Mental training

A good tip from Ma Lin (the real one) is to never think too much. (sourced from an interview in 2001-3)

I had a personal experince from this at baltimore. It was my first time their, and since my team had 4 members, one person would always sit out. Plus their is only 1-2 tables to play your team event on which could take over 2 hours. In this tournament, when I was playing, I was thinking really hard. Then I when I wasnt playing, I was also thinking really hard. This got me mentally REALLY tired. However, my teammates highly praised my coaching and in addition, we won many of our matches based on what I had suggested. This gave me a lot confidence in my matches because I use to try to prep out a stratgey that didnt always work before my match when I didnt even know the opponent. Now I know that I can prep out a strat during the game.

The above is just a given example. My advice is that you should do whatever you need to do to feel confortable and relaxed. If you are more confortable in a tournament, then you already have more confidence than you did before. Its the mindset, so for example you can watch them play a match before you actually have to play them. In that case you can think that you have the upper hand therefore you are more confident. Its tricky, but do you see what Im saying?

Boll_rules wrote: Table tennis needs skill, physical and mental training. What are some things to do in mental training besides thinking positive thoughts to boost your confidence. Can you do some sort of meditation to improve your play?

I also tell my students to get a copy of "The Inner Game of Tennis" by W. Timothy Gallwey. Although it uses tennis as an example, it's really for any sport, and is considered the classic sports psychology book. I used to give a copy to our top juniors on their birthday.
-Larry Hodges

How about if the problem is that you can play the shot quite well but you hardly do because you think you'll miss and the lack of confidence. This costs people a lot of matches.