When you are not playing well....

C

Cheung

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Staff member
Hi TL,

seems you are quite busy with other things. I'd like to recount an experience I had this week.

I played a singles match in a local tournament. In fact, it was the finals itself. After the first few points, I realise my 'feel' was not so good - poor bounce, relatively slow changing of different grips, a few shots going out, not being able to play tumble netshots.

I also felt my arm was not fully relaxed.

My strategy in this case was to play mainly high clears and extend the rallies - drop shots were pretty awful as well - to try and play my way into the match. But as time went on, I still couldn't get the relaxed feeling in my arm or body. Luckily I can still reach most of the opponents shots so the rallies ended up being very long and boring. Even the umpire was yawning at one stage :crying: The only thing that I felt was working well was my defence on smashes (very hard for the opponent to kill the shuttle).

In the end I lost the match in the 3rd set after an hour and a half on court. I was so exhausted, I couldn't reach the shuttle!

So my question is,

when you yourself do not feel totally relaxed during the game, what strategies/techniques do you do to help yourself and your game?
 
Isn't it connected either way? If I am not mentally relaxed, the physical symptoms would arise and reflect the mental part. Can't really think of any moments other than improper/insufficient warmups when I find myself mentally relaxed but not able to execute finesse shots.

cooler said:
when you yourself do not feel totally relaxed
mentally or physically or both:confused:
Click to expand...
 
cappy75 said:
Isn't it connected either way? If I am not mentally relaxed, the physical symptoms would arise and reflect the mental part. Can't really think of any moments other than improper/insufficient warmups when I find myself mentally relaxed but not able to execute finesse shots.
Click to expand...
yes, they are connected but a good physican look for the original source ;)
 
cooler said:
when you yourself do not feel totally relaxed
mentally or physically or both:confused:
Click to expand...
Mentally quite OK, looking forward to the match. Had a decent warmup and knock around beforehand.

After getting on court, just didn't feel comfortable with the control shots.
 
Cheung said:
Mentally quite OK, looking forward to the match. Had a decent warmup and knock around beforehand.

After getting on court, just didn't feel comfortable with the control shots.
Click to expand...

Basically, I think its a physical problem...
I think the answer is you are not fully warmed up.... I had a ex-state player
friend who told me that sometimes you have to smash it out to warm up.
I have a another friend who told me to take drops and lobs in repetition
to fully stretch your legs...
but if its a mental problem, I think you have to block it out... try to mentally visualize just the 2 of you playing the game and block everything else out.
 
However, surely Cheung would have detected it already if it's physical:D. Perhaps a slight case of the nerves:(. There's always additional pressure and expectation in finals. Playing 'safe' shots too much would actually be detrimental cuz drop shots are not worked in, so one would feel even less inclined to use drop shots.

JasonMichael may have a point... perhaps a more intense and longer warmup is needed to work out the kinks before the match.

cooler said:
yes, they are connected but a good physican look for the original source ;)
Click to expand...
 
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Played a half game of singles earlier as a warm up before my s/final match (2 set match), then less than two hours later, had the finals.

So I already played the equivalent of 2 and half sets already. How much more warmup time do you think a player would need?
 
from my analysis, i think cheung might had hit the glucose wall. Somehow for some reason the glucose level had drop at the wrong time. Too high of insulin or low glycogen reserve after warmup.

cappy, physicans can too have many things on their mind and often may not be analytical about themself like for their patients. It's not related to lack of knowledge. Ex race drivers can have auto accidents too, super chef can over cook or undercook their own food too, doctors can get sick too.
 
What did you eat/drink/do in the time in between the s/f and final? Do you think this could have affected you? If you just didnt feel good it may be something to do with the timing of your meals and whether your body was releasing energy at the right time.

I have often felt good in previous games, then had rest of about 1hour, then have felt totally different physically. Not tired, just feel lack of energywithin my self, this then affect my mental state. Usually I can eventually get the feeling right during the game, but not always.
 
Food? It was lunchtime.

Fast noodles with some pork. Translated I think it's called '5 spice meat' - didn't realise it was going to be so spicy. :eek: Also, some chips, just half a small plate becuase I didn't want to get too full for the final match.

Lemon tea (tall cup) which had two spoons of sugar. Drank extra fluid as well.

My fluid balance seemd OK, as judged by the colour test of kdney waste products just before the match. Also drank about half a cup of water 5 mins before the match started.

Had my electrolyte drink handy throughout the match.

Going back to the food, I deliberately kept it light because of the impending match. Though this does not discount either Cooler's or James' suggestions.
 
Sorry to deviate from what to do if you are not feeling good in a game to this but you saythat in less than two hours before the match you have noodles with pork and some chips? sounds like a lot to me.Usually throughout the the day if I am playing intermitently then I usually only eat light fruits/vegetables (Usually Tomatoes/ Carrot/ Apple/grapes/orange/Bannana) and some water or diluted fruit juice (so its not too sugary). I am sure this isnt that good either, but it helps to keep my stomach feel light, so helps me mentally, whether or not it does physically I dont know.
 
Sure, I agree it is a balance.

Let's see, the noodles were in one bowl with some soup. I didn't drink much of the soup at all. The amount of pork in there was less than a hamburger. All in all, it's much less than the usual portion you might find in London;)

Chips - less than that found in a small portion of french fries from McDs.

I had to conciously stop myself from eating more as the food just satisfied my hunger. Deliberately didn't want to feel heavy during the match. No problems with actually feeling heavy from food during the match.

BTW, although I didn't have good 'feel' during the game, I still managed to stretch the match out 1.5 hours, play rallies, have good defense and hit the shuttle hard on the smashes.

My opponent and I know each other really well. His comments afterwards were:
1) very difficult for him to kill the shuttle (more than normal)
2) he wasn't sure of best tactics against me
3) he was hoping I'd take more initiative (he is defensive style and likes to soak up hard attacks)

All in all, my performance was pretty good considering my forecourt shots were played with larger margins of error.

But I wonder if there is some way of gaining the relaxed feeling within the match so as to play the delicate, control shots better...?
 
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