I need tips and advice about my mental game. Please help if you possible.

I would be interested in knowing whats is going through your head as you are losing those points or as you are winning? I was coaching somebody whose serve just kept going in the net. I asked them what was going through their head, and they told me they imagined it would go into the net. I told them to imagine it going over and in. From that point onwards, they didn't hit another serve into the net.

If you get worried once you are ahead that you will begin to lose points, perhaps this is MAKING you lose the points. Perhaps you could focus on HOW you WILL WIN the next point. Tell yourself you are going to do certain things that will help you win. Imagine the flight of the shuttle as it lands IN instead of just out. What this will do is get you into the habit of winning points at every available opportunity, as it sounds as if you are capable of doing so.

Another tactic you could try, is to split the game into smaller sets of points e.g. its first to 5 points, and then again, and then again etc until the whole game is completed. This way you will be regularly "even" in points at 0 - 0 for this small set of 5 points. For example, you start the game well and are leading 5 - 1. Now, imagine instead that it is 0 - 0 again and you must reach 5 first. Maybe this will help you, because it will lead you to play the way you play when under pressure, which seems to be how you play your best. Winning under pressure is an excellent skill to be good at, as long as you dont become "lazy" because you are a few points ahead and you begin to "ease off".

I hope some or all of this may be of help to you. The first one regarding tactics, is the one I use.

Matt

 

Good points above.

Also, since you're playing social games (it seems like), so perhaps you feel bad for beating them too soundly? Hence, you're tending to ease off when you're winning.

How long has it been since you've returned to badminton? Maybe more court time will improve this aspect.

 

people improve VERY quickly at the beginner level. Sometimes, a matter of 2-3 weeks of downtime will mean you're lagging behind your friends who have continued playing. Or they might be learning at a quicker level than you are. Or maybe they figured out your weaknesses and they're using it against you.

I wouldn't use initial points as a gauge for how well you're doing. When I play against players I can beat fairly easily, I keep the points close up to about 15, then run away at the end 21-16 or something. makes for fun games, lol.

 

I don't think that has really answered quacky's question urameatball... if you read the description it sounds as if quacky is the one who is ahead of his friends, and he has a mental problem, not his opponent playing on his weakness... hence the "mental game" title of this discussion. Do you have any tips related to what you said to match with the needs to the topic creator?

 

Recently, a friend of mine placed very well in a tournament and he felt on top of the world. The results motivated him to work EXTREMELY hard on his game so he can be even more dominant. He missed a couple of weeks of badminton because of work, and since then, he hasn't been able to keep up with the opponents he beat at the tournament. In fact, he's losing the vast majority of his games now. So yeah, he continued to improve very quickly, but his opponents improved even faster.
I just wanted to point out with what quacky posted, it may not be a mental game. It maybe a matter of changing skill levels and he should focus more on improving his skills rather than his thought processes. IMO, at the beginner level, games are decided by 5% mental, 75% skill, 20% luck

 

" I do noticed that as I get a few points ahead, my opponents lose their readiness most of the time. Their rackets hang more limp and their feet are closer together. It bothers me a bit, not sure in what way. I'll take notice of that more to evaluate my opponent's seriousness effects me. "

From your post above, it does seem like you need to decide how you want to play against your friends in your club: socially or competitively.

I'll understand if you don't like to pound mercilessly on someone weaker in social games (it's not nice ). But if you're wanting to play more competitively (as you seem to indicate in your OP), then you need to be merciless and cultivate a killer instinct.

When you see their rackets limp and legs tired, you'll need to put them out of their misery. It doesn't matter if the score is lopsided at 21-10.

 

i see what urameatball is getting at now. It sounds as if it is definitely mental quacky, but actually some thing that would help you mentally IS to train hard on your skills. If you trained hard - even if your skills are good - just the training hard and succeeding time after time, will help your mental game. You will be more confident in all of your shots. You will not just feel you won't miss your shots (that you expect not to miss) but you will KNOW you won't miss your shots. Thus, even though you are not improving your skills in quality which you say you are ok with, you are improving in terms of consistency! This may be beneficial for you, but perhaps the other things i suggested are worth trying as well?

I agree with Visor, there may be a slight tendency to not want to crush our friends... i suffer from this problem when i am winning. However, I am normally able to go back into competitive mode immediately when I need to.

Cobalt mentions it may be to do with your muscles... I would go so far as to agree but not for the need to build muscle but the need to train the muscle memory. Once your good low serve you have becomes "automatic" because of the training i mentioned just now, then it is less likely to break down.

In summary: I think you have a good base of mental ideas to go through. More practise is ALWAYS helpful, and would probably solve all the problems listed as potential physical causes by the others, but it would also help you mentally.

Your ideas about Visualization of WHERE the shuttle will go will be extremely helpful. If possible, also imagine what you LOOK like and how you FEEL when you do it correctly. Say to yourself: this shot WILL FEEL like this and it WILL GO over there in this trajectory and your body will attempt to recreate what you see in your mind. You can imagine yourself in the first OR the third person (i.e. through your own eyes OR from outside your body).

Let me know how it all goes

 

To me, that's a clear sign of lack of stamina, especially the smashes. I've seen quite a few beginners, or even intermediate players who don't play enough suffer from the same symptoms. Their lack of muscles in their forearms allows them to smash well in the beginning, but as the game(s) progresses, they're missing that last bit of wrist flick to bring the bird down and it ends up sailing WAAAAY long.
I suffered from it when I first started, and my friend who plays less than once a week does the exact same thing (it's very obvious).

Can't say the same thing would affect your serve though, cuz serves barely require any muscle strength. However, one can logically deduce that tired muscles MAY shorten your serve.

do 20 consecutive smashes in your room (no birdie required), repeat every few minutes until your forearm feels like its on fire. Do it whenever commercials come on when you're watching TV , I guarantee your smashes will become more consistent.

 

but it doesn't make sense that he would be tired, and start missing shots, and then, later in the game, suddenly start MAKING them again. If it were tiredness, he would get worse and worse. But thats not the case. they go flatter when winning, and then get better when losing/even score. That doesn't sound physical to me.

I would also say that a lack of angle in the smash is not, in my opinion, a symptom of lack of forearm muscle, but a lack of getting behind the shuttle. There is no "flick" to bring the shuttle downwards, only a contact further in front of the body which is a point during the swing at which the racket string are facing downwards. Slower movement means you didn't go back as far meaning you didn't get the contact IN FRONT of you meaning the smash becomes flat. Movement problems are probably a physical thing over a mental thing, although when winning it is conceivable that you may "let up" on your opponent and move with less urgency around the court.

The answer: train physically AND mentally.

 

quacky: the repetitions of smashes that urameatball suggests will not hurt you as long as you remain relaxed throughout the entire swing: i.e. you relax just before the forearm snap, practice the forearm snap that urameatball suggests will help your strength during which time you will also "tighten" your fingers (for finer power), and then immediately relax again afterwards, should protect your arms whilst practising the smashing technique.

As to the smash contact point, 6-8 inches in front seems like a reasonable contact point, whereas 3-4 inches is more like the contact point for an attacking clear or a drop shot (in my opinion). It is a difficult thing to judge without watching you play, but if you are reaching up high and the shuttle does not pass too high above the net, then the contact point is a good one. Reaching up high can be tricky, as there is a tendency to fully extend one or more of your joints. All joints must be slightly bent, in order to keep the arm and body relaxed and hence gain the correct level of power!

Regarding mental training, there are some things you can do to improve your confidence and your mood by associating a simple action with a time when you felt one of these emotions vividly. For example, if you can remember a day you were playing really well, or remember some event that ou were really proud of being a part of/ it gave you great confidence at that point - you could learn to associate these feelings with a simple physical trigger, such as banging the racket with your hand, or squeezing the grip. To do that simply perform the physical action, then think of the occasion that gave you confidence, now magnify that emotion, remember every bit, exaggerate every feeling, and then perform the physical action again. This will make you FEEL those things when you perform the physical action. This could be useful for regaining confidence after losing a tough game, or get you in the right mental state to play.

Regular making and reviewing of goals is also something that will help you mentally become strong, as you will be able to see and clearly judge your progress. This will give you confidence and assure you of your progress, which can sometimes be difficult when you hit a rough patch. The most important part of setting a goal is that it is specific e.g. use only 2 steps to reach forecourt and midcourt, it is measurable, it is realistic, it has a timeframe e.g. 1 month, and most importantly it is RECORDED (i.e. written down).

The last thing i will say for now is to be important of negative thoughts. Saying to yourself "don't hit the serve in the net" or "don't hit the serve short" is a bit like saying "don't think of a pink elephant". You can only NOT think of it, after you have created it in your mind. Thus wording such as "make the shuttle land past the service line" is much more effective than a negative thought.

Hope some of that is useful.

Matt

 

oops, double post