Going Blank Mid-Match? Here Is Why and How to Fix It
This is a brand-new, technique-focused column in a Q&A format. The mystery experts answering questions are two former national team players who are now veteran coaches. They prefer to stay anonymous and live a quiet life.
Q: Sometimes in a match I just go completely blank mid-rally. What is going on?
A: There are four scenarios.
First, you are too self-centered. You keep trying to execute your comfortable techniques, your reliable patterns, your “finishing moves,” but the opponent isn’t cooperating and you can’t get into your own rhythm. Errors pile up and you lose. You drill deeper and deeper into a dead end until your mind goes blank.
Second, there is one specific ball the opponent gives you — a serve, a particular return — that you simply cannot handle well. Your entire attention collapses onto that one problem, and the heightened error rate causes you to lose.
Third, your stamina has dropped, or you didn’t sleep well the night before. You feel you can’t reach the ball in time, your footwork isn’t getting you there, and your miss rate spikes.
Fourth, you are either over-excited or can’t get your body activated at all — what people commonly call form swings, where your level suddenly drops.
Q: I’ve watched Ma Long and noticed that when an opponent stabs a long ball to the backhand baseline, even he struggles to pick it up backhand — but I can’t figure out exactly how he gets around that problem.
A: A long ball you don’t lift only makes things more passive; you have to lift it even if it’s hard. When the opponent’s return exceeds what Ma Long expected — especially if it’s fast — and he’s been pushed back, looping it back is the only option. If he were to push it, the opponent would unleash a crushing topspin. A deep push-down return is almost always backspin, so you have to fast-loop it.
To avoid being put in that situation: sharpen your anticipation and footwork. If you read early that the opponent is going to push long, you have time and space to step back and drive the ball properly.
Q: “Watching the ball” in live play — is it just training your eyes? What should you mainly develop?
A: Watch the rotation of the opponent’s torso — how it turns and how that determines the line of the incoming ball. Also watch the direction of the swing and the size of the force, to judge whether the opponent will change direction at the moment of contact.
Additionally, watch the wrist: is there a late flip that alters the ball’s path? Is there forearm acceleration, wrist rotation? These tell you the spin on the ball.