The first step is admitting you have a problem. If you want to improve your gameplay in any game, you need to be honest with yourself about where you're falling short. This means confronting the mistakes holding you back from reaching your goals and figuring out ways to change them. It's similar to addressing a health issue—if you ignore it, it will only worsen over time. So let's dig into common pitfalls that can ruin even the most promising player’s career and how to avoid them.
Losing focus
Focus on the game, not the outcome.
In other words: don't focus on losing. Focus on improving your performance. If you're playing a game and thinking about how badly you'll lose when it's over, chances are that will happen because your mind is in the wrong place. And if you're going into a game to win it at all costs, you won't enjoy yourself as much and may end up making more mistakes than usual!
Instead of worrying about losing or winning handball competitions in advance, focus on what's happening now—your performance—and let that be enough for today. You might win or lose tomorrow; either way, there'll be another chance at life after that one ends.
Getting embarrassed by an opponent’s comeback
It's natural to take losses hard, but don't let the other team's comebacks get the best of you. You know how it feels when a teammate makes a mistake or turns over possession of the ball? Don't let it affect your gameplay. Focus on the next play and what's happening before you, not what just happened or might happen in the future.
Worrying about what other people think
Worrying about what other people think is a waste of energy. If you play your best game, others will notice how good you are at the game, but it’s not worth worrying about what they think. If they don’t like what you do or say, then that is their problem, not yours. The only thing we should be concerned with when playing the game is ourselves and whether we played our best version of ourselves on that day or not.
It doesn't matter if people think your gameplay is amazing or terrible; it matters whether YOU think it was amazing or terrible.
Keeping track of your win-loss record
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to keep track of your win-loss record. If you're focusing on it, that's all you'll see when you look at your stats later. You might even feel discouraged if it's not looking so hot. But don't worry; focusing on the game, not your stats, is important.
Also, remember that no one else cares about these things except maybe other competitive players trying their best just like you. So, don't let yourself get caught up in what others think.
Not being able to enjoy the game itself
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not enjoying the game.
For example, if you’re playing with friends and they get a kill on you, instead of laughing it off and having fun with them, you take it too seriously and start arguing with them about how they should have helped or something like that.
I want to emphasize this: Don’t let yourself get worked up over things like this. The last thing anyone wants is for someone else to ruin their good time because they aren’t in the right mindset. So do your best not to do so yourself.
