Try Easier!

Do not try harder! Say what? Coach, this goes against everything I was taught!!
Many moons ago I was enjoying an adult beverage with a friend of mine who I played every week.
He said, “I’ll tell you one weakness in your game if you tell me one weakness in mine.”
So I proceeded to tell him something I have long forgotten but what he told me I never forgot.
He said, “You try too hard. You chase too many shots and at the end of the match or tournament you have nothing left in the tank.”
At first I attempted a weak argument as I thought my “all out” frame of mind was a good thing. Turns out it was sometimes but not all the time!
If you spend too much energy chasing shots in rallies you cannot win you will wear yourself out. This affects many players and nobody more than me when I first started playing tournaments back in the day.
I was too fired up and would start out of the gate way too fast. I had to learn to pace myself and hold back. Eventually I came upon a mantra that helped me; try easier, do not try harder.
Besides chasing too many shots players are all tensed up and not relaxed. The tightness and tensing of the body does not lend itself to good defense. Good defense means being elastic, not rigid plastic! You must be able to move and flow into random positions and react to a fast moving pellet. If you are rigid and trying you will not be able to adjust very well to a moving ball. Try it in practice. Relax and imagine you are a supple cat, rather than a middle linebacker! Don’t think beast mode, think cat mode!