking (like instagram TT influencers),
I also %100 agree it's not easy, even the hardest is that one.

Generally, I try not to talk before 5 minutes, go for a small walk outside, breathe etc. But still it happens.
For me, it is: "DO NOT RUSH YOUR SERVES" take Your time between balls.

You can easily see that when my head is "off", I rush it...

Cheers
L-zr
 
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says Forehand kaboomers
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So, now we have heard the why(s), let us move to the how(s) to prevent it stories, shall we....
Simple as expectation! Just don't expect to play legendary games all the time, and the legendary games will come by itself. Like I said,
It's something like that you shouldn't chase success, do what you love and success will follow.

Of course take my opinion with a grain of salt, I'm at a way lower level than you.
 
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