Coach Samson Dubina US National Team Coach 4x USATT Coach of the Year
 

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Mental Strategies - Part 20

Four Steps to Tournament Success!

 
Before the start of each point, you should encourage yourself with 1-2 things such as…
“After my serve, I need to keep attacking first and rally mainly to his backhand or middle.”
“I need to keep my feet moving and stay close.”
“I need to move into position and loop his long serve, if he serves short, then I need to be ready to receive to his backhand.”
 
After the point, you should step away from the table, and give yourself a quick recap of what just happened, such as…
“I stroked up too high on that no-spin serve.  If he serves that again, I need to start slightly higher and spin forward more on the next no-spin serve.”
“That was good that I stayed close, I need to remember to place the ball more to his middle instead of his power zones.”
“I made a good choice in blocking that loop, BUT it had more topspin than I thought.  If he gives me that loop again, then I’ll need to get in better position with my feet, block slightly early, and use my upper body to press down slightly at contact”
 
Your order of thought should look like this…
Pre-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Point
Post-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Relax (2-10 seconds)
Pre-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Point
Post-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Relax (2-10 seconds)
Pre-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Point
Post-point reminders (2-10 seconds)
Relax (2-10 seconds)
And it goes on and on throughout the game.  If you are winning, then don’t be too critical on the pre-point or post-point analysis.  If you are losing, then be somewhat critical in the post-point and be willing to make changes.  In the pre-point, you should always stay very very positive.
 
Also, take your time between points and try to think as much as possible.  Think about other sports…  In golf, a pro will often take several minutes to analysis and get his mind right.  In baseball, the player will step out of the batter’s box and re-focus.  In football, the team often takes much time to strategize and form a good play.  In table tennis, we often rush and lose 4-5 straight points without truly comprehending what we did right or wrong.  To maximize your game, I recommend going through the four stages…  pre-point, relax, point, and post-point.
 
The pro table tennis players DO make mistakes.  But when they do, then understand what they did wrong and are able to quickly adjust the next point.
 
The intermediate players DO make mistakes as well.  However, it takes them about 3-5 mistakes to understand how to correct the error.
 
The lowest players Do make mistakes as well.  They don’t adjust until they are down 2-0 in game…   or until they finish the match…   or until the ride home…   or sometimes they never understand the mistakes.
 
Playing like a pro…   starts with thinking like a pro!
 
 
 

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