Seven Aspects of Tournament Success

There are 7 important aspects of tournament success. 
 
Here they are…
 
#1 The Mindset – Just Another Day of Practice
During training, you raise your level.  During tournaments, you perform the way you practiced.  Just that, just have the mindset to play your game, your playing system.  Make good decisions, adjust as necessary and try to play relaxed and normal.
 
#2 The Thoughts
What you think about is really important.  Give yourself some good reminders between points, like measuring the bounce, playing wide angles, keeping your feet active, continuing to spin, etc. etc…
 
#3 The Distractions
Keep your eyes in the court.  Your mind is so focused on the match at hand, that you don’t let your eyes wonder from the court looking at the next court or the spectators.  You keep your eyes contained within the barriers.
 
#4 The Best Moments
Reinforce a good shot with positive affirmation.  As you affirm your strong shots and clearly remember them, you will have a higher likelihood of repeating them.  In a humble way, comment to your parents, your coach, and to others about your best shots.  The more you write about, talk about, and picture it happening, the more you increase the odds of it happening. (Lanny Basham)  
 
#5 The Winning Streak
When winning, just keep playing.  You don’t need to overthink.  Just let it happen and keep the momentum rolling.
 
#6 The Losing Streak
When you lose 2-3 points, take your time, analyze the errors, and MORE IMPORTANTLY problem solve and focus on the solutions.  How can you lose 3 points and come back with 100% confidence?   …by focusing on the solutions!
 
#7 The Decisions
At the end of the day, you are not in complete control of winning and losing.  What are you in control of?  Your decisions.  The choices that you make with which serves to use, where to loop the ball, when to change to the wide forehand, all of these 1000’s of decisions are within your control.  So instead of judging your performance based on the scoreboard or draw or rating, just focus on making good decisions.  Make the decisions as you would in practice matches.  And have fun!  Table Tennis is fun, learning is fun, and implementing what you learned in tournaments is fun!