(By Larry Hodges)

Sports psychology, along with return of serve, are the two things in table tennis that nearly everyone has trouble with and yet few do anything about. How often have you lamented that you don’t play as well in tournaments as you do in practice matches? Found yourself nervous and unable to play your best? Been on the verge of winning a match and then got nervous and blew it?

Stroking and footwork drills aren’t going to solve these problems. You need to address what’s really going on. In the Sports Psychology section of TableTennisCoaching.com there are numerous links that should help. They include links to lots of articles and to five books that I recommend. (All five books are relatively short, quick reads.)

ARTICLES ON SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

• Sports Psychology Articles by Larry Hodges (18)
• Dora Kurimay’s Table Tennis Sports Psychology page – Strongly recommended! See also her book below.
• United States Olympic Committee Sports Psychology
• The Ultimate Guide to Table Tennis Psychology from Expert Table Tennis

BOOKS ON SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

• ​Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros! by Dora Kurimay and Kathy Toon; here’s my review.
• The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
• With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham
• Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert
• Finding Your Zone by Michael Lardon, M.D.; here’s my review (see second segment)

For full article, please click here