After a poor performance at a tournament, many players go back to the local club and justify their play by saying, “Well, it was a learnin’ experience.”  Often, when questioned what they learned, these players use very general terms like – my backhand needs work.
 
In order to truly turn a bad tournament into a good thing, you must learn to be specific.  I know that it is painful, but do the following 4 things:
 
#1

What do you think about after you lose a match?
 
 
Are you angry?
 
Do you make-up hundreds of excuses?
 
Do you feel like a loser?
 
Do you learn from your losses?
 
Do you grow stronger through the trials?
 
The former world champion (Jean-Philippe Gatien) gives us some helpful insight on losing…
 

The Dangers of Success and Failures
 
You are a 1800-rated player competing at the 2014 North American Teams.  So far, you have had a great tournament with several good wins.  Your goal is to break 2000, and you need one more good win.  You are playing in the last team match of the tournament against three 2100-rated players.  Your goal is to win one match.  That’s all you need, one win.  Surely you can beat one of them.