Dealing With Nerves in Table Tennis: A Concrete Reset
Feeling nervous before and during a match is common. A practical goal is a concrete way to manage it in the moment, and this guide collects the advice on that from Racket Insight and mental game coach Bill Cole.
Short answer: Racket Insight advises focusing on the process rather than the outcome, setting performance goals instead of result goals. Between points, it suggests a routine: take 5 to 10 seconds, dry your hands, walk around the table, think, and take a deep breath. Bill Cole likewise describes deep breaths and relaxing your muscles as part of a pre-point ritual.
Table of Contents
Nerves Are Common
Racket Insight’s advice for a player who feels nervous at a tournament is to remember that you signed up to compete and have a good time. Treat nerves as something to manage with a routine rather than something that proves you are unsuited to competing.
Principle 1: Judge Yourself on Process, Not Outcome
Racket Insight says result goals, such as wanting to be champion, depend on things you cannot control, such as who you play, and recommends performance goals instead. Its examples are making fewer than 3 unforced mistakes per game, getting 80 percent or more of your open-ups on the table, or attacking first more than half the time. It argues that if your goal is to play well, a loss after playing well feels less bad and playing well gives you a greater chance of winning.
📊 Note: This is coaching opinion, not a controlled study, and the sources cited here do not give data on how much it reduces anxiety.
Principle 2: Use a Familiar Warm-Up Routine
A warm-up with some high-energy shots, footwork drills and service and receive practice is physical preparation, and having a familiar routine before a match is a sensible habit for settling in. See this site’s general warm-up guidance for the physical side. The sources cited here do not test whether a warm-up reduces anxiety.
Principle 3: A Concrete Between-Points Reset
When tension builds during a match, Racket Insight recommends a routine that is trained in advance: between points, take 5 to 10 seconds, dry your hands, walk around the table, think, and take a deep breath, which it says helps reset your mental state and gives you time to think about your next serve or receive. Bill Cole describes a similar pre-point ritual of deep breaths, relaxing your muscles, and then focusing on the ball.
💡 Pro tip: Practice this reset sequence during low-stakes practice matches before relying on it in real competition, so it becomes something you can execute automatically under pressure rather than something you have to consciously remember and construct in the moment.
Principle 4: Build Confidence From What You Did Well, and Tune In to the Ball
Bill Cole writes that people become confident from what they did well, not from what they are going to do or from what they did badly, and that you should accept sincere compliments on your play rather than deflecting them. For concentration, he suggests tuning in rather than trying to block out distractions: take deep breaths as part of your pre-point ritual, relax your muscles, then focus on the ball, for example by looking closely at it as you hold it.
Principle 5: Practice With Something at Stake
One general way to prepare is to add stakes in practice, for example playing practice games where a missed serve costs something, rather than only practicing in a relaxed, consequence-free setting. This is a general suggestion rather than a sourced finding.
Visualization as a Pre-Match Habit
Racket Insight describes visualization as an important tool for overcoming mental blocks, and says that picturing yourself playing at a high level can make you more motivated to show up to training. As with the between-points routine, it is easier to use in a match if you have practiced it beforehand.
Recognizing Your Own Specific Tension Signals
Tension can show up in different places, for example a tight grip, raised shoulders or shallow breathing, so it helps to notice which one shows up for you in a pressured practice match. That lets you focus your routine on your own tension response rather than running through a generic sequence.
Nerves Show Up Differently Depending on Match Context
Nerves before the first point and pressure during a tight, late-game moment are different situations. Before the match there is time for a familiar warm-up and visualization. During a match, the short between-points routine described above is the tool that fits, because the time available between one point and the next is brief.
A Word on Coaches and Between-Games Conversations
Under the ITTF Regulations (3.5.1), in an individual event a player or pair may receive advice only from one person designated beforehand to the umpire, and advice may be given at any time except during rallies, provided play is not delayed (ITTF Statutes 2026, page 57). If you have an authorised adviser, a short, specific instruction between points or games, such as one adjustment to focus on, gives a nervous player something concrete to do. This is general advice rather than a sourced finding.
Building These Habits Outside of Actual Competition
It makes sense to try the techniques in this piece in practice sessions before relying on them in an important match, so your routine is familiar by the time real competition arrives.
⚠️ Watch out: Treat mental-game techniques with the same seriousness you’d treat a new stroke or footwork pattern. Reading about a reset technique isn’t the same as having practiced it enough times that it’s available to you automatically under real pressure.
Why Staying Present, Point by Point, Matters Most Late in a Match
Racket Insight calls this the next point mentality: in table tennis the only thing that matters is the next point and what you can do to win it. For important points it suggests taking more time than usual, using your timeout if possible, and choosing between a consistent tactic that has worked in the match and a riskier new serve or receive.
- ✓Judge your own performance on execution and process, not purely on the final result
- ✓Use a familiar warm-up routine before the match
- ✓Build a concrete, practiced between-points reset before you need it in real competition
- ✓Deliberately create pressure situations in practice rather than only training in a relaxed setting
- ✕Treat nervousness as a sign you’re not suited for competitive play
- ✕Wait until an important match to attempt a reset technique for the first time
- ✕Build confidence from what you plan to do or what went badly, rather than from what you did well
- ✕Think about the score or a possible loss instead of the next point
This Applies Beyond Tournament-Level Competition
These ideas are not only for high-level tournament play. A club-level player facing a meaningful league match can use the same process-over-outcome framing and the same between-points routine.
The Short Version, Restated
Feeling nervous before a competitive match is common. Judging your performance on execution rather than outcome, using a familiar warm-up routine, building a practiced between-points routine, and practicing with something at stake are the approaches covered in the sources above and in general coaching advice.
Common Questions
How do you deal with nerves in a table tennis match?
Focus on the process rather than the outcome, use a familiar warm-up routine, and build a between-points routine such as drying your hands, taking a deep breath and thinking about the next point.
What is the process-over-outcome principle?
Judging your own performance based on how well you played, using performance goals rather than result goals, as Racket Insight recommends.
What’s a concrete way to reset between points under pressure?
Racket Insight suggests taking 5 to 10 seconds, drying your hands, walking around the table, thinking, and taking a deep breath.
Is it bad to feel nervous before a competitive match?
No. Feeling nervous before a match is common, and Racket Insight advises remembering that you signed up to compete and enjoy it.
Why practice under deliberately created pressure?
It is a general suggestion: adding stakes in practice, such as a consequence for missed serves, gives you practice playing points that matter to you.
The Short Version
- →Feeling nervous is common, not a flaw.
- →Judge your performance on execution and process, not purely on the outcome.
- →Use a familiar warm-up routine before the match.
- →Build a concrete, practiced between-points reset before you need it.
- →Build confidence from what you did well, not from what you did badly (Bill Cole).
- →Consider practicing with something at stake (a general suggestion).
Benjamin Fink is the Lead Equipment Analyst and Senior Contributor at Ping Pong Reviewed. A competitive USATT tournament player and table tennis technician with over 12 years of testing experience, Benjamin specializes in blade carbon composite physics, rubber sponge durometer hardness testing, ITTF equipment compliance, and table tennis robotics mechanics.
