Tips on analysing between points

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I have a bad habit of thinking too much about technique between points or generally just being angry or happy with whatever just happened, and not analysing in a way that will help me going forward. I want to improve on this but there's so many things happening in a match that one could possibly keep track of, I find it hard to know where to start and what to prioritise.
Do people have opinions on the best way to approach doing this? Or do people have any sort of systems or checklists they use (e.g., always note the serve and what won/lost the point)
I know you probably get better with experience, coaching, and that recording play and watching afterwards is insightful, but some of these are limited at the moment so I would love to hear any advice on analysis during play
 
I have a bad habit of thinking too much about technique between points or generally just being angry or happy with whatever just happened, and not analysing in a way that will help me going forward. I want to improve on this but there's so many things happening in a match that one could possibly keep track of, I find it hard to know where to start and what to prioritise.
Do people have opinions on the best way to approach doing this? Or do people have any sort of systems or checklists they use (e.g., always note the serve and what won/lost the point)
I know you probably get better with experience, coaching, and that recording play and watching afterwards is insightful, but some of these are limited at the moment so I would love to hear any advice on analysis during play

The main thing that helped me was to try to stay calm however you are playing!!! Try to keep your emotions in check!! Don't think to far ahead, take one point at a time, hopefully you have a good idea on what tactics you are going play !!! One thing that helped me so much,is even if your topspin are not going on, don't start pushing,try to relax,you know you can do the shot, believe in yourself,you may lose some games in the short term,but you will soon advance your game if you just train hard and relax as much as possible during matchplay!!!! Go through your match later and look at what went well!!! What can you improve on for your next match !! Remember the main thing here is to enjoy your table tennis don't take things to seriously 😉

 
Normally You tense during a match. I try to not give a damn about the result since I only play for fun. On top of this I try to remember to relax.
What pisses me off more than anything else is if I play a bad game regardless if I win or not.

Cheers
L-zr
 

Brs

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Brs

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You already know your own game pretty well, what you can and can't do. So thinking about your own performance or technique isn't going to help much in a match. Think about the other guy.

There are some basic obvious attributes of his game you should try to spot early, like in warm-up. Does he have a dominant side? What style and equipment? grip, crossover point, how well does he move, does he try to kill balls or rally or defend. where does he stand. These can all tell you something about what your opponent likes and thinks he is good at.

In the first game you can get an idea of what serves he uses and how much trouble they give you. If you lose a few points to the same serve you better figure out a way to receive it on the table that gets you into a rally with a chance. Same with your serves, how well does he receive short and long, half-long if you have that, sidespin both sides, no spin.

Maybe that sounds like a lot but it's really only noticing if your opponent is especially strong or weak at anything. You probably already do that without effort but maybe don't apply the information to any tactics.

Then between points you can think about patterns. Let's face it, none of us on the forum are that good and most points are short, three or four shots. So there aren't a ton of different patterns happening. Who had control of the point off serve and receive? What did they do with it when they had control? Basic patterns are like short to fh long to bh. Wide fh wide bh. elbow then either side. short and long short and long if you are playing a defender. Which patterns do you win and lose? How do you get into your winning patterns off serve and receive? If you are consistently in a bad position after the serve-receive you will lose no matter what technique you have, so you don't need to think beyond fixing that. If you are okay after receive but losing in rallies then try to change the patterns.

That's basically it. I know it seems like so many things are happening in a match as you said. But really only four things are happening. People are serving and receiving then playing forehands and backhands. That's all there is to table tennis.
 
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During the game I try to not think much. There is one thing though. I try to move after each ball (starting from serve, especially after serve), so that I can be better positioned, or have more time, for the incoming ball from opponent. And I also check it, after each point, did I move or not? And then next point starts. And so forth.

What Brs described (the strategies, patterns), is like a one level up. At my level, I focus on movement. I mean I sometimes partially do notice that I intentionally give this or that ball, but it's like a bonus now. For now, the movement is the focus.

A minor point about thinking. I noticed, that whenever a conscious thought occurs, especially on those light balls, where the opponent doesn't return the serve optimally, or gives very light ball, and I think OK now I'll finish it, that I very often make a mistake. Hence, I prefer not to have such thoughts. But it is easier said than done. Cheers.
 
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As I am having a "defensive mind set" and should really be more proactive and attacking, I try to
breath deeply and in my mind repeat the mantra : "KILL - KILL - KILL " 😁

"defensive mind set" and "KILL - KILL - KILL" sounds to me like a completely total harmonia :)
 
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It is difficult. It's often a mental battle.

In China there's a proverbs people keep in mind while playing table tennis. It goes like something along the line of "Don't give up when you are losing, don't be complacent when leading"

Let's say you are 1-7 in a game, mentally try to remind yourself the score is in fact 1-2. The game just started, keep trying different tactics.
Let's say you are leading 7-1, mentally try to remind yourself the score is 2-1. Keep on killing and destroy the opponent.
Let's say if your opponent caught up to 7-7 from 7-1, call a timeout and remind yourself the score is 0-0, the game just started.

There are many many tactics out there to help regulate your inner self.
 
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