when i play against players who are better than me, I play better than my usual self. when i play against players who are not as good as me, I don't play as good. is that normal?
So basically you're saying the better players are more worthy of your effort and attention? Time to work on your sportsmanship.
It is perfectly natural. Reflexes, speed, awareness are all heightened if you go from frolicking with kittens to fighting against lions.
I don't think it's a question about sportmanship, its just a natural behaviour. If you're not challenged you tend to relax more.
i also feel like playing much better when losing to a better opponent i try to work on it when i play weaker opponent - i tell myself to concentrate for every point and do not give the opponent more than 15 or even 10 points but sometimes i just suck tho its an interesting matter, i guess its mostly a mental thing BUT ALSO better opponents give you more chance to play very good while worse opponent may just not be possible to push you to your limit and when there is a rare situation of when you need your best you just are not "ready" or "heated up" enough to react or play great
It's not a sportsmanship issue. Rather let me rephrase. How is it a sportsmanship issue? It's not like he's waving his racquet around and trollololololololing weaker opponents. He's simply not being pushed. Think this: you teaching your girlfriend/wife how to play. You're not exerting yourself, does that mean you have bad sportsmanship?
The OP wasn't teaching anyone. He stated he doesn't play as "good". Maybe it's just me, because I certainly have friends who are better than me, and those who are not as good. When I play the former, I just play. When I play the latter, I work on my weaknesses, and it usually ends up being beneficial to both parties. They get to play or work on their game, and I get to work on my weakness in a game situation and trying to implement the stuff I've learned in clinics / lessons / practice in a game scenario. Does that mean I'm not playing as "good"? Sure, but I'm still trying to play to the best of my abilities given the constraints I set for myself.
I find I feel a little guilty if I 'punish' a weaker player - but the games I play are social not league or anything serious. On saying that if they annoy me I go for the kill....
I'd agree that if you're treating games with weaker players as practice sessions it's a little unsporting but at the same time everybody plays differently when they play weaker players. For example, if you were a high intermediate level player and you were playing beginners who could barely clear to the back court, would you go full out on attacking them as you would against players of the same standard or would you instead try to win by a more diplomatic way?
Yo bro, if I go all out against much weaker players, the game will be over in a zip. What will this achieve? A boost in ego maybe. In my case I will just rally and practice my placing and wait for the opponent to make mistakes. He gets a workout and so do I, a win-win situation.
This is an interesting situation. A lot of people have jumped to the defense of "helpless beginners" who should be given a bit of a game instead of being wiped off the court. Absolutely agree. Now then... what about when you are talking about advanced league players vs intermediate league players... What changes? It is now in nobodies interest for anybody to take it easy. We are all trying to improve! The less experienced players will play to their best - the are going to try and learn to play at a speed they are not comfortable with, and try to generate tactics to overcome a pair superior skill. The more skillful players should ALSO play to their best - they will be looking to keep their attacking intensity high for the entire game, learning to unsettle their opponents as much as possible by using changes of speed and angle in their attack. If this leads to a very short game, so be it. The lesser league players are there actually to learn what it is like to play against a better class of opponent. They will know immediately what they need to work at - was it their attack not efficient enough, their fitness, their defence, their sheer speed etc etc. The more experienced pair will be developing a ruthless streak that is useful in their matches, practicing their attack - effectively trying to cover up their weaknesses, rather than specifically looking to improve them (which in itself is a good thing). Was the above an example of bad sportsmanship? Would it have been better for the advanced players to ease off? I think not. Thus, if your opponents are competent, then do not ease off. Play to your full. However, if they are helpless, help them, support them, make sure everybody gets a good game, and then avoid playing with them again - you are not learning, and your skills will decrease - these opponents are too far off the pace for you to get any meaningful practice. I wonder what everybody else will think of these comments?...