What's your plan B?

[Matt Hetherington]

Everyone knows that players have highs and lows in their tt careers, sometimes the lows can be quite severe and damanging. What do you all do when you hit a dip in your game? Do you carry on as normal, keep training? Take a short or long break? Change your training routine? Observe your game more?

What is it that each of you do to build back up towards peaking again?

Image from China Digital Times

 

[Matt Hetherington]

I'm currently in a major dip in my game atm and have lost my touch for the ball. I plan to take a short break from training and table tennis, clear my head and come back and start reinforcing basic technical and footwork stuff, always starting from the ground up again. So will most likely start with multiball training and come to a strong focus on tactical play as I move back into the rhythm of playing again

 

[Bollforte94]

I have rarely up and downs. If I have a dip (especially topspin against backspin) I just focus on this stroke, do it again and again and again. It would never come to my mind to stop training. I can only train 2times per week ....

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Ah well I train and play 6/7 days of the week so after a while a break is fairly necessary I feel

 

[TT Guru]

Hi PingPongPom.
Seems to me your troubles may be related to the playing conditions and atmosphere at your training facility.
Perhaps you would benefit from moving to another training squad, with a more professional surrounding. Is there someplace you would find better training?
This once helped me greatly, when having trouble in an inadequate association, I had to move across the country to escape the inadequacy there.
So, from one ttdaily member to another ttdaily member, I hope you find your way to a better place.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Inadequate association? Thanks that's really helpful considering that I RUN MY ASSOCIATION. This has nothing to do with my training facility Matt, if it did I would be on a constant dip.

 

[YosuaYosan]

Hi PingPongPom.
Seems to me your troubles may be related to the playing conditions and atmosphere at your training facility.
Perhaps you would benefit from moving to another training squad, with a more professional surrounding. Is there someplace you would find better training?
This once helped me greatly, when having trouble in an inadequate association, I had to move across the country to escape the inadequacy there.
So, from one ttdaily member to another ttdaily member, I hope you find your way to a better place.

Man thats harsh.. Matt runs his own association..

Im even more limited here training alone without robots.. I just have a wall as my training partner yet I improve fast..
Hope I could get a robot soon..

 

[WiWa]

I'm on a 8 months break at the moment haha, wonder what I will be like when I get back to playing.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Don't worry Yosua he's just trying to be witty, if I was in the mood I might see the funny side of it but unfortunately at the moment I'm not. There was a player here that had noone to train with, he taught his mother how to feed him multiball and actually became quite a competent table tennis player from it. The trick is to do the best you can with what you have until a time where you can grasp some bigger opportunities

 

[azlan]

A dip in form is nothing new, and as all sportsmen, I suffered as well at one time or another. Usually, it's a cause of burn out or failure to motivate myself. And usually the first thing to go will be the confidence, and followed by footwork...and it's down hill from there.
I will take a short break, concentrate on my tennis for a while until the hunger comes back. And normally it comes after 2-4 weeks break. And when I come back, I would start with basic stroke, then multi balls for a week or so...and the rest will come back by itself.

 

[snotvod]

To avoid this from happening, every year I completely stop during the months may and june, no training, no tournaments, no friendlies,... nothing. Then from mid july I start building up again to start in the beginning of september with competition.
Fun part is always that after 2 months of non-playing, I really need to pick up again. Then training shows progress again and this give me a positive vibe....
That's my trick

And this year I'm going also for a new setup... so this is also quite promising.

 

[Rhydian]

Well, I stopped playing for this whole season.. I didn't play championship, I just practised a little bit..
I stopped because I didn't get better and the coach didn't want me as a sparing partner in his training squad because I was TOO OLD!! (The reason why I wanted to play there is because the training conditions and partners are more serious than at our club..)
It enerved me and I went off.
Now as I started playing, my backhand got a lot better and I start going up again.
He still doesn't want me there... I'm thinking about asking the federation by myself or search for another coach (but it's rather difficult...)

 

[Anders]

usually when im feeling down about my game, i talk with my coach about it. He tells me to keep on practicing, and to fin my own way to recover since this is different from player to player. This time, I changed my style and my bat to defensive just to try something new and to make my game more allround. I am switching back to my regular setup when I feel im ready... Maybe this is the day