Not playing like your normal self? Did you not pay attention to what was said in the training racket thread?

Joking aside, it could be a number of things, but at the end of the day, you are probably trying too hard.

1) You have recently attending a coaching course, perhaps you are trying to stop your mistakes that you used to make

2) Maybe you are too busy thinking about what you should be doing on court, this effects your game as a slight late reaction to something makes all the difference (like if you don't get enough sleep and you are a split second slower to shots)

3) Maybe you are putting too much pressure on yourself. People at your club or single partners know that you have attending a badminton course so you feel like all eyes are on you and you have to show how much better you have become

4) Perhaps you are still tired from the coarse, even though it was a few weeks ago, you haven't rested since and carried on as normal and maybe this has taken it's toll

5) Maybe you have been focusing a lot on fitness and this has caused you to tire slightly. I can understand what you are saying (in the other thread) about better fitness but maybe your body could do with a bit of a break if you have been training all summer

6) Maybe you just need a bit of a break from the game. You have been pushing yourself hard on fittness, attended a badminton course and continued to play. Maybe a break would refresh your mind and get some hunger to play again.

This are just things that may or may not relate to you, but I think you are pushing yourself too hard in wanting to get the results, and get them now. Well done on doing the fitness, and you have new “tools” to use from the coaching course, but now you need a bit of fun so just play with an empty mind and relax. You won't do all the stuff from the course all at once and even if you focused on one area then it still takes time. Maybe your mind is too eager to learn!

Hope this helps

P.S. I think all these things as I too had a bit of a slump after the course, although I mainly put this down to being ill just beforehand (which didn't help), I do think there are other pressures there and that effects your game. Especailly everyone at your club expecting you to come back and play like Lin Dan!

Oh…………………

*looks out of the window*

Another factor it could have been, which I think happened to me last night, is what you eat.

I didn’t play every well last night but there wasn’t much on at work and I ended up stuffing my face with tea and biscuits. I think the biscuits completely changed my state of mood and zapped all my energy and made me feel groggy. And it probably didn’t help that for my dinner then night before I had fish and chips from the shop (it wasn’t my idea! It was the kids!). I think this all proved to be a factor to as why I started brightly but ended up playing a bit pants.

So I think it is worth bearing in mind to have a good meal the night before (like pasta or something) and to make sure you don’t fill yourself up on junk before you play!

Still, they were nice biscuits………………………   

This might be quite a stupid question, but are there any ways to improve confidence?

I don't consider winning very important, I do however think that always playing very seriously is very important.

When I make a mistake, I quickly lose confidence in my form and therefore I start playing to forcefull.

During a singles match I lose form at times because I'm not confident enough.

When playing a double this gets worse because I get the feeling I'm being a dead weight to the other player.

I never have problems with concentration, but at times I just flat out lose against someone simply because when I make mistakes I tend to make a lot more. I get a very bad feeling and I start thinking very negatively.

I would like to improve this, however I don't know where to begin.