Coach Shahin’s 7 Pillars | Part 1: Forget the Scoreboard

By David Yeakle

Forget the Scoreboard: Why a Performance Mindset Wins Table Tennis Matches

In the lightning-fast world of competitive table tennis, physical talent, quick reflexes, and technical skill are only half the equation. When opponents are evenly matched in their training and equipment, the ultimate differentiator is the mental game.

A former Olympian and expert in elite player development, Coach Shahin spent 10 years as a coach and programmer for Iran's youth training program (ages 8–15), where he notably developed high-profile players like Noshad Alamian (who broke into the top 100 in the ITTF world rankings.

In a recent mentoring session with his students he discussed what truly separates champions from the rest of the pack. According to Shahin, if you want to step up your play, you have to start by changing what you look at during a match—and hint: it’s absolutely not the scoreboard.

The Psychological Trap of Outcome Obsession

During his session, Coach Shahin highlighted one of the most common psychological traps for a table tennis player: obsessing over the final outcome.

He explains that this anxiety acts as a direct barrier, blocking your body from fluidly executing the hard-earned strokes you've spent hours perfecting. Coach Shahin points out that you’ve likely felt this exact phenomenon before: your paddle grip tightens up, your feet feel glued to the floor, and those smooth loops you practiced all week suddenly fly completely off the table.

Coach Shahin’s Blueprint: Shift Your Bandwidth to the Present

To achieve true mastery on the table, Coach Shahin urges players to shift their focus entirely away from the scoreboard and redirect it toward active performance. To play at your highest level, he recommends implementing three core adjustments:

• Focus on execution, not the score: Coach Shahin advises players to intentionally channel their thoughts into immediate tactics—think about precise ball placement, subtle spin variations, and active footwork rather than numbers on a board.

  
  

• Stay in the split-second: According to Shahin, the current point is the only one that exists. The previous points are history, the next points don't exist yet, and your mind needs to be locked into the micro-moment.

  
  

• Trust your training: Let your muscle memory take over. Coach Shahin emphasizes that overthinking the high stakes only overrides your natural training, so you must learn to let go and let your body play.

  
  

By dedicating all your mental bandwidth to playing at peak capacity in the present split-second, Coach Shahin promises that the desired results will naturally follow. In his philosophy, trophies and accolades are never the primary goal—they are simply the side effects of a competitor who has successfully mastered their own mind.

What’s Next?

Mastering your mindset doesn't happen overnight. Next time you step up to the table, try putting Coach Shahin’s advice into practice: consciously ignore the score, lock into the present split-second, and trust your loops.

This is just the beginning. "Forget the Scoreboard" is Part 1 of an exclusive 7-part series breaking down Coach Shahin’s core athletic philosophy. Stay tuned for Part 2: One Match at a Time, where we will dive into how to maintain your focus through an grueling tournament bracket without burning out.

What part of your mental game do you struggle with the most? Let us know in the comments below!