It has been talked a lot about getting over calmness & nervousness etc in competitions but I am talking to those players who go onto this forum who consistently play their best or atleast very well during competitions. If you can tell the rest of us, what you think b4, during & after the match, exactly, any particular phrases. Any behaviours you do b4, during or after and so on. If any1 can play consistently well in comps, please tell us what u tell urself, what u think etc. It would be a great help. Thanks, Philip (P.S. This is 1 thing i am trying to work out myself, trying different things so just trying to speed this process up )
i listen to rock music, or similar. gets your blood flowing and into the "right" frame of mind haha of course, this makes me play good, but doesn't mean i do very good
A big part of it is being able to keep yourself in the present. This way your entire attention is on what you're doing. Some players play very skillfuly in practice, but can't deliver the same level of play in competition. For them, their weakness is not their absolute ability of play. Instead, it is their ability to deliver their best quality of play on demand, especially under pressured situations. Some other players will discover a weakness during competition play, then file that fact away as something they need to work on during their next practice. These players need to learn to put more pressure on themselves to adjust things as they occur. So, when you play, you have to forget what about what you've done in the past, stop thinking about what you're going to do in the future, and stay in the moment.
that's a really good point. i think i'm more of the former type. i play very good in normal games, but at the big tournaments, i usually play under par. though this year, there have been some tournament's where i've played very well and beaten people i thought i didn't have a chance against. but when i play others, i choke. i think a lot of it has to do with being confident about your own capabilities. because the people i did beat, i'd never ever heard of them even though they were fairly good players, so to me, they were just another opponent. but against fellow team mates from the same province, or players who are in the same region as me, i tend to do a lot worse. it's probably because i know them, and know who "should" beat me. and i lose the will to win because i know "on paper" they're better than me. but if i played good, i'd probably give any of them a run for their money. but then again, it's easy to say " just be confident about yourself." how you do that is actually a different thing. as people say, "what you say, and what you do, can be completely different things."
Focus... I'm thinking that you set yourself goals and work towards them (of course you do...). What type of goals do you set (yourself) for a match? There are several types/classifications of goals: 1- PROCESS Goals (e.g : game/match plan, focusing on execution) 2- PERFORMANCE Goals (e.g : "getting to 21pts FIRST everytime") 3- OUTCOME Goals (e.g : results, i.e winning) When you play well in 'normal games', it has a lot to do with the fact that you're focusing on executing the basics well (PROCESS Goals). In 'Big Tournaments', great emphasis is placed on results (OUTCOME Goals). While this is inevitable, it would be more effective to focus on PROCESS Goals while on Court. You see, satisfying PROCESS Goals facilitates the attainment of PERFORMANCE & (ultimately) OUTCOME Goals. In simple terms; 1- Concentrate on hitting your shots well, and you WILL make them. 2- Making your shots earns you points. Do this better than your opponent, and you'll get to 21 first. 3- Get to 21 first twice and you'd have won the match. The relationship is a (simple) progressive one whereby 1 leads to 2 and subsequently 3... Confidence stems from knowing you can do it... Keep believing and you'll benefit. You have this wired already... Just focus on playing and making the shots you can and things'll fall into place. Believe and you will achieve...
Here's an interesting look at tournament preparation. Don't forget to take notes Brown Peril Wayne Young
It was so amusing, I just had to share it. Besides, I've often wondered if we couldn't make more use of trampolines in training Wayne Young
LMAO But seriously, I know of some guys who had the benefit of using a trampoline when they were kids... Dunno if there's a connection, but they're all nicknamed 'Flyer' (think: PG earlier in his career)... My son seems to be taking to badminton. I'm gonna spring for a (small) trampoline.....
Actually, I know of an excellent speed/speed-endurance exercise that can be done on a mini-trampoline. http://inno-sport.net/Speed-Endurance/Video/RFI Trampoline Squat Sprints.avi
Now I think I'm gonna get 2 mini-trampolines... 1 for my kids, the other for ME... Good idea, working on Speed/Speed-Endurance, Stability, Mobility & (to some extent) Power... Gonna apply this to my regime... Thanks a million, stumblingfeet!!!
Hey... Don't sell yourselves short. It IS an accomplishment... Now for the next step... Congratulations...
