mental-game-question
steveh72 asked 5 years ago
Hi
relative newbie
2nd year playing
in practice I can do the correct technique for basic drives
then in games it all goes out the window and my technique breaks down
it it is driving me insane & it’s not for lack of practice grrrrrrr
any suggestions
cheers
steve
Tom Academy Coach answered 5 years ago
Hi Steve,
Yes this is actually a very common problem for players and is very frustrating for sure! This problem is mostly down to needing more irregular practice so you get used to adapting to different ball placements. In practice you are probably ready for your shot and in the correct place where as in a match the ball placement is totally random and this can cause shots that feel fine in training to completely break down under pressure!
So lot’s of drills where you don’t know where the ball will come, the best one is you play all to your opponents backhand and they can block you anywhere in the table, we have a video on this here- https://tabletennisdailyacademy.com/videos/anywhere-to-backhand/
The other thing to watch out for in games is rushing your shots, so really try to slow them down to start with and focus on simply putting the ball on the table with a more controlled stroke, making sure you let the ball get to the top of the bounce. Give those a try and let us know how you get on!
Cheers, Tom
