GTTA to address psychology of TT players

Apr 29, 2009 Sports

– says it’s necessary for international meets

The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) is of the opinion that it ought to deal with the psychological aspect of players after assessing Guyana’s performance at a Junior and Cadet Caribbean Table Tennis (TT) Championships.

Godfrey Munroe

Without referring to players individually, GTTA General Secretary, Godfrey Munroe told Kaieteur Sport that based on the report of the coaches that travelled with the junior team, psychological preparation has become necessary.

“We had three coaches collaborating on the tour and from what they have reported, teams are in need of psychological preparation before they leave Guyana,” Munroe said, adding that it is an area of preparedness that is often overlooked.

Guyana placed third at the recent Caribbean Junior and Cadet Championships in St. Kitts following an overall title performance last year. Munroe said that local players were not as mentally prepared as their opponents on tour.

“We have to try to pool our resources. There are some [psychological] areas that we need to work on. One could attribute it to mental toughness but I believe it is more than that; it could also be physical,” Munroe told this newspaper.

At the time, he was asked to give an explanation into the reason behind a former national sportswoman’s, Trenace Lowe, performance. Lowe fell below expectations when the top athlete failed to secure a gold medal for Guyana.

The overwhelming complaints were that the Puerto Ricans, who entirely won the event in a dominant display, were more psychologically prepared than Guyana who were certainly favourites after entering as defending champions.

“From the GTTA perspective, what we need to do is have the players in training with the view addressing those deficiencies. We have to train players to rise above the challenges since they don’t have an ideal situation at home,” he said.

Munroe was directly responding to local players’ claim that their opponents, especially in the likes of the Puerto Ricans and Jamaicans, were superior. He attempted to dispel those claims in saying that they were more mentally prepared.

The GTTA has promised that national teams will not leave Guyana without assessment in the shrewdest forms from psychologists.

According the General Secretary that will help the association determine who is ready for regional meets. (Edison Jefford)