In the final, I was now feeling relaxed and ready to go. It was almost as if I had done my job in getting to the final, so now I could relax and enjoy the match. I had played enough matches that day to get into the groove without getting worn out. Craig, on the other hand, had played a number of extra matches in the Over 40's and Over 50's events that day. Craig is extremely fit, but nonetheless it must have been taking a toll. Add the titanic effort Craig made to win his semifinal against Gio, and it was going to be difficult for him to psyche up to do it all again.
And so it proved, with Craig fighting hard but not rising to the heights that he achieved against Gio. I was playing relaxed and thinking well, and in the end I think I was just mentally fresher than Craig. He was physically fit enough to keep playing, but just couldn't keep up the mental side of things. So the final result was a 4-0 win to me, in close games but with a definite edge in my favor on the day.
In hindsight, I was pretty happy with the way I played during the tournament. I was a bit nervous against Chris, but used my mental programs to help control my tenseness and perform despite the pressure I was feeling. Against Craig I was much looser and played accordingly. More importantly, I found that my practice at focusing during each point and relaxing between points was definitely helping me to keep concentration during each rally, which then helps me to make better decisions when needed.
Pennant Competition
Funnily enough, last night I actually played Craig and Chris again, as part of our Summer Pennants. I was lacking a bit of sleep, and the temperature was still in the high 30's Celsius (over 95 degrees Fahrenheit). So I wasn't looking forward to the match to tell the truth - I was feeling sluggish and really wanted to be at home in bed.
My first match was against Craig - and I suprised myself by jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the first, hitting several good forehand winners. I had been doing my best to mentally psyche up just before we started, and maybe it had worked. I wouldn't say I was playing my best ever table tennis, but then neither was Craig, and I found myself up 2 games to 0 much more easily than I expected. I wanted a 3-0 win to get off the court quickly, but in my hurry to wind things up quickly I made the wrong decisions in choosing strokes several times, and Craig took the third 11-5 or so. In the fourth I got back on track, and Craig seemed to get a bit more wound up, and this helped me to take the final game 11-8 or so.
Then it was time to battle with Chris again. Once again Chris was in pretty good form, and I was maybe a little too aware of this? Chris was ahead all the way in the first, and although I caught up, he continued to mix attack and defence to take the game 13-11. In the second, I had the lead, but Chris caught me this time and snuck the game 13-11.
So now I'm 0-2 down, and Chris just needs one more game for the win. I spent the time between games thinking about what was happening, and decided that I needed to get back into defensive position away from the table more often when I hit a weak reply, instead of trying to block the ball back. At the speed Chris was hitting the ball I was losing way too many points when he started the attack.
With this in mind, I started the third game intent on working my plan, instead of worrying about the fact that I was 0-2 down (although you can be sure it crossed my mind once or twice!). Anyway, the change of tactics was working better, and I took the third game 11-8. Phew!
The fourth game saw Chris drop his level a bit, and I played a little better using the same tactics. 11-5 to me. 2 games all.
The fifth game was up and down between Chris and myself. Chris was playing better again, and was making things hard for me, even though I was trying to play with good tactics. The crunch came at 8-all, when I had a chance to attack with my backhand - a shot I had been missing against Chris that night since I wasn't using my wrist well enough. This time I went for the attack, deliberately snapping my wrist a bit harder, and Chris blocked the attack off the end of the table. Then another point to me and now I'm 10-8 up. Chris gets the next point with another great attack right at my body, and it's 10-9. The rally starts and I take a ball on my forehand side with my backhand, twiddling my bat to chop with the smooth side and loading the spin. Chris sets up for his big forehand attack but the ball bounces badly on the table, staying low and sliding under his bat. A sad way to end such a tough match but I'll take the win.
So what's the analysis of this night? I guess it comes down to the fact that every now and again you won't be at your best, but you've still got to try to find ways to win, not look for excuses to lose. If those last couple of points had gone Chris' way, I would have to say that he would have deserved the win. And it's quite possible that Chris might not have felt at his best too! So you just have to turn up with the game that you have, and do the best you can with it at the time. Then do more training if you want to turn up better prepared next time!
Friday 2nd March 2007
Just time for a quick update before I head down to Esperance tomorrow for the South Coast Open Championships.
Training
I'm still training according to my routine, although I've taken it easy on Thursday and today so that I'm reasonably fresh for Saturday and Sunday. At my age it's important not to overdo things just before a tournament, since I need as much energy reserves as I can get!
Mental Training
It's time to take a break from running my Directive Affirmation now, before resuming it again in the second week of March. I'm still working on my focus during points, and we'll see how successful I've been in the tournament.
Competition
My pennant match was postponed this week, so I haven't had any competition this week. But I've got the second round of the Grand Prix next Friday, so it will be a busy week coming up!
