lost stroke

[liquidsun]

Hello - I suffered from a loss of forehand (previously my best and most confident shot) whenever facing match play. In practice I could hit it just fine but when faced with match situation I would completely lose it, almost as if a disconnect between my eyes, brain, and arm. I struggled match after match for several months, but it only worsened and eventually spiraled down into severe anxiety and eventually me quitting the game which was a shame because I was an excellent college level player before this.


There was no triggering event to make this happen...one day I walked out to play a match and this happened. No other stroke was affected either.

Can anyone explain what happened?

Thank you

[firstservethenvolley]

I'm sorry about that. It really sucks when that happens.
Anyway, play more matches and try to hit as many forehands as you can. I run over to my backhand side and try to hit as many backhand as I can during matches because frankly, my backhand isn't that good. The only way to improve your forehand in match play is by hitting more forehands in matches. You can also post videos of forehand, so people here can tell you if there's something you can do to make it better. People are really helpful here and will help you with your strokes' videos.

[D. Dokas]

dont ya just hate that... like said above play matches and build up ur confidence again

[NLBwell]

Without seeing it, it is hard to guess. I'll try, though. Probably some minor error creeped into your swing, but as you began to lack confidence, your swing speed slowed and maybe your backswing shortened. You likely lost the spin you use for control before you lost velocity on the ball, or maybe just changed the timing so you are hitting the ball at a different point in the swing. This of course, made you lose more confidence which made the problem worse, and so on.
My guess at a solution: First, work in practice at hitting your full stroke, full speed - you need to get your normal stroke grooved again (if you just can't get it back after doing this for a couple sessions, the original problem is still there so see a pro to get it corrected - it is probably minor). Second, go play some matches where you are not trying to win, but are just focusing on hitting your full stroke, accept that you are likely to lose. Third, when you do start to win again and are gaining confidence you can start to take your matches more seriously, but keep focus on taking your full stroke, even if it might cost you a game or two. You should be fine after a while.

[liquidsun]

All good advice..thank you. I agree to just keep hitting more forehands with full swing even if they go out and are wild and focus more on the process of the stroke than "winning". I do think too that as my confidence imploded my technique went down the tube which then really made things rough. AFter taking many years away from the game, I work with a pro now who is helping me with my technique, but I found that the damage of many years ago still lingers in my head and I have the urge to start pushing in a match with my forehand just so I can "win", even now.

I am trying to change that mindset. Thank you all again.