I have had a problem for a long, looong, time with my game and I still don't seem to be able to iron it out. Well, when I say 'a problem' - what I mean is 'a succession of problems limiting my development henceforth my relatively low standard of competitive table tennis'. But anyway..

I'd practiced every day for 2 weeks pretty much before the first game of the season. I saw serving well, I was getting in with my first ball and, most importantly, making good game decisions - placement, spinning up when needing to spin up, going hard when the opportunity arises, receiving (especially flicking well) and all this against a player who is obviously much more competent than I am (in matchplay, at least).

Now, I'm told I have excellent strokes, I generate good spin and I have a lot of power when I 'go for' a forehand. When I'm playing games in practice all of these things come together and I actually commit to getting the shots in - I am able to beat anybody in the town. However, as soon as a league match comes around, it all vanishes. I think the problem is nerves - this is evidenced by the fact that when I'm playing practice games I serve, get my first forehand in, usually quite hard into the cross over, then the ball sits up and I actually manage to smash the loose ball. In a league game, I serve, I scramble my forehand in then if I get a loose ball I tend to totally miss the smash or top front edge it into the ceiling.

Wiggy - in your blog you said that you were working with a player who has similar kind of issues, I know you picked up on it when we were knocking, trying to encourage me to chase my shots by winding me up, but in matches I just can't access that particular mental state. I don't want to be the player who looks good but never achieves - I want to be able to achieve the success that is possible relative to me - a level of success I don't consider to be losing all 3 every week in Scunthorpe.

How do you people address the mental side of the game to force yourself to impose your own game? Or have you never suffered in that respect?

After my last game, 2 of the players I lost to openly admitted to having no idea how to return my serves so they just looked to chop them as heavy as they could - this is the kind of return I would be feeding off in a no-pressure situation.