It’s match day and you are at a crucial stage of the match, probably 20-19… you start to feel a sense of urgency to finish the game since you don’t want to lose. At that time, you start making silly errors and end up giving a point to the opponent.. sounds familiar?
The most common challenge for any player is focusing on the match for a sustained period of time during training or during the match. Many players complain of having multiple thoughts while playing, while they need to actually be in the present. Being in the present is what we call mindfulness – the ability to just be in the present moment with awareness of self and environment, while not having unnecessary thoughts.
Sometimes, when you perceive a situation to be important or crucial, you end up feeling nervous, restless or stressed. This makes you focus on things which are not necessary at that moment, like, for example, thinking about losing the match, or about how the opponent is playing, instead of the shot you need to be playing. This ends in making a mistake thereby, losing the match itself.
What can you do about it?
- Refocus on what you need to be playing and not what the consequences are going to be. You could do that by taking a few deep and long breaths in and out.
- You could also take time-outs anytime you feel a lack of right focus.
- Get a fresh perspective from your coach and watch your self-talk.
At a later stage, get a few goals for every match of yours. These goals could be related to your processes as well (for example, doing a certain stroke properly or playing a particular stroke with confidence). See if you are able to maintain the focus of that, instead of shifting to the consequences of the match or even the stroke.