when i shoot someone thats better than me i get real nervous and miss shots, yesterday i was playing a kid that i knew i was better than so i wasnt even trying my hardest and i would run out alot more, the last game i ran out off the break and the kid wouldnt play me anymore. why is that when i play people that are better than me i never get a big run or a run out off the break. what can i do to help me change this
why do i get nervous
- Thread starter Varsity2016
- Start date
Because you are human... If you didn't get nervous you would be autistic!
KEep playing- you'll get more and more comfortable + better and better.
It makes you nervous because it is important to you. That is perfectly acceptable. The trick is to put that desire/ nervousness to work for you, not against you.
It makes you nervous because it is important to you. That is perfectly acceptable. The trick is to put that desire/ nervousness to work for you, not against you.
You don't play the player you play the table. Focus on what you can do not what you can't. The player you are playing is irrelevant. So either don't try so hard against the better player or start trying harder all the time, even during practice. I recommend the latter. I believe that Timothy Gallaway recommends "Relaxed concentration" in The Inner Game of Tennis.
The Bamboozler
Banned
You get nervous about messing up. Forget about what anyone thinks, because tomorrow nobody will give a hoot. Just play the game and try your best.
Varsity2016 said:
One cause is that you don't know how you play well in practice. So when you think about it more in competition you have lost the confidence to repeat it.
The better you know your method of alignment, know how to control the CB and know whether you are taking the right shots on, the less you'll have to feel nervous about.
Also, try to enjoy the challenge of a game, don't just focus on the result.
If you're determined to just work and think hard at the table, then you'll walk away learning something, gaining something, and when you have that attitude you'll win more games that you should.
Schwinn said:
Same hear, I can even play someone for money and not get as nervous and when I play in practice I can play people better then me and do great. So in my case it has nothing to do with who's watching, I guess it has something to do with letting the team down, I have never been comfortable playing team sports. I know players who sweat, but when my heart beats fast my hands turn ice cold
, I guess that's better then having sweaty hands
But it's still not normal....and well I make dumb choices and don't play my game.So I stick to tournaments, which rarely get me as nervous, go figure.
Funny what the mind can do, if I could just make it do what I want all the time
You have to learn how to compete. Normally, you either play better or worse than you practice. Hopefully, you can learn, through competition, how to play your best. Funny how I can shoot for hours, but then competition comes along, and I am sweating all over from a forty minute match. Our minds and bodies try to help up "get up" for the mental and physical tasks at hand.
Varsity2016 said:
I used to have that problem... someone suggested that I picture my opponent in his underwear and the resulting amusement would do wonders to quell any nervousness. This worked quite well until I had to play my first good-looking female opponent - I couldn't get close enough to the table to shoot...
Seriously you'll find the problem goes away as you play more matches and can concentrate on playing the table vs the opponent. I look on each game now simply as a problem that needs solving.