Dealing with Nerves

[Mr F]

I've got a big Table Tennis comp coming up in a few weeks.  It's the closed tourney for my league, there are about 12 different comps going on through the weekend.  I know I have a real shot at winning the division 3/4 title.  My problem is that I don't cope well with the big games.  I get nervous and tense up and don't play as well as I can. 

I've played this tourney twice but never had any problems because I knew I wasn't really in contention.  This year is different, I'm currently in the top ten and likely to be one of the top seeds.  But I can feel the nerves coming already, I'm getting hyped up and I don't want to blow it when the day comes. 

So if anyone has any advice on how to deal with nerves etc and doesn't mind sharing that would be great.

[thetank]

A Swedish massage the night before. It'll help you get a good nights kip at least.

(Serious post, not just being mucky)

[madasahatstand]

hi

i think the best way to deal with nerves is distraction. also, i tend not to build an event up in my head like saying i want to be the top seed because that puts more pressure on me. some folk like to build themselves up and get the adrenaline flowing. it all depends how you perform as to what you need to do. my advice is to find something to focus on and try to drown out the background noise that is your nerves.

i hope you win the competition. after all, why cant you?

mad

[Rooky9]

I could spout off above turning this nervous engery into possitve energy - but i wont (not saying there isn't any truth in it thou)

I've stood on the 18th tee on a three day golf game knowing that the out of bounds down the right is eyeing up my drive.... that nervous tension that gets the stomach first then makes all your reactions seem to slow down..... what I try to do is remind myself that I can do it...under other circumsatnces it wouldn't be an issue so just block other things out.

I also remind myself that I am doing this because I enjoy doing it and so not to let myself ruin it all by being nervous... I think both things can be used in every situation like this.

Good luck

[Mr F]

Thanks Guys.

Tank - Massage is out I'm afraid, as a committee member I have to go and set the comp up, so lots of sweeping floors setting up tables and generally moving stuff around.

Mad - you're right, I do put a lot of pressure on myself which doesn't help.  As an example the person who wins the most games in a season in each division gets a trophy.  I've never been in contention for this and didn't think anything of it.  Although I don't have a great precentage of wins I play a lot of games because some of my team are unreliable.  On tuesday my mate told me I was in the lead.  I had a game against two of the top five guys that night, I let it get to me and lost both games. Grr.

As for distraction I should be alright, I've got to cover the whole weekend for the local paper so will be running around wathcing everyone else.

Rooky - The enjoyment thing is a good point.  TT is the only sporting thing I've ever been good at and I tend to focus on winning rather than enjoying what I'm doing.  We started the season with a real chance of winning the league, by the middle part we were out of it and I started to play the best games of my life.  SO I definitely need to take yourr advice and just chill out.

Thanks agian.

[HarlemShuffle]

Couple of glasses of Vodka before playing?

Nearer KO take time to sit down and do some breathing exercises. Take long deep breaths for a few minutes. This is a big help. This is great to calm you down. Think about positive things while your doing this but don’t try and psyche yourself up at the same time.

Muscle exercises. Sit down and relax. Then tense your muscles as hard as you can. Hold them for a few seconds, and then relax back to your normal state. At this point make a conscious effort to try and relax even more. Make sense? You can concentre this on separate muscle groups each time you do it. This is quite good to do on a regular basis. Start practicing it now before the event. This works quite well.

Do something like go to the cinema the night before to get your mind off it.

[Mr F]

"Couple of glasses of Vodka before playing?"

Reminds me of a holiday 4 years ago in Spain.  We had a table on the patio and my mates would only play me if I gave them 15 points head start.  Had been drinking all day and was giving it large about how good I was, proceeded to fall A over T and couldn't even hit a ball!!

[HarlemShuffle]

"Couple of glasses of Vodka before playing?"

always works for me!

[Mr F]

My mates couldn't stop laughing, funnily enough none of them needed a head start that night!!

[Sark79]

Allright, Mr F


Below is taken from    The Hypnotic World Of Paul Mckenna, CARLTON, faber and faber, 1993, page number 89-90

This is an incredibly effective technique for all sports people, amateur or proffesional. Here it is, step by step.

1. Watch a number of good performances of a role model or personal hero

2. Relax into trance ( sitting or standing)

3. Imagine a representation in front of you of your idealized image or role model engaged in whatever activities you admire most about him or her, Build up the image as richly and strongly as possible; see as much detail as you can, adding sounds and feelings.

4. In your imagination, ask your role model for help and notice his or her willingness to oblige

5. Walk up behind your role model and step inside his or her body. Put him or her on like a suit. See with his or her eyes, hear with his or her ears and feel what he or she feels. (  if you are standing when you take a step forward in your imagination, take a step forward physically)

6. Explore what it is like to be in the world of your role model. If you have any questions about how he or she does something , find the answers while in his or her body.

7. When you have finished , step back out of your role model. Thank him or her for the help and return to normal waking consciousness bringing with you what you have learned . Remember , you have learned more than you are conciously aware of.


Everyone processes information in a different way. For me it is images. If someone says to me " explain how I get to your house from the train station". I can't tell them street names, numbers or any of that stuff. Instead, I use landmarks and internal representations. I love this sort of stuff, or memory techniques or relaxation.  It is great fun.

When I use the above techniques, I never feel nervous. .

Keep calm and you will do well. As you say yourself, you have a real shot.

good luck.

[Scottish Dave]

I've got a big Table Tennis comp coming up in a few weeks.  It's the closed tourney for my league, there are about 12 different comps going on through the weekend.  I know I have a real shot at winning the division 3/4 title.  My problem is that I don't cope well with the big games.  I get nervous and tense up and don't play as well as I can. 

I've played this tourney twice but never had any problems because I knew I wasn't really in contention.  This year is different, I'm currently in the top ten and likely to be one of the top seeds.  But I can feel the nerves coming already, I'm getting hyped up and I don't want to blow it when the day comes. 

So if anyone has any advice on how to deal with nerves etc and doesn't mind sharing that would be great.

3 pints of Stella Artios 1 hour before KO

[Dewi_cool]

   and if you happen to lose , you dont give a D

[Sark79]

I agree with Dave, the stella sounds far better than the mental rehearsal stuff...lol

[Scottish Dave]

5. Walk up behind your role model and step inside his or her body. Put him or her on like a suit. See with his or her eyes, hear with his or her ears and feel what he or she feels. (  if you are standing when you take a step forward in your imagination, take a step forward physically)

GTF....now this has got to be a whined-up!

[Sark79]

This comes straight from Paul Mckenna. Try it.  Some peoples minds work in sounds, some people are images, some people are movement, or touch like an artist.

I work in images. For months now, I have tried to read the poker books and understand the content. However, I think this is the wrong approach.

Matt674 mentioned about studying poker for 4 months without playing. I am going to try a technique similar to this. I will still play, but I will also study the $100/200 tables on stars. From experience my brain works in images. You have to find which way your brain functions and adopt that learning style.

This is why using a combination of super system and paul mckenna's techniques works so well.

Unfortunately, when I tried to use the same approach for University work. I was so bored, I fell asleep...lol