First Tournament coming up.. help

[t-top]

hey my first tournament is next week and i get very nervous and when i start to play a game..like i can do very well in practice..but when my coach tells me to start a game with my hitting partner..i comepletyly screw up!..i need help and tips on how to calm down and just do good....

[mikeler]

Go down swinging if you find nerves are getting to you.

[USERNAME]

Relax, take time between points to clear ur head. Dont dwell on errors, errors ur opponent makes, winners hit on u, or winners u hit. Keep a level, calm state of mind thru out the match. If u get super pumped then u have a better chance of forcing the issue and going for something that is to hard, and if u get down on urself u may become to passive and simply fizzle out. Best thing to do is just stay neutral as much as possible. Another benefit of this is that ur opponent wont b able to read u, he hits a winner on u and u stay straight faced like nothing happened he may become a little intimidated, same as when u hit a winner and are like it was nothing.

[scraps234]

great advice^^^ i agree just stay calm and remember to play the way you practice and dont get to passive...

[firstserve]

Work a lot on your serve. Get as many first serves in as possible even if it means taking pace off the serve but just spinning it in early in the match. Also try and concentrate on hitting the lower one-third of the ball while looking at the seams of the ball.

[DownTheLine]

USERNAME has some great advise as did mikler.

I seem to do worse when I am not playing aggressive enough(I am a very aggressive player) or i am trying to take pace off the ball just to get it in.

If you don't feel comfortable hitting as hard as you do in practice just put heavy topspin on the ball.

What i have noticed with alot of big hitters they hate lobs in the corners and you moving them because they rely on there pace to win points and matches but if your putting heavy topspin balls into the corner they can't hit as well.

GOOD LUCK!

[USERNAME]

USERNAME has some great advise
Thnx

If you don't feel comfortable hitting as hard as you do in practice just put heavy topspin on the ball.

What i have noticed with alot of big hitters they hate lobs in the corners and you moving them because they rely on there pace to win points and matches but if your putting heavy topspin balls into the corner they can't hit as well.

GOOD LUCK!
Also very good advice, using a high roller with alot of topspin in the corners is good to move ur opponent around and take them off balance with a high kicking ball(if ur not balanced it becomes very difficult to hit with pace). The roller is also a safer shot because of the spin and height of clearance, just make sure its fairly deep, mayb 1-2 feet inside the baseline and a foot inside the sideline would b safe enough.

[USERNAME]

great advice^^^ i agree just stay calm and remember to play the way you practice and dont get to passive...

Thnx! 10 chars