Out of Form

You are a batsman out of form and have not scored above 10 in the last 6 innings. If you are out of form you are now probably exhausting your mental powers in the wrong areas. You are probably thinking too much about too many technical points, using an inappropriate game plan method or dwelling on too many negative thoughts. The problem here is you are desperate to score runs and your mind is panicking looking for various instant solutions and the intensity that you should be watching the ball is not as focused as it should be. In this situation be positive with all your thoughts, keep the technical cues simple and to a minimum and above all the most important intense focus must be put on watching the ball. You must get yourself in, get some runs on the board before you start thinking about game plans which incorporate working the ball and improvising to score runs. Play the percentage shots first which are low risk shots. When you have a good score then think about improvising to score runs. It is counter productive to try to improvise for the teams sake if you need quick runs but if you keep failing every innings. You will be more productive if you are initially slow to score early in your innings if it means you end up getting more runs. You can always make up for a slow start later on in your innings when you have runs on the board and feel in form again and more confident. You will be far more useful to your team and have a greater chance of getting back in to form. In a bowlers case it will be the focus on the spot where he is trying to bowl the ball.

REMEMBER
Batter: To focus intensely on the ball when you are out of form, is the most important thing that you need to do.
Bowler: To focus on the length and line you want to pitch the ball.

SET YOUR GOALS ACCORDING TO YOUR FORM
If things are not going as planned set the goals so they are still achievable under the current circumstances. Be prepared to have more patience than normal, do not get to angry with yourself. You should be happy that you are still in or you are still bowling and that means you have the chance to put in a good performance for the team which could contribute to them winning or saving the match. Its not how you look that is important, it's the task ahead and working towards achieving the teams goal and winning the match. Its winning that counts.

BEING TOO TENSE AND THE EFFECTS
Some players get too tense when they first go in to bat, this can be counter productive. Batsmen can get so nervous when they go in to bat. All they want to do is get off the mark as quickly as possible. They normally try to do this by trying to play an attacking shot and because they get impatient, they tend to play it to the inappropriate delivery.

Pressure here has built up while the batsman has been looking for the attacking shot and has not scored for a few overs. If the batsman has been looking to score with quick singles he probably would have done so easily but in this case he was not looking and therefore missed out and the pressure mounted. The singles were lower risk scoring shots and easier to come by. It is just as easy to hit boundaries when you are pushing singles because you tend to let the ball come more, you do not try to hit it too hard and the attacking shots will just happen anyway. By getting early singles the tension in your body starts to disappear because you are scoring runs. The more runs you start to accumulate the more confident you get and the more you work towards the vital ingredient of being physically relaxed and mentally alert.

When you are too tense your muscles do not function fluently and you move to early and have lack of rhythm in your movement. This causes you to play at wide delivers and causes breakdown in technique and in shot selection. When you are physically relaxed you do not have problems with the above and subsequently you create time for yourself to get in to the right positions to time the ball with an enhanced technique. When you are relaxed you react quicker.

TRYING TOO HARD: Bowlers example
Trying too hard and forcing success can have an adverse effect on a bowler, it can upset your rhythm.

e.g If a bowler is being hit around by a batsman and becomes very angry he can go to pieces and bowl badly.
He can tense up in frustration and completely forget the game plan, his technical cues and his organised mental approach. He now is running up and trying to bowl as fast as possible not thinking of the match situation, where he is trying to bowl the ball, what the batsmans weakness are and and how to get him out. He could be bowling at a batsman who is a good hooker and cutter who needs to get 20 runs off the last 3 overs to win the match. Because the bowler is angry he is trying to hit the batsman because he has got involved in this personal battle and he has forgotten the teams goal he gets hit everywhere and the opposition win.

What he should have done is channel his anger effectively composed himself and keep his mind on the more important issues mentioned above, such as game plan and getting the batsman out or stopping him scoring. The bowler has tried to hard in a mindless way in the above example.

Do not lose detail and composure when you get angry, channel it into the job in hand. Trying to hard can cloud the mind. Keep your focused approach. For a fast bowler, power and pace is not enough to succeed. Try to keep the fluency and rhythm flowing in these aggressive situations.

TRYING TOO HARD: Batters example
When a batsman is trying to hit boundaries to win a match, sometimes he tries to hit the ball too hard and in doing so loses technique. This is a common problem and happens when panic starts to set in. Under such intense pressure situations he should still bat with the same flowing tempo of swing. The secret is to score off more deliveries, not to try to hit the ball any harder. With a smooth flowing swing of the bat you will find it easier to keep head still and also to watch the ball for longer this will help to keep your head down for longer when you are going for the big shots. Players lift their heads too early in the shot when they try to hit the ball with brute force, this normally results in a miss timed shot that can get them out.

SUMMARY
Ways to relieve tension and get over initial nerves sooner rather than later. Why do some players perform badly in tense situations.

Let the regularly practiced and well groomed technique flow with total confidence. Now relax, focus your game plan watch the ball intensely and back yourself to perform. You have put the time and effort into your practice it is now time for your well earned reward, you deserve the success. We all fail once in a while because we are only human, do not let a failure change the methods and attitude that usually work.
Think in a positive manner at all times. In stressful situations, channel your stress, focus on your game plan, mental approach and technique. Take your mind off the pressure thus feeling it dissolve into thin air.
The more you focus on the above the more your mind is taken off the stress and nervousness of the situation. You will now begin to relax and start to perform better.

All the above information is relevant for batters, bowlers and wicketkeepers.