A common sentiment during this time of paused official tournaments is players’, coaches’, and federations’ frustration at lack of match play.

This too, at its essence is quite intuitive. The reason you practice as an athlete is in order to compete – what does practice for practice’s sake really achieve?

In countries where it is possible and permitted, we see that competitions are resuming, sometimes in new formats.

To name a few, there are the Dusseldorf Masters Series in Germany, the T2 Challenge series here in the US, the Sweden Tour, the AFTT Masters in Belgium, and the Olympic Simulation Games in China. There are certainly others.

In reference to the Dusseldorf Masters, Coach Rossi has spoken not only about the fact that players need regular competition in order to develop, but also touched on the fact that the players take the matches very seriously. I believe this is something that many players, of all levels, can strive to improve upon which also will likely bear fruit in the long term. It is easy to play a weekend match in your club round robin or with a friend, and not play with full intensity or full fight when “nothing is on the line”. However, by doing this you deprive yourself of an opportunity to see where you stand, and it is a missed opportunity. It is important not only to play matches regularly, but also to play those matches, whether tournament or club round robin, with seriousness. Doing so can lead to important gains, not only physically, but mentally as well. We are somehow more easily able to accept that we should be serious and play with our full attention and intensity in practice, and yet nothing is “on the line” there — so we should translate the same idea and play all matches with an equal level of focus and intensity.

Sometimes we lament that our opponent in a club round robin or in a practice match is not playing seriously. Maybe they are fooling around, experimenting with new equipment or techniques, or are not playing well and therefore not fully invested in the day’s games. However, this can happen just the same in a tournament as well – your opponent can have a bad day, can switch rackets on impulse, can have minor injuries, and so on, which cause them to play differently, and yet as a player you must still be able to deal with playing against such circumstances and try to perform nonetheless. Mental challenges can always rear their head, and as an athlete you must strive to deal with them to the best of your ability. In this regard, it is important to look inwards – as long as you yourself are playing seriously, you can still gain a lot in this sort of situation, and it has direct applications to tournament situations where this might occur as well. After all, this is sport, where anything can happen. By being prepared, we can better position ourselves to deal with the challenges that arise.