For an elite table tennis player, preparing for a tournament is a delicate process of balancing training, recovery, nutrition and the many other factors that go into ensuring a peak performance. And while us lesser players may not want or be able to go to the extremes that elite players do to get ready for a big event, nevertheless we can still learn a thing or two from the top athletes regarding our own tournament preparation .
One such lesson we can learn from the pros is to spend a little time planning our playing schedule in the lead up to our tournament, to avoid being over-trained and stale on the day of the competition.
This particular lesson is especially vivid in my mind because I have just recovered from a mental burn-out that I suffered before one of our important local competitions. And while I'm not claiming to be anywhere near the standard of the elite players, I think the mistakes I made and the lessons I learned are applicable to ordinary table tennis players everywhere.
Normally I train and play with other players around 4 times a week - occasionally a bit less, and occasionally a bit more. I don't usually train or play against other players more than two or three days in a row without taking a day off. Very rarely do I play against other players for four days or more in a row. I originally chose this sort of schedule due to my physical limitations, but now that my body is in better shape I actually find this schedule suits me mentally, allowing me to keep focused when playing or training, as well as enjoying my table tennis fully.
I often do insert an hour or so on my table tennis robot on my break days when I feel like it, but I find that to be not too demanding mentally, since I am mainly just working on some simple technique and footwork drills, nothing that requires the more intense concentration involved when playing against a live opponent.
The upshot of all this is that in recent times I find that I play my best in competitions when I've not had too much or too little training before a tournament.
For example, if I'm playing a tournament on a Friday night, then I'd usually make sure I get a training session in on Sunday or Monday, then Tuesday or Wednesday, and a light/easy session on Thursday just to keep my eye in. I'd want at least one day without any table tennis at all, and maybe even two days if I'm feeling a bit tired mentally or physically. That way when Friday night comes around, I'm in touch, physically fit and also feeling mentally ready and raring to go.
Now I realize that this type of training load would probably be severely under-training for an elite player, and perhaps a little more training than a less serious player would want to do, but it's the right level for me at the moment. And usually I follow this routine without much of a thought - I don't have to plan it out since I've done it so often. Which in hindsight, turned out to be a big mistake.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten that planning is an important step in getting properly prepared. A decent plan is a bit like a road map when traveling, in that it helps to stop you getting lost, it allows you to see when you've accidentally gone off track, and helps you get back on the right road again. And sure enough, my lack of planning came back to bite me on the backside a few weeks ago.
What happened is that we had a normal local tournament one weekend, followed by the finals of another important competition the next Friday night. In the normal tournament, I competed in the O/40 Men's Singles on the Friday night, followed by the Mixed Doubles, Men's Doubles, and Men's Singles on Sunday. That in itself wasn't a problem, but it was what happened in the next few days that left me stale and mentally tired for the big tournament on the following Friday night.
I had a regular training session on Monday night, which was also fine. Then on Tuesday, one of my semi-regular training partners contacted me for a training session, which I agreed to without a second thought. On Wednesday, one of my other Tuesday semi-regular training partners also wanted to train with me for the Friday night big competition, so I had another practice session.
On Thursday, I didn't feel much like playing at all, but I had to decide between taking the day off and disappointing my usual Thursday training partner at short notice, or doing my usual light session that is part of my normal routine the day before a Friday competition. I opted to do the light session.
So when the competition finally rolled around on Friday night, I'd actually played against other players for 6 of the preceding 7 days, with 5 days in a row before Friday. As you can probably guess, I was mentally flat throughout the night, and I really didn't want to be there at all. Physically I was not too bad, but my mental state left a lot to be desired, and my losses that night reflected that. I certainly might have had those defeats anyway if I had been mentally fresh, but I didn't turn up in my best shape - which was all my own fault. On top of that, I was so mentally stale that it took me two weeks of only playing once or twice a week to get any real desire to play back again!
Looking back, what I should have done is taken notice of the fact that having a big competition the Friday after a weekend tournament was a special situation. All I needed to do was to decide that I would have one or two days of complete rest somewhere between Monday and Wednesday, with my normal light session on Thursday. Then I would probably have been fairly fresh and ready to compete at my best. But since I didn't give any thought to making sure I got my rest days, I simply agreed to extra training sessions that I really didn't need at the time.
In fact, I could have just as easily been under-trained if my training partners had all decided to cancel that week. Without a plan, I might have simply not worried about each cancellation, and then found myself on Thursday desperately seeking a practice session before the tournament!
Having a usual routine that works for you before a tournament is a good thing. But don't neglect spending a few minutes to plan your week before the competition to ensure that you don't get accidentally blown off course. All it took was a couple of requests from my semi-regular training partners to throw me off track, because I'd forgotten that I needed a rest day or two during the week. And while I might not need as much training as the pros, and while most readers may not need (or want) as much training as me, it's always best to be careful about making significant changes to your training routine just before a competition. A simple training plan will allow you to avoid over-training (or under-training) just before a competition.
Kevin James is a professional table tennis player and an ITTF level 3 coach. He's the co-founder of PingPongBros.com - A website dedicated to provide all table tennis enthusiasts with the best product reviews, equipment news, and tips and tricks. If you enjoyed this blog post or want to know more about him, feel free to email him at kevin@pingpongbros.com. Thanks for reading.
]]>With eyes on the ball and a hand on the paddle, table tennis naturally promotes an improvement of hand-eye coordination. Table tennis is considered as one of the fastest sports in the world and with so many different variations to the ball, it really needs a high-level of hand-eye coordination to excel.
Developing tactics and strategies are just as important as force or footwork. With a really fast game like table tennis, you really need sharpness of mind and careful planning of strategies because there is literally no time to think. Once in a rally, it’s mostly instincts and pre-planned strategies taking over.
With the fast-paced nature of the sport, it comes as no surprise that a player’s bodily reflexes will also improve.
Unlike other sports, table tennis is easier on the joints; but like other sports, it will definitely work out your leg, arm, and core muscle strength. One exceptional body part that gets trained a lot will be the core since power is generated from the core and there’s a lot of twisting motion when doing offensive movements.
Did you know? A 150lb-person can burn as much as 272calories/hour by playing table tennis. Definitely a fun way to shed those extra pounds!
Table tennis improves cognitive awareness. It also stimulates various components of the brain. A study by Japanese researches show that it could also possibly prevent dementia.
A player needs to be quick on his feet, as well as able to maintain balance throughout a rally.
As with any sport, this is a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.
It is important to remember that one does not have to be the best player on the team to be chosen the captain. Having great sports skills and talent is not the same as having the ability to lead the team in the right direction towards victory. It is also not equivalent to being able to inspire the team to bounce back in times of defeat.
Not everyone is born with great leadership skills. It fact, it is hard to find a person who is a natural leader. And while athletes are all expected to be hardworking and committed to their sport, we cannot rule out the fact that each has his or her own set of personal values and individual attitude. So what does it take to become someone who can lead a sports team?
Here are some of the traits that make an athlete qualify for the team captain position:
Photo from Tennis on Campus
If an athlete is committed to his role as a captain, he will do whatever it takes to fullfill his job. He does not necessarily have to quit his life outside the sports field but he dedicates most of his time to training and to attend to matters concerning the team. He is invested in it and puts all his effort to each task at hand – not because it is his job to do so but because he is passionate about it.
Commitment is also about leading by example. If a captain wants his team members to go for that extra mile, he will show them how it is done. A captain’s commitment to the team can be seen by how persistent he is in motivating the members to do their best. If he wants them to run farther and faster, he will run with them and set the pace. If he wants them to be consistent with attending trainings, he will never miss a session.
This is not because he wants to show off but because he wants to instill in them the same level of commitment that he has to the sport. If everyone in the team is committed to their cause, they will work hard together to achieve their goals.
Two main reasons why team captains have to be positive thinkers: 1) to encourage team members to train hard and help them realize their goals and 2) to inspire them to bounce back when they experience defeat.
Team captains have to maintain a positive disposition in and out of the playing field to motivate team members to give their best all the time. Daily training routines could get exhausting and even more so if one has studies to balance at the same time. One of the roles of a captain is to remind his members how much work and progress they have already made to achieve their goals and to convert their weariness into courage.
No athlete has never experienced defeat. For sure, each has felt tired and almost opted to giving up but when the player sees that his captain is full of hope and confidence, he picks up on the same attitude and becomes inspired to keep going.
Photo from LinkedIn
Communication involves both talking and listening. Team captains are not just all about giving out instructions and setting out rules for the team members to follow. They are also about having the sensibility to take into account what the members have to say.
When the captain listens, he encourages the team members to speak up and to get more involved with the matters concerning the team which paves way to more harmonious relationships among team members. More importantly, listening promotes respect and when team members know that their opinions are valued and respected, they will return the favor to their captain.
Photo from Ted
Captains are there to make decisions in behalf of the entire team. Since there will be several considerations to make and not to mention opposing views from the team members, it becomes the job of the captain to make the final say.
This follows the captain’s ability to listen to his members. When there are decisions to make, whether big or small, captains should take into account each one’s opinion and come up with a decision afterwards – a decision that is for the benefit of everyone.
Making decisions involves being able to judge without any biases. In order to do such thing, captains have to be able to gather facts, analyze the available facts and decide on the next course of action of the team. Of course, there will be times when the decision that has been made may not perfect but that does not make one a bad captain. Perhaps, if it was not the best decision, the captain could think of alternatives and take necessary actions to correct the mistake.
In order for the team to work efficiently and productively, the captain must learn how to trust his members and believe in the capabilities of each one, both in and out of the playing field.
When team members know that their captain trusts them, they tend to believe more in themselves and they start to work harder and put more thought and effort in what they do. We all know how hard it is to perform and function when you know that someone doubts your ability to accomplish something. Therefore, it is important for the captain to express that he is confident and has faith in his teammates.
Now trust is built on the effort of the captain to acquaint himself with the abilities of his teammates. To be able to trust his teammates, the captain has to familiarize himself with their work ethics as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It takes some effort to do such thing but it is beneficial and results to more pleasant captain-teammate relationships.
Having outstanding organisational skills is one of the qualifications of an effective captain because there has to be a systematic way of handling the team – from arranging training schedules and fixing team budget to strategising and meeting their goals.
Note that not everything has to be handled and managed by the team captain because it could be really overwhelming. What it really means to be organized is to be able to assign roles to each member of the team and to guide them as they work together.
For instance, instead of working on the team budget on his own, the captain can assign the task to a team member so he can focus on other things of greater importance. In this manner, everyone becomes productive and gets to contribute to the overall development and performance of the team.
Team captains are not necessarily the oldest members of the team. But because the senior players are the most seasoned ones and they have more experiences (both in sports and in life) than the rest of the team, they are usually the ones being appointed as captains.
It only makes sense since one of the major responsibilities of a captain is to mentor and guide his teammates based on his experiences in and out of the field. Captains are there to provide tips and advice to his teammates whenever necessary. These could be tips on how they could further improve their game or tips on how they could develop their relationship with their teammates or even on their studies and life in general.
Team captains are supportive and caring. They enjoy helping and sharing ideas with their teammates in every way possible because they concerned for the well-being of each teammate and the team as a whole.
Photo from Chief Learning Officer
All of the things mentioned above boil down to a captain being able to inspire his teammates to keep going no matter what happens. As mentioned earlier, no one has never experienced defeat and it could be devastating for an athlete. But the captain is always there to help bring out their best. He is there to boost their confidence and encourage them to bounce back through setbacks and difficulties.
A captain is there to direct the team towards one goal and to motive each member to strive for it. We often hear team captains say phrases like “Let’s go, team!” or “We can do this, team!” to increase the team’s fighting spirit and it helps to know that there is one person in the team who will constantly remind each member that everything is possible as long as they keep working hard for it.
What sets a team captain from the rest of members really is the ability to take on bigger responsibilities and make sacrifices not just for himself but for the entire team. Anyone could possess all traits that have been mentioned but the ability to consistently embody them and inspire the team no matter how tough it gets are the things that make one succeed as a team captain.
]]>First things first, before we proceed with the basic strokes and any table training drills, it is important to acknowledge and learn the correct grip and ready position first.
Source: Basic Table Tennis
Establishing the correct way of wielding your racket is important because as you progress and master each stroke and movement, the amount of power that you apply as you hit the ball will also depend on how firm you hold the racket. You might not realize this at first, but your grip is also a factor in optimizing your power.
So here are the points that you have to take note of if you are assuming the shakehand grip.The most popular kinds of grip are the shakehand grip and the penhold grip and of these two, the shakehand grip is the most commonly used. Although there are no official rules as to the proper way of holding the racket, it would help to know the most conventional way of doing it.
Making the mistake of being accustomed to the improper way of holding the racket could give a player a hard time in the long run. That is why as soon as you decide that you want to play, know how to hold the racket correctly, follow the points mentioned above and make some adjustments to find the grip that you are most comfortable with.
If you want to know more about the different kinds of grips and how each affect your play, click here.
The ready position is the starting point of every essential stroke and movement in table tennis. Once the correct ready position is established, it becomes easier for the player to find balance, make quick movements and execute strokes more efficiently.Another thing to consider as you start with table tennis are the starting position and the stance. Generally, these two terms are interchangeable – they could both pertain to the ready position that one has to assume before the rally and as much as possible, before every stroke. However, they are actually different from each other. Strictly speaking, the term ‘starting position’ pertains to where you are standing at your end of the table while the term ‘stance’ pertains to how you stand while you are in the starting position.
Source: All About Table Tennis
So here are the points that you have to remember when doing the ready position:
Correct grip and ready position play a big role in building one’s foundation. Acknowledging both helps maximize one’s power and optimize performance. As mentioned earlier, there are no official rules as to the proper way of holding the racket and the same goes for the ready position. But there are conventional ways of doing both and following the points mentioned above could help one achieve it.
So now that we already know about the starting position, we are now ready to learn about the basic strokes. One’s success in table tennis is highly dependent on the correct form of strokes. It is therefore crucial to master the basics first before proceeding to the more complicated ones.
At the beginner’s level, it is important to memorize the four (4) basic strokes first namely the forehand drive, backhand drive, forehand chop and backhand chop since all other strokes generate from these.
For beginners, one way to get accustomed to the proper way of executing the strokes is through shadow practice. Shadow practice involves actual performance of the strokes but without the ball. The stroke is repeated for a number of times in order to be consistent with the movement and to develop muscle memory.
Shadow practice is usually done at the beginning of each training session after the warm up exercises. Aside from the strokes, it is also good for developing one’s footwork but again, for beginners, the focus should be on the mastery of the basic strokes.
Beginners can do 50 to 100 repetitions for each stroke at the start of a training session. But what players have to watch out for really is the quality of each movement and not the number of times they are able to sustain it. No matter how many times one gets to repeat the shot, if the form is not correct, they will only end up developing the wrong foundation.
There are three things that players have to concentrate on when doing the strokes: the backswing, the contact point and the follow-through. Let us go through each stroke so we know how these components work.
Source: Active SG
Backswing. To be able to do the backswing for the forehand drive, you have to assume the ready position that we have described above. Once you are ready, twist the upper body to the right if you are right-handed (otherwise twist to the left) from the hips. While twisting, shift the weight onto the foot behind and maintain the playing arm parallel to the ground.Forehand drive is the most commonly used stroke among the four. All other forehand strokes like the forehand loop and even the forehand block are drawn from the basic forehand drive. It is therefore important to make sure that the correct forehand foundation is mastered and developed.
Contact Point. After the backswing, you are now ready to move towards the ball. The contact point is where your racket strikes the ball. This is done by twisting the upper body back to the ready position but with your arms moving upwards and by shifting your weight from the foot behind to the foot in front.
Follow-Through. To complete the stroke, you have to do a follow-through. Upon contact of the racket to the ball, complete the shot by moving the arm forward and upward towards where you intend to place the ball. The ending point should always be near your forehead.
For shadow exercises, repeat the stroke for as many as you can and until the movement is memorized. If you are in an actual rally on the other hand, remember to return to your original position right after the stroke so you can prepare for the next shot.
Source: Table Tennis Bug
Backswing. We would have to adjust the stance a bit to do the backhand backswing. Instead of bringing your one foot behind and the other in front, it would be better to make a square stance to make the backswing easier and more effective. For right-handed players, the backswing is done by shifting your weight onto the left knee and by bringing the racket near your stomach during the process.Backhand drive is also comprised of the backswing, the contact point and the follow-through. Unlike the forehand stroke, I personally think that backhand drive is the harder but maybe it is just because I spent less time practicing it. So as beginners, try to devote as much time as you would with your forehand to practice your backhand.
Contact Point. To strike the ball, distribute your weight back to both of your knees while moving your playing arm towards the ball.
Follow-Through. Upon contact, continue to more your arm forward and upward towards where you intend to place the ball. When doing the backhand follow-through, focus more on using your elbow rather than your wrist or your shoulder because the power comes from your forearm. Using the wrist and extending the shoulder too much could only lead to lack of power and poor form.
Backhand drive is generally done on your backhand side of the table. Never practice using your backhand drive on the forehand side no matter how good you are at performing it because it will only destroy your form and it will be harder to place the ball at the opponent’s end.
Source: Paddle Palace
Backswing. For the forehand chop backswing, you have to assume the above-described ready position as well but instead of bringing your playing arm in front of you, you have to swing it back and stick it out to the side of your body, still parallel to the ground.Forehand chop is done by chopping the ball underneath and pushing it towards the opponent’s end. It is more of a defensive stroke and is generally used to receive and return an incoming short ball that could not possibly be attacked.
Contact Point. The contact point is done by moving your playing arm from the side of the body towards the ball. Do not stretch out your arm to reach the ball. Instead, move your arm from your elbow and together with your body and remember to keep your racket open at 45 degrees to be able to do the chop.
Follow-Through. To be able to do the follow-through, slice the ball underneath and push it towards where you want to place it on the opponent’s table. The movement should generate from the elbow and the forearm and not from stretching out the entire arm.
Just like the forehand chop, backhand chop is primarily done to receive and return an incoming short ball on the backhand side.
Source: Xinhua
Backswing. For the backswing, assume a square stance just like when doing the backhand drive. Instead of sticking out your playing arm in front of you, perform the backswing by bringing the arm towards chest and with an open angle.
Contact Point. To strike the ball, move the racket towards the ball by bringing it forward and downward from the elbow. Again, avoid stretching out the entire arm. Instead, move your arm together with your body to avoid distortion of the form.
Follow-Through. To complete the stroke, slice the ball underneath by moving the forearm downwards from the chest.
Forehand and backhand chop are generally done to receive a short ball. This means that the body has to move forward to able to reach it. Most of the time players are required to step their playing foot forward and inside the table to be able to complete the stroke without destroying the form.
Good foundation is key to success in table tennis. All other complicated strokes and movements, including even your footwork, will depend on how steady and sharp your basics are. So at the beginner’s level, focus on establishing your grip and ready position and master the four fundamental strokes first. That is all you need to know to get started on table tennis.
]]>To read more about Lesyk’s work and the nine mental skills click here.
In this article, I will try my best to clearly explain each principle in the context of table tennis and provide practical applications and tips to help you incorporate the nine mental skills (listed above) into your own game.
There is no doubt in my mind that learning these nine skills and applying sports psychology to your table tennis will help you perform at a higher level and enjoy playing much more.
If there is one thing that coaches really want to see in their players it’s a great attitude. A positive attitude is worth more than technical ability, a strong tactical mind, and physical fitness. It’s a long road to the top and those lacking the required positive attitude will likely fall somewhere along the way.
Players with a good positive attitude; work hard, always turn up to training, are easy to coach (because they listen to advice), are humble, never give up, and keep going through all the difficulties of sport and life.
Our attitude is largely a part of who we are. People are often described as optimists or pessimists, those that work hard or those that slack off, even winners or losers. However, if you’re serious about improving at anything you’ll first need to have a serious look at your attitude and uncover some ways you can become even more positive.
Creating and maintaining a positive attitude, in relation to your table tennis, includes striving for excellence and constant improvement, enjoying the opportunity to compete and test your skills, learning from successes and failures, having respect for other players, coaches and officials, and keeping a healthy balance between table tennis and the rest of your life.
Here are some tips for creating and maintaining a positive attitude in relation to your table tennis;
So, in conclusion, you can help create a positive attitude by surrounding yourself with positive, like-minded individuals, inspiring yourself with exciting table tennis content, and keeping your focus on the future and your steady, constant improvement.
Athletes with high levels of self-motivation, sometimes called intrinsic motivation, take part in sport because they love it! A passion for something is key if you are going to continue doing it for long enough to get any good at it.
Author, Daniel Coyle (a personal favourite of mine) says that “passion [for something] makes learning fast and fun”.
The process of learning a highly complex set of skills, such as a modern sport, can be very long (some authors have even said it takes 10 years of solid training to become an expert at something) but an underlying passion for the activity can make the process much more enjoyable and much quicker.
Table tennis players with a high level of self-motivation; are aware of the rewards that can be attained through table tennis, have the drive to continue through difficulties and tough periods, and have an inherent love for the sport (training, competing, watching) and immerse themselves in it.
This is a good question to ask yourself. Why do you play?
You may play table tennis because you love the game (the spin, the speed, the quick reactions), or because you love the feeling of playing a perfect shot, or because you enjoy the fact that hard work in the training hall relates to better results at competitions.
Perhaps you enjoy winning trophies, beating other players in a one-on-one context, seeing your ranking improve, or even that you can earn a living playing full-time.
There are so many different reasons why you might play table tennis but it’s important that you realise why you are playing and ideally it should be a reason that relates to you and not somebody else. There will be times in your career when you want to throw in the towel and it is in these times you will need to remember the source of your motivation to give you the strength to keep going.
My experience is that motivation goes up and down, and for a variety of reasons. Your job as an aspiring top player is to understand why your motivation is at its current level.
Sometimes you will have had enough of table tennis for a period. You may need to take a short break (about two weeks ought to do it) to rest, relax and have that urge to play come back. Other times you may simply have fallen away from table tennis for a period of time. Perhaps you’ve been busy and haven’t been able to train as much as you’d like or keep up to date with the pro events. Simply watching some table tennis online or entering an upcoming tournament may be all you need to reconnect with the sport and get your motivation back.
It’s worth pointing out that if our ambition is to continually be learning and improving then our motivation cannot be taken away from us. If our ambition is simply to beat a certain player or win a specific event then both achieving and failing to achieve our goal can decrease our self-motivation.
In sports psychology, goal-setting has been shown to increase levels of commitment, hard work and focus, on a particular task. Goals are often split into the categories of process, performance and outcome.
Process goals relate to executing certainly techniques or tactics correctly. The athlete has complete control over them. Performance goals relate to how well an athlete is able to perform in relation to their own previous performances. Outcomes goals relate to winning events or beating opponents. They are outside of the control of the athlete.
Goal setting, in table tennis, should include; the setting of short, medium and long-term goals, using measurable criteria to assess achievement, creating detailed plans for attaining the selected goals and becoming highly committed to the goals (doing all it takes to achieve them).
Goals that you set should be specific (make them very detailed), measurable (you need a method of determining success or failure), accepted (they must be OK’d by all involved, player and coach), realistic (challenging but attainable), time-based (have an end date set), exciting (should be motivating), and recorded (otherwise you’ll forget them).
Here are a few examples…
[These are all short-term goals by the way.]
[These are all outcome goals by the way.]
A long-term goal, such as reaching the top 100 players in your country, may seem completely unrealistic. However, in England we have a number of 50-year-olds in the top 100 so really there is no reason why this cannot be attained despite your current level or age (provided you’re under 40, let’s say).
The key to achieving a long-term goal is breaking it down into lots of smaller, more achievable goals. For example, perhaps you need to start with process and performance goals working on your technique and shot accuracy.
You could set ranking-based outcomes goals for the next five years. If you are currently ranked 400th then think about what you need to do to reach 300th in 12 months time. Look at the current players at the 300thmark and work out in which ways they are better than you. Then set a goal to be 225th in 24 months time, 175th in 36 months time, 125th in 48 months time, and top 100 by five years.
These goals can be changed, if necessary, but all you need to focus on right now is how to become a top 300 player in the next 12 months. And that sounds much more realistic and manageable! I hope that’s inspired you to set some big goals for your table tennis.
People skills, often known as interpersonal skills, are all about communicating well with others and understanding yourself. An ambition sportsperson needs to be assertive (in their ambitions and views) but also responsive (listening to others and taking onboard feedback).
Extreme assertiveness comes across as aggression, which can be perceived negatively. Similarly, extreme responsiveness can turn into passivity, which is no good for your own development. Therefore, it’s very important to find a good balance between being assertive with your own agenda but also being responsive and reacting to the needs of others.
Dealing effectively with other people, as a table tennis player involves; working alongside other players, coaches, team managers, support staff, friends, and family. You need to be able to communicate your ideas, thoughts and feelings, whilst listening to and learning from others. Potential positive situations require encouragement, fun and togetherness. Potential negative situations require conflict resolution, negotiation and self-control.
Table tennis is an individual sport but you’d be surprised at how much you’ll have to work with other people if you want to reach the top.
Probably the most important relationship you will have is with your coach (if you have one). They have been placed in a position of authority over you and should be much more knowledgeable than yourself. You must be clear about what your coach expects from you (how many training sessions per week, behaviour, physical condition, etc.) and what you want from your coach (technical coaching, encouragement/motivation, corner coaching, multiball work, etc.).
When they are speaking make sure you are practising “active listening” and give them 100% of your concentration. In turn, you should expect your coach to do the same for you during training sessions.
The easiest way for this relationship to turn sour is if the player and the coach have different ideas about ambitions and goals for the future. If your coach wants you to become a champion but you have lots of other commitments in your life they will become frustrated with your lack of dedication. If you want to become a champion but your coach is just looking to do a couple of sessions a week you will become frustrated with their lack of enthusiasm.
As table tennis players we spend a lot of time practising in clubs and squads with other players. The problem here is that everybody wants to improve, everybody wants to play with players that are better than themselves, and everybody wants as much of the coach’s time and attention as possible.
If your coach doesn’t mind organising this, one system that works really well is splitting the session in half and giving every player one “up-play” and one “down-play” per session. For example, #1 plays with #2 & #3, #2 plays with #1 & #4, #3 plays with #1 & #5, #4 plays with #2 & #6, and so on. It can take a while to order players but after that, it works quite well.
It’s common for friends and family (especially close family) to become annoyed at the amount of table tennis you are playing. Parents may want you to spend more time on your homework or spouses might want you to help them more with the kids.
It’s your job as an athlete to communicate your ambitions to your friends and family and get them on your side. Without their support, you will struggle to succeed. If your spouse or children need you to play less table tennis then you may need to think of some way to be more productive with your training time. Instead of 3x 2hr group sessions per week how about cutting down to 2x 1hr one-on-one sessions. You’ll probably get more out of them and you’ll have more time to spend with your family.
Positive self-talk is one of the simplest sports psychology interventions to understand but it’s surprisingly difficult to master! Positive self-talk is simply controlling the ongoing dialogue you have with yourself and turning it into positive words of encouragement.
The main problem with self-talk is that most of us seem to naturally fill our minds with negative self-talk. We tell ourselves we can’t do things. We look at better players and think “I’ll never be as good as them”. Removing this negative tendency is tricky business!
In table tennis, positive self-talk includes; learning to speak to yourself as a coach or close friend, becoming aware of your natural thought patterns and controlling them, being able to pump yourself up or cool yourself down prior to or during a game, and keeping yourself focused, motivated and ready to win.
Here are a few methods for developing a habit of using positive self-talk in table tennis;
I hope that’s opened your eyes to just some of the power of positive self-talk. There’s plenty of other great information available on the topic once you start searching and reading.
Mental imagery has been described as “the athletes’ most powerful mental tool”. If you are going to spend any time testing out mental skills training then make sure you don’t skip imagery.
Imagery is used by almost all of the great athletes and research has shown it to significantly improve performance when combined with regular practice, as opposed to practice alone.
Personally, I’ve never really used mental imagery in my own table tennis but if I ever start training seriously again, I will, and I’m definitely going to start thinking about how I can encourage my players to use it.
Mental imagery, in table tennis, can be used to create detailed images of your own performance that are realistic, prepare yourself to compete, and recover from errors or poor shots by picturing the correct stroke and self-correcting.
Things to think about before you start…
If you’ve never attempted mental imagery before I hope these tips help you get started.
Mental imagery and visualisation may all sound a little spooky and new-age but the research clear shows it works and the top players are definitely doing it.
Anxiety is a part of life (and a part of sport). At one stage or another, we’ll all feel a certain degree of anxiety about something. As athletes we need to be able to deal with that anxiety we feel, otherwise, it will begin to affect our performance.
There have been times when I have played really badly and looking back now many of those poor performances can be put down to anxiety. Situations that may make us nervous include;
Successfully dealing with anxiety, in table tennis, involves; accepting that feelings of anxiety are a part of sport, learning to view mild anxiety as a positive, not a negative feeling, learning how to reduce feelings of anxiety, and understanding how you perform under pressure/stress/anxiety.
Have you ever gone onto a table to knock-up only to realise you can’t hit a forehand (the ball keeps going off the end of the table) or you can’t serve (you keep missing the ball)? It’s very unlikely you’ve actually forgotten such a well-learned skill. Instead, you’re probably just over-anxious.
Here are a few tips for dealing with anxiety in table tennis;
Emotions are a big part of sport. Players, coaches and spectators all show varying degrees of emotion over the course of a game (usually depending on the current score). As a player, emotions can be positive and negative. As a player trying to improve, learning to manage your emotions for your benefit is very important.
Jim Taylor’s article on Psychology Today splits athletes into four emotional styles; the seether, the rager, the brooder, and the zen master. I’ll briefly explain them here, which one are you?
The seether has frustration and anger building slowly inside them until something happens that causes them to explode. Once they’ve gone they usually can’t get it back.
The rager releases frustration and anger as it happens instead of storing it up. This can help to keep them focussed but often they too are prone to eventually explode and lose it.
The brooder feels more despair than anger and is likely to sulk or pout if things are going badly. They are fine when playing well but likely to give up if things take a turn for the worse.
The zen master is largely unaffected emotionally and can easily let go of mistakes and/or loses. They generally react positively to all situations and therefore maintain performance.
How can we apply this to table tennis…
Well, a successful table tennis player will realise that emotions such as excitement, anger, frustration etc. are all part of our sport. They will learn how they personally react emotionally to certain situations and how best to use these emotions to improve, rather than disrupt their performance.
How to become a table tennis zen master
We should all want to be a zen master but beware, changing our emotional style is not easy. A zen master is the master of his emotions, he is in control. On the flip side, the seether, rager and brooder are victims, controlled by their emotions.
Here are some specifics for table tennis to think about;
Which one is Ma Long, the current best player in the world? Is he a seether, a rager, or a brooder? No. He is definitely a zen master of table tennis!
In order to perform well, you need to be able to keep your concentration or focus. If you are competing for several hours you will not be able to maintain concentration for the whole period of time. Instead, you will need to get good at switching your concentration on and off when you need it.
Maintaining concentration, during a table tennis match, can include; selecting the relevant cues and areas to focus on, being able to ignore distractions such as the crowd or the conditions, learning methods to regain concentration quickly, and staying in the present by ignoring previous points and/or the future final outcome of the match.
I will go through these points one by one.
When playing a table tennis match it’s important to know what to be looking out for. Obviously, you need to see the ball but there are lots of other important “cues” for you to pick up on. For example;
Remembering these important cues will help you keep your concentration during a long match. Don’t switch off! And don’t just relax and react!
When playing a table tennis match your attention should be on your opponent. If you are worried about the crowd, the floor, the umpire, etc., then you are concentrating on the wrong things. Imagine a boxer being distracted by the crowd… they would get knocked out. Keep your concentration on your opponent.
Also, if your concentration is too heavily on yourself, you are distracted. Yes, it’s important to know your own game but when you’re playing this should all be automatic/subconscious. Your opponent should have your full concentration.
There will undoubtedly be times when you realise that you have lost concentration. Here are three R’s to help you get it back…
If you have just won the previous point, well done, now win this point. If you’ve just lost the previous point, don’t worry, there’s another one coming up in about five seconds.
When you are playing a competitive table tennis match your job is surprisingly simple. It’s not like in team sports, such a football, where your job is to pass the ball, or defend in the hope that yourself or another player will help the team win the game. No, in table tennis your job is to win the current point.
The whole process of winning has been broken down for us. In order to win the game, we need to win three or four ends. In order to win an end, we need to win eleven points. Winning the tournaments starts (and continues) right here, in this point. All of your concentration should be on winning the single point you are about to play. Nothing else matters!
Authorized republication from Table Tennis Expert by Ben Larcombe.
]]>Truth be told, table tennis is undoubtedly fast and tiring and even professional players would agree. It requires a lot of skills like speed, agility, consistency, accuracy, coordination, endurance and many more. But here’s the thing, these skills can be developed all at the same time through one training routine and that is what we are going to look into in this article.
Multiball Training is a kind of table training that involves the continuous feeding of table tennis balls from the trainer’s end of the table to the opposite end where the trainee is situated. Instead of using one ball to perform drill patterns, the feeder, which could be the coach or the trainer or even a co-player, uses a basket of balls and continuously feeds each ball to the player for each stroke throughout the patterns being practiced.
There are hundreds of possible patterns, varying in terms of pace and frequency, that could be performed with multiball. This allows the coaches and trainers to design a program that is apt for the player’s training requirements and also enables them to focus on the areas that the players have to improve on.
There are several reasons why incorporating multiball in the training regimen of an athlete is effective and productive and below are just some of them. Keep in mind that this kind of training is not only for intermediate and advanced players but also for beginners. It is just a matter of developing a program suitable for each player’s needs.
It helps develop muscle memory. Table tennis players are required to be consistent when it comes to their strokes and movements. My coach would often tell me that no matter how far the ball goes, it is important to observe and maintain the correct stroke when hitting the ball since a lot of elements, like timing, power, and rhythm, generate from it.
In order to achieve this consistency, he would often require me to train with multi-balls because this kind of training allows development of muscle memory. With a high level of repetition, the body gets accustomed with the movement and eventually enables the automatic execution of the strokes.
Muscle memory is crucial because the player’s ability to focus on the game is also dependent on it. Once muscle memory is developed, the player does not have to divide his or her attention between the execution of the movement and the tracking of the incoming ball because as the movement becomes natural, the player gets to focus more on the ball and the rally.
It enhances footwork. Footwork plays a big role in the success of a table tennis player as it permits one to move quicker and execute necessary movements more effectively. There are various footwork patterns that could be simulated through multiball training and again, this is supported by the high level of repetition that the training offers. Through repetition of footwork patterns, the lower body gets strengthened and this allows the players to perform at the optimum level.
It boosts speed, agility, and endurance. Multiball training is often associated with exhaustion and torture as one would often be out of breath by the time the basket filled with balls is emptied (or maybe even before it becomes empty!). Multiball training allows the feeder to speed
up the process of ball feeding and to oblige the player to move and react at the same pace.
In the process, the speed and agility of the players are developed and their endurance is tested. Endurance is important in order to keep up with the game especially when the player has to play a long match or several matches within a day.
It develops coordination and consistency. When we talk about coordination in table tennis, we usually focus on eye-and-hand which pertains to coordination between what you see with your eyes and how you react with your hands.
We have mentioned earlier that muscle memory helps develop consistency of a player – that once the body gets accustomed to the movement, the execution becomes automatic and natural. When there is consistency, it becomes easier to attain coordination as the player does not have to worry about his or her body movement anymore. The focus now is on watching the ball throughout the rally and reacting to it with appropriate hand movements.
There are two ways by which multi-ball training could be done. One is through the actual multi-ball feeding by a coach or a training partner, which I have already mentioned earlier, and the other one is through the help of a robot which is popularly known to table tennis players as ‘Robopong’.
There is not much difference between the two especially now that some robopongs already have pre-programmed drills and can manipulate training drills like an actual person can.
However, on one hand, what I think is the advantage of having someone who actually feeds the ball is that it is quicker to make adjustments and adapt to the needs of the players. For instance, if in the middle of a multi-ball session the trainer observes that the player is already getting better at doing a crossover, the trainer can easily make slight adjustments with the distance and placement of the ball on the table and gradually take the training to a higher level.
On the other hand, what I think is the advantage of using a robopong over training with an actual trainer is that it can produce balls with more uniform speed and spin. This is exactly what players, especially those at the beginner’s level, need in order to develop muscle memory and build a solid foundation. Moreover, when players train with robopongs, the coach gets to watch them more carefully compared to when the coach has to feed the ball and observe them at the same time. Lastly, robopongs are easy to set up and they do not get tired unlike humans. Therefore, one can train for as long as he wants!
Interested in getting yourself a robopong? Check out our list of available robopongs here!
As already mentioned, there are various multi-ball drills that could be done depending on the needs of the players. There are patterns that focus on footwork and there are also others that focus on strokes. For footwork training, the patterns usually used are the sidestep footwork pattern and the crossover footwork pattern.
Sidestep is usually done when the player is near the table and the ball goes not too far away from his or her reach.
This is generally how the pattern goes: for right-handed players, take the ready position and let us assume that you are hitting the ball that is going to your forehand side. Simply lift your left your foot and do a sidestep going to the right. But before landing, immediately lift your other foot and do a sidestep following the left foot.
Assuming that right after the stroke the opponent was able to return the ball to your backhand, whether you are returning it with your backhand or forehand, just lift your right foot followed by the left foot and step back to your backhand side.
Remember that this is a sidestep pattern and therefore your feet should only make lateral movements and not cross over each other.
Crossover, on the other hand is usually done when the ball goes extensively far and the player has to cover a wider area to reach the ball.
Assuming you are right handed and you are at the starting position, do a crossover by simply lifting your left foot over the right foot followed immediately by stepping the right foot to the right. If the opponent returns the ball to your backhand and you think that you can still receive it with your forehand, just simply step your right foot behind the left foot back to the backhand side immediately followed by the left foot.
Crossover might seem difficult to perform at the start but that is exactly the point of doing multiball training – it only takes some getting used to!
To conclude, multiball training helps a great deal in the overall development of a player, no matter what the skill level is. From building one’s foundation to strengthening the same in a more advanced level, multiball could help an athlete in many ways. In my humble opinion, no one is too good at table tennis to stop practicing with multiballs. So get as much chance as you can to do multiball training and find yourself improving session after session.
]]>As a general rule, you get to serve twice before it becomes the opponent’s turn. The switching continues until either of you reaches 11 points and wins the game. However, this becomes different if the score reaches 10-10, as from this point, each of you only gets to serve once per turn until one wins the game by being two points ahead.
Yes, I know 11 does not seem a lot. But this is the very reason why you have to make the most out of each rally and the very reason why you always have to be one point ahead of your opponent.
Maybe you are thinking (just like Homer Simpson here) how you can possibly get ahead. Do you always have to attack? Do you always have to kill the ball? Not really because we all know that you cannot just smash the ball anytime you want. But here’s the thing, you always get the chance to serve and you can use this to your advantage.
Let me tell you how.
When the ball is in your possession and it is finally your turn to serve, you should feel extra confident as you have full control over not just the ball but also over your opponent.
There are two ways by which you can dictate and dominate the game when you are the one serving and trust me, it helps reduce anxiety when you know you can control the game.
Firstly, you can strategically place the ball anywhere on the table and make sure the opponent has a hard time reaching for it. For instance, if you see that your opponent’s lack of footwork prevents him or her from doing a cross over or a side step, then you might want to exploit this weakness by serving the ball far from his or her forehand reach.
Secondly, you get to impart spin on the ball which you could also use to challenge the opponent. If the opponent’s forehand chop is not as effective and powerful, then why not try to serve the ball with a heavy backspin to his or her forehand? I am telling you, that is an instant 1 point!
Another advantage of having the chance to serve the ball is that you can anticipate how and where the opponent is going to return it to you therefore allowing to you to prepare for its return. This actually demands you to strategize as there are several possible ways by which the opponent can return the ball. But if you are able to effectively visualize the possible patterns beforehand, it can undoubtedly help you dominate the game.
Let us take for example your short backspin service to the forehand of your opponent. He or she can return it anywhere on your end of the table but of course you know that and you have prepared for that. If the opponent places the ball to your forehand near the net, you know that you can either receive it by doing a chop stroke or better yet, return it by flicking. Likewise, if he or she places it to your forehand but near the end of the table, you know it is already the chance to spin and deliver the ball somewhere far from the opponent’s reach.
See? Rallies do not have do end with a powerful smash. Just as long as you know how your service works and how the opponent could possibly return the ball, you can gain points which can help you get ahead!
Moving on… Did you know that there are regulations for the proper way of serving? Yes, there is a right way of serving the ball and failure to comply with these rules could earn the players the ‘referee cards’. (Yes, both yellow and red!)
In the International Table Tennis Federation Handbook, there is a section dedicated to explain the rules in serving the ball. In order for you to avoid the cards mentioned above, let us briefly discuss these rules.
To start, the ball has to rest on the palm of your free hand and the free hand must be beyond the white border line of the table and above the playing surface level. Keep in mind that the ball has to be visible to the receiver and the umpire every time you are serving.
The ball has to be tossed vertically and at least 16 cm or 6 inches above the palm of the hand and without imparting spin on it. Bear in mind that it is illegal to impart spin on the ball using anything other than the racket.
As the ball descends, be ready to strike it with your racket so that it lands and bounces once on your end of the table, then goes over the net and finally lands on your opponent’s end of the table. However, if the ball which you have served touches the net, whether or not the opponent received it, it shall be considered a ‘let’ and not scored.
The rules are pretty simple and not a lot to remember. However, it is still best to allot time to practice your service during training sessions in order to achieve mastery of service strokes and be ready for official matches.
Services in table tennis vary in terms of the kind and amount of spin imparted on the ball. There are various kinds of serves and some have just evolved from the combination of the basic ones. So before jumping into these advanced and more complicated serves, I am sure you would agree that it is paramount to understand first how the basic ones work.
A Backspin or Chop Serve is one of the basic serves that is produced by chopping the ball underneath with an open-angled racket. This kind of spin is often used to prevent the opponent from attacking as this spin reduces the speed of the ball and consequently slows down the pace of the game. You can use either your backhand or forehand in producing this kind of serve. But in my opinion, it is advantageous to learn how to serve using both in order to deceive the opponent.
Depending on the length of your backspin serve, the opponent can either return it with an open-angled racket and a push stroke or with a close-angled racket and a loop stroke.
Another basic serve is the Sidespin Serve which is produced by brushing the ball sideways either from left to right or right to left. Whether you are left-handed or right-handed, a left to right sidespin yields a ball that generally spins to your right when plainly returned by the opponent. In the same manner, a right to left sidespin yields a ball that generally spins to your left.
It is not advisable to return a sidespin service with a push chop unless you are sure of the amount of sidespin to be able to counter the direction of the ball. What receivers usually do when they anticipate a sidespin serve is to counter it with a forehand stroke towards the opposite direction of the spin. Otherwise, it will just go outside the table.
Last is the Topspin Serve which is also known as the Fastball Serve. This kind of service is produced by brushing the ball upward and forward in a manner that resembles a forehand stoke. This kind of spin is difficult to serve short but very effective when you want to catch your opponent off guard. All you have to produce is a fastball that goes to the direction away from your opponent’s reach.
This service is often received with a forehand drive as long as the timing is correct. If you are not sure of the speed and your own timing, it is best to receive it with a forehand block (if the ball goes to the forehand, otherwise do the backhand block) so that all you have to worry about is the correct receiving angle of your racket.
However, there are still some that would rush into their workout thinking that it is a smarter way of utilizing their time since stretching will not burn as much calorie anyway. What they do not realize is that proper stretching is fundamental and it can either make or break their workout.
There are only two things that athletes have to be remember to convince themselves that stretching the muscles before and after a training session is important and not to mention, crucial. First, it helps improve one’s game as it warms the body and allows it to perform at its highest level and secondly, it prevents one from suffering injury as it helps not just the muscles but also the joints to reach their maximum range of motion or flexibility making them accustomed to the kind of intensity and tension that will occur throughout the workout activity.
There are different kinds of stretching and each kind provides specific assistance to the muscles and joints of the body. In this article, we will go over the kind that is incorporated in the warm up routine before an activity which is the dynamic stretching and also the one that is performed to cool down and relax the body after an activity which is the static stretching.
We all know how rubber bands work, right? And we are also aware that when they are left unused for a long period of time, they dry up and become brittle causing them to break into pieces in an attempt to put them into use once again.
Muscles are like rubber bands. When they are sedentary for a certain period of time, they tend to become less “elastic” and less flexible. This is the reason why when you start working out and engaging in physical activities after not being active for a while, your muscles become sore and the tendency of suffering injuries is always there.
So what do people who are engaged in physical activities do before they proceed with their routine? They perform dynamic stretching exercises. As the name suggests, dynamic stretching involves incorporating active and constant movements to the stretching routine to help activate the muscles that will be used throughout the workout session. This kind of stretching is done to warm up muscles and stimulate body mechanisms necessary for the work to be done.
Both dynamic and static stretching exercises help loosen up muscles and prevent muscle strain injuries. However, what sets dynamic stretching apart from static stretching is that it helps the body prepare in a sport-specific manner. There are a number of specific dynamic stretching exercises for each muscle group in the body and they allow simulation of motions that are similar and relevant to what an athlete undertakes for his or her sport.
Warming up with dynamic stretching also helps increase body temperature that is needed in any physical activity. When body temperature increases, blood circulates more throughout the body and carries nutrients to the cells allowing the body to perform at the optimal level. Furthermore, dynamic stretching helps in improving body awareness because as you move through the stretch your body is required to maintain balance and coordination in order to execute the movement.
There are a number of dynamic stretching exercises that an athlete could perform but those that have to be in the training routine should be appropriate to the kind of movements involved in his or her sport. For table tennis players, here are some of the stretching exercises that are suitable for their sport:
Static stretching is the opposite of dynamic stretching as it involves holding the stretched muscle for a couple of seconds while staying immobile. This kind of stretching, as mentioned earlier, is done after a training or workout session to relax and cool down the body.
Generally, static stretching helps improve flexibility, increase range of motion and reduce chances of getting injuries as does dynamic stretching. But ultimately, this kind of stretching is done to relieve stress and tension in the muscles which is normal after a training session. Also, since muscles are still warm and more flexible after working out, they are easier and feel more relaxing to stretch.
Below are some of the static stretching exercises that are not only for table tennis players but also for anyone who engages in physical activities:
*All photos are from Google
Need more coaching advice? You can customise your table tennis coaching program with Green Paddle!
]]>Table tennis rubbers usually come pre-assembled and are made up of two components: the top sheet on the surface and the rubber sponge underneath it. The top sheet is the material that grips and makes direct contact with the ball while the rubber sponge is one that is directly attached to the blade and acts as a spring that absorbs and catapults that ball out toward where it is directed.
Depending on the thickness and density/hardness of the top sheet and sponge, together they contribute to the overall spin, speed and control of the ball.
Rubber tops sheets and sponges come in various thickness and density/hardness but the rule of thumb is this: the harder and thicker the rubber, the faster it is and the softer and thinner the rubber, the slower it is. This is the reason why generally, thick and hard rubbers are used by offensive players while the thin and soft ones are used by defensive players.
When the rubber is hard, that is to say when the level of density is high, it is less likely that the ball will sink deep into the rubber. This means that upon contact of the ball onto a hard rubber, the ball just bounces off it right away and so the contact time or what is termed ‘dwell time’ between them is shortened. It is safe to say then that hard rubbers propel the ball faster but generate less spin and control than the soft ones. Soft rubbers tend to slow the ball down due to longer dwell time but can produce more spin and control on the ball.
When we talk about thickness on the other hand, rubbers that have thick sponges tend to be springier than the ones with thin sponges. Thick rubbers then allow the ball to bounce harder and faster but with less control compared to thin rubbers which produce slower and lesser spin on the ball albeit with a higher level of control.
This is the reason why defensive players (like choppers and blockers) prefer thinner rubbers with sponge thickness that usually ranges from OX (no sponge) to 1.3mm while offensive players (like loopers and spinners) take the thicker ones with rubber thickness that range from 1.8mm to 2.5mm. For all around players, it is advisable to go for rubbers that range from 1.5mm to 1.7mm for these rubbers provide good control and medium speed on the ball.
There are two main kinds of table tennis rubbers and no, they are not the red and the black.
The first kind are the inverted rubbers. These are the most popular and mostly seen kind of rubber. They are called inverted because the rubber pimples, which are present on all top sheets, are facing toward into the sponge of the rubber therefore exposing the smooth side on the surface – the same reason it is also called the pimples-in rubber.
The second kind are the pimpled rubbers. They are called pimpled because the rubber pimples are facing outward from the surface making it the side that directly contacts the ball. These rubbers are also known as the pimples-out rubbers.
Inverted rubbers may be further classified into two types: the sticky or the tacky rubbers and the anti-spin rubbers. Although they are both pimples-in rubber, they are the total opposite of each other when it comes to gripping and generating spin on the ball.
Tacky rubbers are the commonly used rubbers. These rubbers have a smooth and sticky surface and are best in providing spin on the ball in general due to the tackiness and amount of rubber contacting the ball. The tackiness of the rubber is directly proportional to the amount of spin it produces. This means that the higher the level of tackiness of the rubber, the greater the amount of spin it can produce and vice versa.
Tacky rubbers are therefore great for looping and spinning. However, one disadvantage of using this kind of rubber is that it is affected by the amount of spin of the opponent. The user has to be able to read the spin of the ball and determine how heavy it would feel upon contact in order to decide on the right angle of the racket and amount of brushing to execute.
Anti-spin rubbers on the other hand do not generate much spin on the ball. This kind of rubber is non-tacky and slippery and therefore does not have much friction. So contrary to what tacky rubbers can do, anti-spin rubbers only neutralize and nullify the spin produced by the opponent and since they are slippery, the ball just slides off and does not grip on it.
Aside from nullifying, anti spin rubbers tend to reverse the spin of the ball and this becomes an advantage as it can confuse the opponent especially because this kind of rubber is not widely used and not a lot of players study how to play against it.
Anti-spin rubbers are good for slowing down the ball (especially when soft sponge is used) but they cannot produce powerful attacks. This is the reason why they are commonly used for the backhand part of the racket and are popular for choppers as anti-spins satisfy the need of choppers for more control.
There are two kinds of pimpled rubbers – the short pips and the long pips. While most players begin playing with pimples-in rubbers, others tend to make a switch to pips-out especially when they are able to develop a playing style suitable for pip
Short pimples-out rubbers, or short pips, have broad and slightly sticky pimples. It works quite the same as the tacky inverted rubber but it does not create much friction and does not grip the ball as much due to the lesser amount of rubber contacting the ball.
While tacky rubbers are good for looping, short pips are great for smashing. It is also easier to counter hit the ball when using short pips as they are not greatly affected by the kind of spin coming to it unlike the tacky rubbers. Furthermore, shorts pips rubbers are good for direct blocking because of their tendency to reduce the impact of the incoming ball spin. And lastly, it is easier to return the service of the opponent with short pips for the same reason why it is good for blocking and just long as the user knows the right angle and how much power to use.
Long pimples-out rubbers, or simply long pips, are the opposite of the short pips rubber when it comes to appearance. Long pips have long and thin pimples and they are mostly used by defensive players as they tend to slow down and reverse the spin on the ball upon contact. One advantage of using a long pips rubber is that it produces unpredictable spins and therefore can cause confusion on the part of the opponent just like an anti-spin rubber.
Earlier it was mentioned that there are rubbers with no sponge at all and this set up is usual for long pips users. Since long pips rubbers are used by defensive players (especially by choppers ad blockers) and defensive players prefer control than speed, long pips rubbers with no sponge or very thin sponge are what they commonly use. Long pips provide good control on the ball regardless of the kind of spin coming to it.
The most important thing to do when choosing your rubber is to consider your playing style –for both forehand and backhand. If you are an offensive player, choose the rubber that would complement your speed and power. If you are a defensive player, choose a rubber that would provide more control on the ball. It is important to remember that powerful rubbers and racket won’t guarantee that you will start winning more games. The key is to find the rubber that would suit your playing style.
It is not always easy to determine your ability and potential on your own. It is therefore advisable to get someone, such as a coach, to watch you play so that he or she can make recommendations for you.You might not realize that you can improve as a chopper but your coach will be able observe that when he or she studies your playing style and therefore suggest that you switch to a more defensive rubber. Or you are probably a really good spinner based on your form and strokes but you cannot reach your full potential because you are using the wrong rubber, a professional coach can then help you with that.
Even though you do not get to test the rubbers before purchasing it, you can always find someone who uses the rubber you think would suit your playing style. Give that paddle a try or better yet see if you could try the rubber on your racket to be able to properly compare it with your old racket and rubber combination.
You might not feel comfortable with your new rubber at first but do not give up on it right away. You need to make some adjustments, of course. The reason you are switching to a different rubber is to find the one that would suit your playing style, it is therefore normal that it would have a different feel at first. So give it at least a few days or weeks until hopefully you get the hang of it.
In order to instill correct foundation, it is advisable for beginners to use rubbers that would generate more control rather than speed. Once they are able to control the ball with their rubber – meaning steady strokes and brushes, speed and power spin will come naturally.
Table tennis is one of the racket sports that require players rapid reflexes and swift movements. Despite the small playing area that the sport demands, a table tennis player must be able to change directions quickly and move fast in order to follow and hit the ball both sideways and in and out of the table while maintaining proper form and correct posture.
There are several table tennis training programs that can be followed to improve the player’s overall speed and one of the widely performed are the ladder agility drills.
Ladder agility training, also called ladder speed training, is a kind of drill training that involves following certain footwork patterns across a ladder laid flat on the ground. This training caters to the development of the player’s overall quickness, agility, foot speed, stability and coordination, all of which are motor skills vital to the sport.
Ladder agility drills are usually done at the start of a training session right after the warm-up exercises. To ensure good quality training, proper form has to be maintained throughout the drill. Not only because proper form prevents one from having injuries but also because it is through getting proper form down first that players can develop good motor patterns that would allow them to optimize their movements and increase their speed.
So what are the rules to ensure maintenance of proper form while performing ladder drills? See the guidelines below.
Now that we are properly guided on what form to maintain, we can now proceed with the actual ladder drill patterns. There are a number of ladder drill patterns one can perform and below are a few.
Remember: Avoid touching the rungs of the ladder. This is why although it is more economical to improvise and draw a ladder on the floor (using chalks, markers or tape), having an actual ladder is preferred because it helps players achieve accuracy and precision.
Despite the ultimate goal of improving the player’s overall quickness, players must not rush into performing the drills. The early stages of learning and getting the hang of ladder drills are crucial and have to be supervised carefully.
Ladder drills are learned in a slow and controlled manner in order to optimize the proper movement mechanics. Rushing into it might only results to poor motor patterns and this becomes increasingly difficult to mend in the long run.
So when training on speed ladders, always remember quality over quantity. Do not get into a hurry. Just relax your body, work on accuracy, maintain a normal speed and later on you will find yourself progressing as you acquire the skill.
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It all depends on the chemistry of you and your doubles partner, whether it’s a partner of the same sex, or mixed doubles. Take our short quiz to see what kind of doubles player you are:
A. Yes! If my partner is strong, he should adapt to the opponent’s receive.
B. Sometimes, because I honestly forget that I’m playing doubles.
C. No, I always inform my partner first before I serve.
A. Yes! I’m very lucky, so I’m sure the coin will flip to heads, and then we’ll get to serve first. My partner should not interfere.
B. Sometimes, because I’m petty like that.
C. No, it doesn’t matter who chooses as long as my partner and I are on good terms.
A. Yes! I’m always picking up the slack in the game, she can go pick up the ball by herself.
B. Sometimes, because I’m tired.
C. No, I don’t want to just stand there while my partner is going after the ball.
A.Yes! I list down everything my partner did wrong and make him listen to my winning strategies.
B. Sometimes, when I succeed in not being too annoyed by how she is throwing away points.
C. Yes! We strategize and motivate each other.
A.Yes! It’s his fault that we lost. I’m going to ask the coach to reassign me a new partner. A person of my caliber should be paired up with someone who is actually good.
B. Sometimes, because tempers flare up or I can’t help feeling disappointed in my partner and myself.
C. No, we still talk after we lose a match. Our friendship is more important than something that’s just a game.
If most of your answers were A:
Ever wonder why your teammates shy away from you as you look for a doubles partner? Maybe it’s because you’re not the best type to play in a setup where the players coordinate and not compete. Playing doubles is about compromise and teamwork, your doubles partner is just as important as you are. If you’re not aware that you’ve been acting like this, maybe now is a good chance to show your teammates that you can be a good doubles partner. And if you don’t want to change your attitude, you can always play singles instead.
It’s okay, playing doubles definitely has a steep learning curve. Not only do you have to remember all these new, complex rules, but you also have to remember that you are not the only player out there on your side of the table. Just like in any of your relationships, though, it’s good to see yourself as the half of a whole, instead of insisting on your own way all the time.
(For those who got A’s or B’s, don’t despair yet! Read on below to learn how to be a good doubles partner.)
Congratulations! You’re a great doubles partner. You are able to compromise and embody the ever-elusive compassion in maintaining a good working relationship with your partner. You understand that this is not just about your individual skill as players, but how communication and working in tandem are the true keys to winning your doubles matches. And most importantly, that the friendship you have together is far too valuable to lose over something as insignificant as a game that you won’t remember the outcome of ten years from now.
In some cases, you already have good chemistry and team work with your doubles partner. But the problem is you’re not a strong enough player. In that case, we strongly recommend you get a good table tennis coach and good training environment to improve yourself first.
You’re here! Good job. Wanting to improve yourself is winning half the battle.
Source: The Asahi Shimbun | Getty Image
No blaming your partner. No criticism that isn’t constructive. No calling names or berating your partner. It is never pleasant to be blamed or criticized, even less so if it’s being done to you when you’re already feeling bad or under pressure. Chances are, your partner isn’t trying to make you guys lose on purpose. Berating her will just drag down your chances of winning, and most probably damage your friendship.
Communication can happen anytime—in between points, while you’re warming up before a match, while you’re chasing after a ball, in between matches, or even just in the simple hand gestures you make to show what serve you’re going to execute.
Source: Table Tennis Photography British League
Communication extends to when you’re off the court. It’s not just about talking strategy and tactics, it’s also about getting to know each other. Do you know what your partner wants when the two of you are losing? Does he want you to stay quiet or encourage him? What about if the shot goes right? Does he prefer an enthusiastic high-five or a silent “Good job?” Be honest and open. Think of it not as building a working relationship or a temporary partnership that lasts for the duration of the game, but ultimately, a bond of friendship.
You know that by executing your winning serve, there is a 50/50 chance of your opponent not being able to receive it. But you also know that your partner will not be able to return the receive. Compromising is not about “lowering yourself to your partner’s level.” Compromise is about compassion, about making the most out of your abilities—including your strengths and weaknesses—as a pair.
There are limits to this, of course. It is always a good thing to help out your partner when you see her struggling with a specific aspect, or if she asks for your help. However, if you see her getting annoyed with your little side-comments, it’s best to keep them to yourself. This works better if you offer points of improvement as suggestions, and not as commands. You are not her coach.
Source: Petrissa Solja | Getty Images
This goes both ways. Your partner may sometimes be genuinely concerned or trying to help. He is not your coach, but he is your teammate and all he wants is for the two of you to win. If you think he is being bossy or if you’re annoyed by his suggestions, kindly refer back to the first point: communication. You can stand up for yourself without being unkind. Being passive-aggressive (read: ignoring your partner as he talks to you, turning away from your partner as he offers a suggestion) is never a good idea.
Not literally, of course! Because you are working as a team, your own mood can often affect your partner’. If you are pessimistic and act like you couldn’t care less about losing points, sooner or later your partner will either be fed up with you or begin to show signs of giving up too.
Likewise, try to put a positive spin on things if you sense your partner is having a hard time. Stay calm under pressure and I’m sure your partner will appreciate it. Sometimes, two players with great chemistry can triumph over two higher-level players with no teamwork.
Source: Olympics Day 8 – Table Tennis | Getty Images
Personally, it depends on you and your partner’s agreement, but I find it better to apologize for any points that I’ve lost for us. Of course, some people say that it’s better not to apologize, so as to say that the point lost was the fault of both players as part of their teamwork.
However, almost anyone will agree that, should your partner apologize to you: always forgive and forget. This is not just for the sake of your partnership, but your friendship as well. Carrying blame around will drag down both your spirits and energy, when you should be channeling a joint effort in winning against the opponent.
Humility is a virtue and even if you did make the winning shot or if you scored most of the points, don’t brag about this. Because if you won, you won together. Never discount your partner or the equal efforts you put in making this win possible.
Source: World Championships 2015 – Table Tennis – Mens Doubles Results
Just because your partner may not be blaming you for the consecutive failed returns, does not mean you can slack off. Just like in any singles match or training session—or life in general—you should constantly strive to improve on whatever it is you’re not on top of during this particular moment.
Looking into your faults provides the opportunity to improve yourself. Know you can always ask your partner for help—that’s teamwork. Playing your best, trying your hardest, these are not just what you owe your partner, coach, and other teammates, but what you owe yourself as a player.
]]>Is this your first time at a table tennis tournament? I can give you a quick rundown of the rules if you like. As you can see, two players stand across from each other with a rectangular table divided by a net in between them. They each hold a paddle in his dominant, playing hand and assume either a crouched ready position or a slightly bent-at-the-knees playing position if the game has already started.
]]>Is this your first time at a table tennis tournament?
I can give you a quick rundown of the rules if you like. As you can see, two players stand across from each other with a rectangular table divided by a net in between them. They each hold a paddle in his dominant, playing hand and assume either a crouched ready position or a slightly bent-at-the-knees playing position if the game has already started.
The paddle has to have a red-colored rubber on one side and a black-colored one on the other. You can choose to have the paddle outfitted with sidetape and a blade grip, or not. But the paddle and the rubber have to be in a good working condition, which is left to the consideration of the umpire. The aim of a player is to finish the race to 11 sooner than his opponent.
It can be quite challenging to see the little yellow or white ball whizzing from each side of the table as a spectator, and what more if you’re a player focusing on hitting it—which is why in official tournaments, wearing a white shirt (or yellow, if that’s the color of your official playing ball) is disallowed. Let’s step closer to watch.
This table’s match is just about to begin. The umpire presents a coin, and following the results of the coin toss, the player who guessed correctly is handed the ball. He is allowed to choose between serving and choosing one of the two ends of the table to position himself. They begin with a quick exchange of paddles, to check what the opponent is using. This is crucial, because you never know what types or combinations of rubber you’re up against.
You can see that she’s being careful with his service, because if the ball does not first bounce from her side of the table to the other without crossing over or around the net, it immediately becomes a point of the opponent. If the ball bounces on his side and gets to the other side but brushes the net before bouncing on the other end, the umpire calls a let, which means the player has to serve it again with no points awarded to anyone.A quick rally to warm up, before the serving player begins the game. While there is no time limit as to how long you can deliberate before serving, the umpire (and your opponent) will doubtless become annoyed at you if you take an unreasonably long time to do so. There’s no fault in mentally strategizing a bit first, though.
See how she positions himself so that the ball and the paddle are visible, and how the ball is placed on the middle of her palm, with her hand stretched flat out and open. The ball has to be tossed before the server can work his magic on it, turning it into one of any variety of serves she has in his repertoire.
Oh—too bad! She failed to hit the ball as it was coming down from her toss, giving away the point to her opponent. Oh well, she still has one more serve. It doesn’t matter where the ball lands on the other side, because it’s a singles match. You’d have to watch out for that during a doubles match, though, but that’s for another time. Beautiful serve! Now the opponent is receiving the ball, and oh—it trips over the net, and lands short on the other side of the table, which the server couldn’t return. That’s not a let anymore, and he gets a full point for a good return.
Now it’s the opponent’s turn to serve. She serves a short to the right, and oh—her opponent made the mistake of touching the table with her free hand while reaching to return it, which earns the server a point. Neither your person nor what you’re carrying or wearing should touch the playing surface of the table, move the playing surface, or touch the net assembly while a rally (a ball in play) is in motion, or else your opponent gets the point.
Oh, that? Well, it should have been the server’s point because the ball brushed the edge of the table, which means it’s a good return or an edge ball. But, it’s all up to the umpire. He says he didn’t see the ball touch the edge, but the side, which isn’t allowed, and ultimately, it’s the umpire who decides if it’s a good ball or not.
That was a close fight, wasn’t it? Usually the player who reaches 11 points first wins the set, but in this case, they were tied at 10-10. A player has to win by at least a margin of 2 points, so they had to keep alternately serving one service each until one of them got ahead by two points to win the set.
So now their set is at 1-0. You can see them going to the sidelines, this is their rest time. They can drink water and talk to their coaches, but they have to leave their paddles on the table. This short break is different from the one 1-minute time-out each player or his coach can call at any point during the game (but probably best not during a rally).
Now they’re going back to the table, they have to switch sides. This goes on alternately until one of them wins the best of any odd number of sets in a game. Usually it’s a best of 5, which means the first one to reach 3 sets, wins. The game’s over. It’s polite to shake the hand of your opponent afterwards, though some teenagers would prefer a high-five, whichever you want. You could also shake hands with the umpire or with the opponent’s coach. It’s a friendly match—and even if it’s official, shaking hands whether you win or lose is good form.
Oh, look there, a doubles match. Let’s go watch. Don’t they look coordinated, with their matching uniforms? Usually, in tournaments, doubles partners have to wear matching or near-matching attires, obviously more for the sake of the umpire and the spectators. It’s not that different from singles matches, except the white vertical line down the middle of the table is important now. The goal is still to win best out of 5, the first to reach 11 wins a set, and so on.
You can see that one of them is standing behind her partner and the other is standing more beside hers, anywhere you stand is fine, as long as you remember that each player cannot hit the ball more than once in succession.. Services should always bounce from the right side of the server’s end to the right side of the opponent’s. The referee is giving that point to the receiving team because the ball went past the white line, even if they’re arguing that it was exactly on the white line. Like I said, umpires wield the final decision.
So, Girl A and B vs. Girl X and Y. Girl A serves and Girl X receives for two balls, like in a singles match. Now that it’s Girl X’s turn to serve, Girl B is the one standing at the right side of the table. Girl B will receive for two balls and then it will be her turn to serve, with Girl Y receiving. For the next set, they’ll reverse the order of who receives whose serves. It’s a little confusing, but it’s easy to get the hang of it once you’re the one out there playing.
Girl Y is probably coaching Girl X on how to return Girl A’s serve. Like in a singles match, there’s no time limit to how long you can deliberate before you serve. Two players can be great individually, but they have to work together, and so, in a doubles match, communication is key. If you’re on the receiving end, you can also deliberate before receiving, you just have to raise a hand or an arm to show that you’re not ready while you’re discussing (with a soft voice, perhaps) what to do next. Any good serve that falls on the opponent’s court can be considered a let if neither player makes a move to receive it, showing that they weren’t ready. And I think that’s about all you need to know, let’s sit back and enjoy the game. Doubles match rallies can be really entertaining to watch, but challenging for the players. For one thing, they should always take turns returning the ball. The line doesn’t matter anymore once the initial receive is done, you can return them wherever on the other court’s playing surface in a rally. A good ball is when you hit it after it’s bounced on your end of the table just once; any more and it’s the opponent’s point. Doubles can be challenging because see how even though Girl X can only weakly return Girl A’s serve, Girl X positions the return right where Girl A is standing? This makes it impossible for Girl B to get to the ball. Oh—Girl A returned the ball meant for Girl B in her panic. That’s the opponent’s point.
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Spin can spell the difference between an intermediate player and an advanced player, so it is really vital to familiarize ourselves with everything there is to learn about all kinds of table tennis ball spins. Many players are so handy with engaging in rallies, doing flashier and faster shots, but always fail to handle spin or generate some on their own. And sometimes, an intermediate players’ game can seemingly look and feel as fast-paced as an advanced players’ game because the speed of the ball exchanges is relatively the same. But what really marks them off apart is the amount and quality of spin each ball carries over to and fro each end.
Topspin is produced by brushing the ball in an upward motion. Topspin often yields high ball throw being really suitable for offensive set-ups or cheap and easy points when the ball throws off the other end.
Topspin rebounds fast and low depending on its amount and quality. An insane amount of topspin will make the ball spring forward really fast, forcing the opponent to block and give away a high and no-substance return, or to exercise a difficult counter-attack, which chances are slimmest even at professional level.
When a topspin contacts in your rubber, it will spring upward high, making it easier for your opponent to be at his offensive stance. To prevent this from happening, you should hit a topspin with a closed racket angle (again, depending on the amount of topspin loaded) either with a fast upward brushing to short-counter the ball or block.
A special kind of topspin. It is a very slow motioned ball with insurmountable amount of topspin that can be lethal for rhythmic players. A loop is dealt with a flat angle for both blocking and counter-driving.
Backspin is produced by brushing the rubber against the ball in a downfall motion. It is most commonly used for serving and receiving subsequently. Backspin is never overused by offensive and all-around players because doing so promotes increased chances for the opponent to attack as the ball is slow and easy to eye on when in backspin. On the other hand, backspin is the main weapon of defensive players. They try to garner points by forcing offensive errors or tiring opponents with consistent backspin/ chopping.
Returning a backspin can be very tricky as failing to do it effectively may result in heightened ball placing or very low receiving, that can easily give off the point to your opponent. To effectively return a backspin, use an open angle hitting underneath the ball, doing the push stroke, or brushing the ball (again, depending on the amount of backspin present at the ball) with cautionary measures.
Sidespin is produced by brushing the ball in either side of the ball. Sidespins are usually used to supplement topspin or backspin to add confusion and hesitation to the opponent.
Sidespin is most common in services. This is because sidespins can be very deceiving, especially when mixed with either topspin or backspin. May it be short or long ball service, using a sidespin serve is always at the advantage. Although apart from services, sidespin is not much used anymore (except for extreme counter-rallies from end to end of the table).
A special type of sidespin. This is a concentrated sidespin capable of making the ball trounce and kick sideways in a quick and far motion. This is usually done in snakes to disorient the rhythm of the opponent and possibly force him/her to commit offensive error.
Receiving a sidespin has a lot of factors to consider, a lot of variations to take note of, but there are a handful of principles that can be followed to increase the chances of a quality side-spin return.
You need to observe where the contact point is upon the opponent’s racket’s contact with the ball and hit the ball in the same area as you receive it. If you are unsure of the sidespin serve your opponent did, aim for the middle of the table. In this sense, although you didn’t get to read the spin of the ball, you still have a high chance of returning the ball by aiming at the safe middle zone.
No-spin is produced by hitting the ball in concrete contact with the ball. This is effective in faking a spinny serve, spinny loop, or spinny chop.
In faking backspin or sidespin serves, players make contact with the ball in such a way that it will seem that there is spin, heavy spin, in the ball when there actually isn’t any. Adding some visual and acting deception, the opponent is most likely to succumb to an error or a high return capable of being attacked with ease.
In loops or rallies with topspin involved, hitting the ball with no-spin will force the opponent to hit the ball insufficiently that it will send off the ball to the net.
Apparently, grip-level and tackiness of rubbers affect the amount of spin your opponent can generate assuming his/her fairly decent strength to brush off or play the ball with spin. So before the game starts, ensure that you have taken note of your opponent’s equipment.
Extremely tacky or Chinese rubbers can generate a way, way more insurmountable amount of spin than slick surfaced ones or European ones, which are more primed at sponge technology and bounce feel. Short-pips can generate a small amount of spin and works like a rubber, but its ball trajectory upon hitting is pointier than normal inverted rubbers. Long-pips usually reverse and lessen the ball spin upon contact depending on its usage.
Sports science of table tennis revealed how most table tennis players rely on sound to determine the spin of the ball instead of actual visual observations. A crispier and harder sound means less spin and more speed while a softer and brushing sound indicates heavy spin.
If you still aren’t sure about how to read a spin thoroughly, look at how the ball bounces on the table. A hasty bounce is usually due to a topspin, a dying bounce from a backspin, and sideway bounce (curving) from a sidespin.
A ball carrying topspin will arc like a rainbow over the net, while a ball bearing backspin will float and look slower. A ball with sidespin will, apparently, bounce and fly sideways.
The last resort. If you really find it a nightmare just reading off the spin your opponent generates, take note of the most frequent manner your opponent does in spinning the ball. If you misread a spin one time, you can guess the spin the second time it comes around when you see the ball motion being already familiar.
]]>Quite scary isn’t it? Now this is something almost all table tennis players should have experienced. You get in to any match with an opponent that could be stronger than you, same level as you, or weaker than you. As the match progresses, you notice that you’re slowly being scored point after point because your opponent catches your number 1 receiving weakness that he/she kept on exploiting.
]]>Quite scary isn’t it?
Now this is something almost all table tennis players should have experienced.
You get in to any match with an opponent that could be stronger than you, same level as you, or weaker than you. As the match progresses, you notice that you’re slowly being scored point after point because your opponent catches your number 1 receiving weakness that he/she kept on exploiting.
Let’s assume that the 1st set is over and you both already have a clearer picture of the overall strengths and weaknesses of your opponent.
Your opponent starts serving. Score: 0-2. (from 2 service aces because you weren’t able to return properly)
You fight real hard to gain back 2 points. Score: 2-2.
Your opponent serves something similar. Score: 2-4.
You fight real hard to gain another point but made an unforced error on your 2nd opportunity. Score: 3-5.
Your opponent serves the same serve from the start of the set. Score: 3-7.
You use your emergency tactics to try to gain back the lost grounds and it proved to be successful. Score: 5-7.
Your opponent served the same thing again. Score: 5-9.
You tried using the emergency serve but it didn’t work its charm this time. Score: 6-10.
Your opponent takes the set with 1 more service ace. Score: 6-11.
Frustrating but quite familiar scenario isn’t it?
You must be thinking to yourself: “If I can just get that D@#% service, I should be able to beat this guy easily!”
Although beating your opponent easily could be debated upon, you will surely have a much easier time winning when you can return your opponent’s service.
Given that scenario above, what is the best strategy? You could just play really safe and try your best to return the ball safely without caring for quality (it could be really high and become a chance ball for your opponent) or just give up on trying to receive it properly and just count on luck to miraculously help you return the ball.
But one powerful solution and strategy in that scenario is to just attack the ball. Now you might think that’s a crazy suggestion since you’re already bleeding points from missing so many receives. But just attacking your opponent’s service is actually one very good strategy.
Even if you have a 1/5 or 20% chance of getting your offensive receive in, it’s still better than playing safe and not getting all receives in a set.
Once you successfully return the receivewith a powerful attack, your opponent will surely think twice before making that serve again since he’ll think you already got it. 50-50 percent chance of facing the dreaded service again.
It is a huge confidence booster to be able to return the service that really troubled you and especially when it comes in a powerful attack.
Now, next time you’re in that scenario, just try to attack the service aggressively and hope that it can turn your situation around.
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What are the benefits of having a professional table tennis coach? Is hiring a coach well-worth the investment? These are sound questions. Having a coach is obviously not necessary in achieving your table tennis goals but it can hasten the process of achieving and give you more confidence along the way.
But before we dwell on the some of the many benefits of having a professional coach, it is important to fully grasp on the very definition of a PROFESSIONAL table tennis coach. What makes a table tennis coach professional?
He/she has an established credibility and is well renowned amongst the table tennis community present in your locality.
He/she is able to produce substantial knowledge, exercise skills, and offer good advices from his/her table tennis experiences and learnings.
He/she is a good listener and a great conversationalist. He/she is able to help players discover their inner wisdom and tap their potential through the use of effective conversational methods.
He/she is naturally adaptive and compatible to anyplaying-style, playing behavior of players. Compatibility and good chemistry plays an essential role in maximizing the coaching experience.
Here are five of the many benefits of having a professional coach:
A research by Diane Wiese-Bjornstal suggests that emotions, feelings, and actions of players in their area of sport largely depended on the influences of their coaches. Studies of Coach Effectiveness Training have also shown the positive results of positive coaching. These studies have found that players displayed higher self-esteem when they were coached effectively than when they started off without one. They were also reported to have lower anxiety levels after the coaching experience. It goes without saying that highly motivated players will certainly perform better than the lowly motivated ones.
A professional coach celebrates small successes and offers positive reinforcement, in which psychologically speaking, can really fuel up the motivation and hype of his/her players. Part of his/her job is exploring how each player gets motivated and exercising the means to get them stay motivated.
May it be in constant verbal encouragements, perpetuating sense of professionalism in every action he/she takes, being physically present and genuinely supportive in tournaments, whatever means it is that they use to encourage their players, it will bear of heightened chances for their players attaining peak performances faster and easier.
Experienced table tennis players know that regardless of their skill level, many still fail to recognize their weaknesses and errors during in-game matches may it be in tournaments or casual gaming. Even in training when table tennis players are tasked to do particular drills and exercises, a lot still do not realize their shortcomings and unorthodox means of playing (may it be in footwork, stroke, service, ball placing, the list goes on). This is because apart from the fact that they have minimal amount of time for thinking, realizing and personally observing their own play-style, players especially the most subjective ones, have the natural tendency to justify every act they do in-game and disregard whatever the coaches are suggesting.
That is why it is essential to have a professional coach by your side to evaluate your play-style and debunk all possible ineffective and toxic play-styles, and consequently strengthen essential table tennis skills you possess. That is why it is essential to have a professional coach explain these natural tendencies and how they can be avoided. These are all beneficial, all the better when these evaluations are professional and proficient.
Apparently, each table tennis player faces may it be personal, psychological, emotional, or work-life limits that are far beyond their control. Take the case of being a student-athlete having to deal with tons of academic workload, the lack of sleep, the stress, all balancing it together with routinely training. Or take the case of a team environment promoting hostility and unfairness that are toxic, or a supposed learned helplessness of the players for always failing to secure a podium finish and always landing in bottom places in whatever tournaments they engage in. Or, plainly being unable to exploit the opponents’ weaknesses, being trounced by a very skillful player, being unable to overcome anxiety and pressure in the game, being unable to display the peak performance during tournaments.
There are a lot of instances where players can feel demotivated and think of turning away from sports due to these, from light to extreme, limits they can encounter in their table tennis journey. Professional coaching can help you in such a way that your coach can rewire your thinking through looking at other perspectives, clarifying your challenges, and guiding you to taking the most viable course of action to take there is at your given dilemmas. Coaches can also offer practical help should they be available during your times of troubles, all the more when it is table tennis related.
In relation to the third point, most of the challenges we encounter on a daily basis are from the cognitive biases, the sheltered and constrained thoughts that we feed our minds with. These become the reason for our limitations. A professional coach will expand your thinking and help you get out of very dysfunctional and enclosed mindset. All teachings, advices, and suggestions are sure to come from his/her supreme, genuine experiences and handed-down learnings from a much, much credible coach he had.
What better can a professional coach do for you once he/she had already awoken and tapped the hidden potential within you than expanding your network and table tennis social circle, possibly getting you tangible benefits such as sponsorships, and even scholarships? After being facilitated in your transition to becoming a better table tennis player and developed into a readily competitive and skillful player, a professional coach exposes you to larger table tennis environments with better players to play with, better competition to challenge yourself with. Being exposed and widened off from your accustomed training routines, tune-up games, playing in familiar clubs, your transition to becoming a better table tennis player will indubitably hasten and smoothen. This is because your opponents will be better, forcing you to enclose the stretch of playing gap you have against them, you will encounter more variety of play-styles, and you will get more recognition and appraisal responsible for motivation.
Do I still need a professional coach even if I already play in the competitive level?
Then YES! No matter how extensive and heavy the experience and skills you get, unless you find yourself constantly exhausted from table tennis routinely drills and exercises that you used to do with ease due to aging, and feeling the need to retire, YOU NEED A PROFESSIONAL COACH.Unless you have already reached the peak of your table tennis maturity from decades of rigorous training and tournament experiences and have already been at par with decently experienced players renowned internationally with the likes of Liu Guoliang, Jan Ove Walder, Jorgen Persson… which were, by the way, just strained to enter the professional coaching industry due to biological constraints (aging)…
Even world caliber players competing regularly in international tournaments, given their tireless training and insurmountable amount of experiences from daily training and tune-up games, have professional and some even personal coaches by their side always ready to mentor them and still impart a handful of usable knowledge.
Liu Guoliang and the Chinese National Table Tennis Team
Ma Lin struggled with the desire and motivation to win. Wang Hao got butterflies (not just the brand) whenever he played in major leagues. Both experienced somatic anxiety. For the case of Ma Lin, what Liu Guoliang did was he always arranged a match with money at stake between Ma Lin and other Chinese national team members. This skyrocketed the performance of Ma Lin and desire to win. Liu Guoliang helped Ma Lin shift perspective and ‘focus on the prize.’Liu Guoliang is the present-day head coach of the Chinese national table tennis team. That goes to say that he is the one responsible for the performances of the top-ranked Chinese table tennis players, from the likes of Ma Long, Zhang Jike and Xu Xin. But he was best known for engineering the anxiety-matter problems of former world champions Ma Lin and Wang Hao.
For Wang Hao’s case, Liu Guoliang lowered Wang Hao’s target to mainly just making it to round 1. Counterintuitively, Wang Hao became highly motivated and rediscovered his desire to win, as opposed to slacking off after the first round.
If it weren’t for Liu Guoliang’s arrangements and tactical aid for the two of these Chinese table tennis players, Wang Hao and Ma Lin would’ve had a harder time clinching the top positions in the world, or worse yet, would not have gotten there at all!
]]>Table tennis and its complexity demands downright focus, time investment for training sessions, and perseverance for players to improve. So that goes to say that it is essential to familiarize ourselves with the top common mistakes, especially the starting ones, that table tennis players commit all the time. Because otherwise, you may actually end up committing the same mistakes which can really be detrimental to your table tennis progress.
For instance, in contrast to very refined and coherent strokes, body and foot movement, indulging in unorthodox strokes, unhealthy footwork, and/or poor timing shots will doubtlessly result in defective and low-quality shots. And also, correcting these flaws grows more complex as you carry on with common table tennis mistakes.
Tracking your progress and correcting common table tennis mistakes at the soonest possible time will spare you from tirelessly correcting inappropriate habits concerning table tennis. Nobody wants to be very used to mistakes and bad habits such that it would consume a considerable amount of time before those bad habits are unlearned and the new and proper habits are learned.
Read on to further be notified about some of the most common table tennis mistakes.
Stiff and tensed muscles induce additional weight in your strokes that will only slack up your swing. On the other hand (not in literal terms, kidding), relaxed muscles produce more acceleration thus increasing the speed and refinery of your strokes. A more refined and graceful stroke always bring about higher accuracy, higher success rate, and faster acceleration.
This mistake can be lessened by applying conscious effort to make your body more flexible and limp. This means engaging in flexibility training and more shadow and saturation training sessions.
The worst tendency of wrong positioning and poor balancing in footwork is producing substandard quality returns capable of being trounced and trampled over by your opponents. Many table tennis players ground their whole foot to the ground. This only incapacitates them from moving precisely towards each ball return and therefore what they do is just reach for the ball. The stroke will apparently be cramped and subpar. This will then result to insufficient energy transfer to the ball, and as mentioned above, providing the ball cheap quality spin capable of being easily attacked by the opponent. The key to overcoming faulty footwork is moving slowly (at first) and simply. To start mastering the proper movement, a multi-ball training specified for footwork moving or a training partner feeding you at ends of the table with a distance forcing you to move are some of the exercises you can put into practice. And, as you go smoother and relaxed with the pacing, you can go faster and faster until the correct footwork is automated.
Table tennis players sometimes can get too enthralled by the fascination of flashy shots finishing off rallies to garner a point. We all know it should not be the case at all times. When an overly offensive stroke is improperly applied to a chop at its lowest peak, or similarly when a late ball contact is contended against a spiny loop, the most probable case would be an immediate point thrown off to the opponent. Your body and stroke coherence should be consistent with the ball placing.
Price is not the sole determinant of a blade or rubber’s quality. Seek advices from players who have already experienced playing with your table tennis equipment prospects, or do your research looking for credible online reviews, all before investing in your very own table tennis racket. Better yet, ask some friends possessing the table tennis equipment you eye to lend their racket to you for a quick testing, because in this sense you get to try the equipment first-hand.Even professional table tennis players cave in to this mistake. With the widespread technological advancements, it is not much of a surprise that table tennis players every so often assemble incompatible blade and rubber combinations, although this dilemma most frequently happens with beginners.
Naturally, regardless whether you are newly introduced to table tennis or an already experienced player, you will encounter a lot of seemingly relevant and useful table tennis information from various but not necessarily related sources may it be your coaches, trainers, teammates, or the internet. Having these information spring in your table tennis walk is not much of a bad idea, unless they begin propelling contradictions against each other and thus generating confusion. Apparently, not all knowledge nuggets you obtain will suit your play-style.
The course of action to take when dealing with too much information about table tennis is inclining for the most credible source there is among the feeders. In this case you eliminate the risk of compatibility issues when trying to put into exercises the advises and tips of your hand-picked source.
Although the dynamics of table tennis is quite simple – just bouncing the ball to-and-fro the opposing sides of the table- there are still a lot much more to learn when we dwell into the deeper technicalities of table tennis. Some table tennis players fail to familiarize themselves with the proper rules. Sure, the rules are in your hands in garage table tennis but it would never be the case in professional settings.
Take the case of the service rule which states that service shall start with the ball placed on top of the resting palm of the player’s non-dominant hand followed by a toss with no less than 6 inches in height. Also, the toss should only project in a vertical motion without any imparted spin. This very specific table tennis rule is oftentimes violated by table tennis beginners.
Of course the last thing that you would want to problem about when you play outside of practice is getting your service pronounced by the umpire as fault just because you violated terms of the service rule, or, in general, if you fail to submit in accordance to all the table tennis official rules provided by the International Table Tennis Federation (I.T.T.F.).
This cannot be stressed too much anymore; the caption above already speaks for itself. It is indeed a mistake not to invest a lot of time for quality training when you are a proclaimed aspiring table tennis professional. Apparently, training with adequate time (of course paired with sufficient determination, motivation, and proper mind-set) is the key to become a better player.
Given the complexity of this sport as compared to the others, with all the necessary information and techniques to learn in table tennis, time and conscious effort is really obligatory to improve yourself. Not practicing in regular terms means just wasting your time invested in occasional training sessions that you attend in.
At some point of their table tennis walk, every player has already grown impatient in their journey, may it be in correcting proper strokes, desiring to overhaul improvements in a short timeframe, or mastering proper footwork and weight shifting.
Most players, mainly the ones without professional coaches and mentors, wallow in temporal and halfway measures (or the so-called Band-Aid solution) in changing bad techniques. They try to make minor adjustments for major changes. The tendency for this case may only transfer them to making another poor technique.
Or, for table tennis players who have successfully prevailed over the dreaded routinely practice to change bad techniques and habits, some of them quickly plays in-games and thus dramatically increase the likelihood of turning back to old habits. Playing over matches activates your subconscious field which is responsible for the resorting to muscle memory and playing old habits you used to do. Unless you already mastered your new technique in a habitual manner, you will really fall back to your old habits.
Correcting these common table tennis mistakes is lengthy journey, but it will certainly pay-off when ample time and effort is invested. To be able to effectively eliminate these common mistakes that you keep on doing, you must take a break from playing table tennis matches, may it be casually or professionally. It is necessary to focus and solely focus on fixing the mistakes and not further reinforce it.
Saturation training is the best option in this case. It means devoting an extended period of time trying to attain the end-goal of improving whatever aspect in your skills you are trying to work on. This can be furthered by shadow training to increase your steadiness, sharpness, and automatism of your strokes (to overcome bad habits) and movement (in the case of footwork shadowing).
To end, as this very interesting posed question quotes: “how can you fill your cup when it is already full?” In the same premise, it is impossible to overcome the common table tennis mistakes you experience if you are very much unwilling to empty your cup and rather resort to further reinforcing your mistakes and bad habits.
]]>In the previous article “How to Prepare for a Major Table Tennis Tournament”, we learned how to amply prepare ourselves to heighten our chances up of displaying blue-ribbon performances in tournaments. Now, we dwell into a more typical predicament for every table tennis player engaging in professional play and participating in major table tennis tournaments— encountering better (or seemingly better) players at the other end of the table. The most common setback for table tennis players coming up against superior opponents is battling against nervousness regardless of their tournament experiences. This is not much of a surprise given higher-level opponents are awfully hard to beat even if you are playing your top performance, let alone in instances when you cannot even collect yourself, from the lack of composure.
Before we proceed, it is a requisite thing to understand the very definition of a one-level-higher player than you. More than players with flashier and tackier looking shots, faster offensive strokes and spinner serves, one-level-higher players are just players better at either imposing their games or adapting to their opponents’ play-styles for the longer duration in matches. That goes to say that the only major chunk they have an advantage against you is how they are able to impose or adapt in accordance to each and every single match they engage in. Beyond that, there really isn’t much more to consider, apart from experience (which is already off the scope of this article).
To start off, here are a few handful of measures and tips to help you battle your way through such predicaments and, who knows, might even aid you in defeating players whom you branded off as better than you.
Being skillful and experienced in table tennis equitably merits being mentally tough and composed. You have to stop being the worst critic of yourself, to stop doubting yourself. This is because when you pursue these negative measures, you effectively hold yourself back, and thus deprive yourself of experiencing and utilizing your full potential.
Conquer the enemy within you. If you regard games against better opponents as just any other game with less probability of winning, then you have already lost in that sense. It is as if you are already giving over the victory to them even before you play! In contrast, just as people say, if you regard it as something special, it may become special sometimes. Who knows, you might be the cause of the next big upset you never reckoned could happen. Upsets are called upsets because they channel an upsetting feeling due to sudden and unexpected loss of renowned players to underdogs; upsets happen in rare and random occurrences.
And, table tennis is not merely about the athleticism and skillfulness of the players; table tennis is also a mind game. That goes to say that if you cannot outdo your better opponents, you can still win by outsmarting them!
But, when you still find yourself having a hard time maintaining mindfulness and composure, remember the saying: “ It’s not about being unafraid. It’s about being afraid and doing it anyway.”
In this approach, you free the chances of being trounced by your opponent using his/her superior table tennis skills. The least thing that you would want to do is submit and get succumbed to your opponent’s play-style.
As much as possible, force your opponent to play in your pacing’s accordance. Do not knuckle under his/her highlight reel, otherwise you just detriment your chances of rising from the losing end. You have to alter your playing patterns, ball speed and spin. One effective way to practice such is generating unorthodox shots in rare and limited occurrences during the match. Examples would comprise of Ma Long and Koki Niwa’s backhand chop-block, Xu Xin and Michael Maze’s heavy side-spin counter drives, and even Zhang Jike’s shoe drop-shot!
Take the case of ITTF world ranked no. 30 and 15 Kenta Matsudaira and Koki Niwa who, despite being the apparent underdogs in their matches against the powerhouse Chinese table tennis team members, managed to trouble a lot of them and even beat the pen-hold legend Ma Lin in decisive terms and Ma Long in a convincing 4-2 game playing their fractionally unorthodox play-style.
And expect them to be exploited anytime during the game’s duration. At all costs, do not provide hints regarding your weaknesses (backhand looping, spiny-loop blocking for instance). Otherwise, and most probably, your opponents whose skill levels are higher than yours will drill and feed your weaknesses, impelling you to commit as many unforced errors as possible.
It is recommendable to observe your supposed better opponents play against other players and study their strengths and weaknesses. In this sense, you can devise a play-style suited in accordance to your findings. However, this is not necessarily a guaranteed measure to secure you a win; it is still considered than your opponents can and will adapt to your contrast-play given that they are still superior in level than you.
You have nothing to lose (and everything to gain). It is apparent that your top-shape performance would still not suffice to defeat ideally better players. It is already presumed that you will lose against higher-ranked players beforehand, especially if the margin is really that immense, so there isn’t really anything to worry about. It may even serve as a motivation to fuel you up to defeat higher-ranked players.
And consequently, the expectation is on them; they are the ones expected to win – not you. Hence, the pressure is on them.
The Dilemma:
It is a natural tendency for underdogs to get discouraged and intimidated by their opponents, and thus play defensively. Unless you are actually a defensive player or an all-around player at the very least, this is just toxic because not utilizing your play-style in games means minimal composure, mindfulness, and confusion– all the more when you play defensively! And you will eventually, may it be in a conscious or unconscious manner, resort to wild and awkward shots.
The Solution:
To may it be generally aggressive players, defensive players, pen-holders, or unorthodox players, mixing up your serves may help in the early stages of the match as you get to discover which your opponents receive the worst. In this light, you earn the chance of increasing your offensive frequency and controlling the pacing of the ball game. Who knows, a highly deceptive and seemingly easy serve may do the trick as opposed to the very predictable spiny serves. Also, aiming for great ball placements might help.
For most, the more aggressive you get, the better. This goes beyond being able to garner points from power shots and pointy chops because this can also influence the opponent’s focus and composure in a detrimental manner, keeping him/her out of focus because of distraction. And this can also get you into the groove of playing offensively. The more often you utilize it in game, the faster you automate your body into doing the offensive stances and thus decrease your likelihood of unforced errors.
For some who may not be able to work with aggression, for as long as you exploit and drill your higher-leveled opponent’s weaknesses (all the better if using your strengths) and maintain the control of the game’s pacing and a composed mindset, you can increase your likelihood of closing a good fight that might eventually be a win.
What is the probability that your higher-leveled opponent will experience a bad day and thus minimize the gap your and his skill levels share at the tournament proper? What is the probability that you will be able to pull off a suave performance like never before at the very same day? What is the probability that both these supposed fortunate (in your perspective) events occur at the same time? Misfortune may come to his/her side, luck may come to your side, but what fate is it when both come at the same time?
Statistically speaking, even keeping the aforementioned measures to better yourself in beating and dealing with higher-level opponents aside, you still have some odds in pulling off yourself a win and upset.
Team HKG’s world ranked no. 30 Doo Hoi Kem celebrates after upsetting Team CHN’s world ranked no. 1 Liu Shiwen in the recently concluded 2016 Asia Olympic Qualifications.
In the end, the conclusion of this matter boils down to this: in battles between players with differing but not necessarily distant skill-levels, whoever can impose their game for the longer duration, adapt better to the play-style of the opponent, hide their weaknesses, and moreover exploit their opponents’ will be at the winning edge.
As the saying goes: “to be able to defeat players one level higher than you, you have to become better than them.” The process of becoming better than them encompasses the very attempt of being at par with their skill level– the very rite of passage essential in outlasting them in the future.
Participating in major table tennis tournaments is always a daunting and turbulent experience for all table tennis players, regardless of their tournament exposure, experiences, and skill level. For one, competing and playing against an opponent in a massive audience and unfamiliar setting can be very stressful, especially if the audience is rooting for the opposing side. Secondly, there is also this tendency for table tennis players, which I do believe also happens to any other sports enthusiasts engaging in tournaments, to reckon and ideate supposed embarrassing moments in front of everybody else. This usually causes the feeding of negativity within the players that usually is also the cause of detriment of the players’ performance.
Having the said premise, it is, first and foremost, essential to know how you can maintain your composure during the tournament days proper. We can dwell on the more technical and practical matters later.
External factors such as knowing how good your opponents are, how important the tournament is, how big the audience number is, can all be stress and anxiety inducers during the tournament. But what is more important to know is that they are not the causes; they are merely sources. Nervousness and self-anxiety is always caused by our inner response to the external factors. This means that you yourself is the one responsible for all the stress. And this also means that you have the capability to change it yourself. But, how so?
Here are a few tips to maintain your composure under stressful circumstances in the tournament:
Focus at the present moment
Allowing your mind to wander about how the future will unfold, or drift back to the past, will only increase your nervousness. You have to master the art of focusing in the present if you want to stay composed during your games. Learn also to recognize instances when you lose your train of focus and become indulged with the instinctive drift of thinking about the future or past again, and just try to focus back.
Focus on yourself
Do not allow your focus to drift to anyone or anything else apart from your playing style and strategies, especially about expectancies of your teammates, coaches, audience assumptions, for doing so would, again, make you feel more stressed and nervous.
Set goals aside during the game
While it is good to have goals set, focusing on these outcome goals during game time will only pressure you more. Leave them at home.
Now that you know how to combat the number 1 potential toxic of your performance in tournaments, we can further discuss about the things to expect, to remember, to do, and not to do during the table tennis tournament proper itself.
It would be a good idea to ease up your accustomed training routine, especially if you practice a lot of physical exercises. This is to not wear yourself out too much and allow your body to rest. Of course, you would want to present yourself fresh, so toning down and keeping your training light within this timeframe is necessary.
On the flipside, you would want to be accustomed to your lifestyle apart from training as much as possible. Stick to your routinely errands. Do not make any radical changes in your diet plan, do not change your sleeping patterns, do not intake too much alcohol (or utterly refrain, at least for a few days before the tournament). And as much as possible, avoid changing your table tennis equipment- you know how long equipment mastery takes. It is also not ideal to try to learn new table tennis strokes and techniques a few days prior to the tournament.
Keep in mind the necessary tournament details. If you are unfamiliar with the tournament venue and location, use GPS and associate it with familiar landmarks nearby so you can easily remember it when you go back during the succeeding days. Be certain of the game schedules, you don’t want to be rushing into your games unprepared and disorganized.
Pack your table tennis equipment and gears the night before. Do a double check on the day itself. The last thing you would want to be worrying about on the tournament day is your gears. To be more specific, ensure that your table tennis rubbers are compactly glued to your blade, and that the shoes and apparel you would be wearing won’t bother and make you feel uncomfortable. And also, get all the other things ready- water bottle, extra practice and gaming shirts, towels, table tennis balls, and glue.
Get plenty of sleep and rest. Fuels necessary to prompt you up during the tournament proper include rest, hydration and healthy food.
Be punctual; allot a time allowance for you before the tournament actually begins. Set aside time to exercise your warm-up routines. Check if there are any tables intended for warm-up. If you don’t have a warm-up partner, do not be afraid to ask other players to warm-up with you.
Prepare for slippery floorings. Tournament arrangements sometimes fail to inspect if the tournament venue’s floor is suitable for the gum sole technology most table tennis shoes have. Playing level is also critical about floorings because without proper floor texture, it is hard to do the proper table tennis footwork techniques.
As much as possible, refrain from warming-up on tables with tournament games ongoing nearby. This is to any avoid unnecessary distractions such as the ball flying to the tournament court, extraneous diverting noises to dispense the focus of both parties engaging in the game’s in progress. And of course, nobody wants his/her table tennis ball interrupting an intense and hyped up match.
Pack a reasonable amount of healthy food, as it is not a guarantee that you will be able to find a substantial quality food during the tournament.
Warm-ups are conducted in short spans during the game, so be sure that you cooperate with your opponent to maximize the given warm-up time.
Be informed of the proper table tennis etiquettes in tournaments:
When your shot hits the net or edge of the table, a simple acknowledgement would be proper. This also applies to lucky shots and unintended unorthodox shots.
While battle-cries could be of great help when it comes to your motivation and hype during the game, excessive repetition of it will be a nuisance to both your opponent (counter-intuitively positive) and to the surrounding games. Try to display genuine sportsmanship and a decorous conduct.
In instances of close calls, keep in mind that the umpires still reserve the right to state the last call.
Let the match intensity determine your celebrations. It is not much of a pleasant sight seeing a fairly better player overly celebrating a table tennis match win against a beginner.
Do not forget to shake hands with your opponent, the umpire, and referee.
As aforementioned above, attempt not to lose your train of focus during your table tennis games.
While not necessary, it is recommended that you bring camcorders to personally see for yourself areas of improvement, may it be in your strokes, ball placing and pacing, footwork movement, etc.
Preparations for major table tennis tournaments become handy with mental and practical substances, but it is never complete without the technical stuffs.
The most obvious aspect to dwell on before participating in a table tennis tournament, regardless whether it is a major one or not, is training. Apparently, to be able to play at a competitive level demands strict and formal training sessions. You have to ensure that you have had a well-balanced training comprising of hitting quality shots against different styles of players, considerable amount of physical training, and service practices. If your training partner is varied, you will eventually adapt faster to any styles of play.
Next comes strategy. Devising a strategic and tactical plan to outlast your opponents, especially against opponents with relatively the same level as you are, is essential to winning.
The prime action to take is observing your opponent’s play style. Dwell deeper about his/her service manner, service receptions, strengths and weaknesses, agility, and attitude towards the game. Then, determine and assess his play style. Is he a looper or spinner, a blocker or a defensive player, a penholder, or a power player.
For generally aggressive players such as loopers, spinners, and power players, you have to make sure that you always generate the first attack, for failing to do so would make them utilize their power strength. You have to bear in mind that engaging with them in topspin rallies will always give them the winning edge. Force them into defence, where they are, for most cases, dull.
For generally defensive players such as blockers and choppers, patience is the key. Defensive players try to win points by breaking your playing rhythm, outbalancing you, or making you impatient. In either case, you need to vary your shots, ball placement, and chop pushes to prevent them from utterly controlling the ball movement. Increase frequency with slow and spiny loops to disorient blockers at times.
For penholders, apparently, it is their forehand that displays strength. The course of strategy to take is exploiting their backhand, although this is harder than it seems. Penholders, being in existence since the early days of table tennis, are already experienced into being drilled to their backhands too often thus already learning to adapt in this weakness; they exhibit excellent footwork to compensate. To make this strategy still work, you need to widen your ball trajectory. You have to do this in an arbitrary sense so your strategy won’t get figured out easily.
Preparing for a table tennis tournament can be a lot more tedious than it seems. It does not only involve practical preparations such as rigorous training, equipment preparation, and technical composition such as strategy devising against various types of opponents; it comes with trying to maintain mental stability during games. Make sure you conquer the internal battle within you first before you actually battle against other competing players.
]]>Table tennis is a racket sport, which means that a player’s main weapon at hand is his paddle. Putting aside skills, techniques, and footwork for the moment, one of the most initial and basic things a player has to learn is how to actually wield his weapon, i.e. the ping pong paddle or table tennis racket. But before one learns about angles and swinging, one of the most foundational choices a player has to make, or one that is made for him by his coach or trainer, is how to hold the racket.
(Shakehand Grip | Source)
In popular Western media, such as television series or movies, people who play ping pong are almost always shown to be holding it with their index fingers on the side of the paddle directly facing the body, and the thumb resting on top of the other fingers which are encircled around the blade handle. This is known as the shakehand grip. It is called a shakehand grip because the blade rests on the V-shape created by one’s thumb and index finger, and save for the other three fingers, this grip will make it look like one is about to shake hands with someone. The index finger should lie roughly parallel with the edge of the rubber at the base of the flat paddle area where one hits the ball. This type of grip is more popular with Western players. Virtually every European player and a majority of Asian players use this grip.
There are two variations of the shakehand grip, shallow and deep. Though in actuality, if one doesn’t look closely, the two look to be about the same. However, the shallow shakehand grip differs from the deep shakehand grip in where the thumb rests. Though this may seem to be a small matter, grip is quite important, and something as seemingly inconsequential as where the thumb rests actually matters. For the shallow shakehand grip, the thumb rests or relaxes on the blade. For the deep shakehand grip, the thumb rests or relaxes on the rubber.
(Sample Shakehand Player: Zhang Jike | Source )
The advantage of the shallow shakehand grip over the deep grip is that it allows for a quicker readjustment of the paddle’s angle, since the grip is loose. This grip will also give one the freedom to move his wrist, and this, in turn, grants the player stronger power and spin when attacking or brushing the ball. This would be effective against short balls that one’s opponent lobbies over.
The advantage of the deep shakehand grip would be that it prevents too much moving of the paddle in the player’s hand, which ensures a firm grasp. This grip does not allow for wrist flexibility, which is good for precisely-controlled strokes that require less power. Both shakehand grips allow for easier movement on either forehand or backhand strokes, since it is easy to switch sides with this kind of grip.
The disadvantage, though, of either shallow or deep shakehand grips is that there will always be a point of indecision that opponents can choose to attack. The point of indecision is also called the crossover point or the playing elbow. Since one holds the paddle in this grip as an extension of the arm, the paddle is positioned in front of the player’s chest, either to the left or to the right depending on the player’s dominant hand, and the elbow is jutted out, leaving a space between underarm and torso. This position ensures that there is a point of indesicion directly in front of the player, since a ball that comes up to the player will force him to decide whether he should sidestep to use his forehand or backhand stroke to counter the ball, since neither forehand nor backhand stroke can be performed optimally if the player does not move from his position.
Shallow shakehand grips are usually held by players who favor topspins, loops, or loop drives, which is when a player lobs the ball over the table by brushing the side or the top of the ball to make the top of the ball go in the same direction as the ball is moving, while the bottom of the ball moves in the opposite direction of the motion of the ball. This type of grip is also favored by players who like smashing, driving, or hitting the ball, which is a stroke that requires medium to fast speed and little to no topspin.
Deep shakehand grips tend to be used by players who favor backspin as a form of attack. The defensive stroke of the players require precise paddle control that only the deep shakehand grip can provide, since it doesn’t require wrist power or wrist flexibility. The defensiveness of this grip also lessens the chances of the player having to attack balls from over the table, which is why wrist flexibility is not an issue for this grip.
Ma Long, who is, as of November 2015, the number one international table tennis men’s player from China, uses a shakehand grip. Fan Zhendong, the second in this rank and also from China, uses a similar grip. Liu Shiwen, Zhu Yuling, and Ding Ning, the rank first, second, and third, respectively, of international table tennis women’s players from China, all use shakehand grips as well. Zhang Jike, currently the fifth best international men’s player, reigning Olympic singles player from China, and fourth male player in the entire history of table tennis to achieve a career grand slam in only 445 days after consecutively winning both the WTTC and the World Cup in 2011 and then the London Olympics in 2012, also favors this type of grip.
People sometimes assume that this is the only way to hold a paddle, but actually, there are many, many more types of grip available for any aspiring beginner to choose from.
(Sample Penhold Grip | Source)
The second most popular type of grip would be the penhold grip. There are three main versions of this type of grip, namely, the traditional Chinese grip, the Japanese or Korean grip, and the reverse penhold backhand grip. One grips the paddle handle the same way one would grip a pen when one is about to write, with the thumb and index finger in front of the handle, and the remaining three fingers curled slightly around the back of the racket for support.
There are other variations of this grip, where one can hold his thumb nearly parallel to the blade while the index finger is curved. There can be varying gap lengths between the thumb and the index finger. The index finger can slightly overlap with the thumb. The remaining fingers on the back can, either all or some, be touching the blade. The position of the remaining fingers on the back can have varying positions, from the middle or the base of the blade.
The advantage of the traditional Chinese penhold grip is that it allows free movement of the wrist, much more than shakehand grips do. This allows excellent forehand strokes and more power for all types of serves, as well as easier blocking and pushing on the backhand side, wherein the player can either choose to bend his wrist and block it with the forehand side of the blade, or even push the ball with the backhand. Unlike the shakehand grip, there is no crossover point or point of indecision that plagues penhold grip players. The same forehand side is always what the player uses to attack, counter, or defend against any shot.
The disadvantages of this grip is that it proves to be a difficult task to perform consistent backhand topspins, since this will require the player to contort his arm in quite an unnatural degree. It is also less possible for the penhold grip players to reach flexibly either side of the table, which forces penhold style attacking to cover the table with all forehand attacks. This will obviously drain the stamina of the player faster, if, and only if, the player has fast enough footwork to even keep up with the ball in the first place.
Players who use this grip often prefer to stick closer to the table, pushing or blocking with a backhand and attacking with forehand strokes, either through drive or topspin or looping. This variation of the grip is the most popular of all three, favored by Chinese and often making appearances on the international scene.
The second variation of the penhold is the Japanese or Korean penhold grip. Similar to the traditional Chinese penhold grip, the index and thumb grasp the front of the blade handle as if holding a pen, but the remaining fingers are extended straight out on the blade instead of curled. The two variants of this are whether the ring and pinky finger stick close to the middle finger or whether they are fanned out on the blade.
The advantages of this type of grip adds to the power of attacking on the forehand side, since the extended fingers give support and power to the holder. The grip is good with any forehand strokes, and as the wrist is also very free to move from either left to right or right to left, spinning and serving can be done with a stronger spin.
However, the movement of the blade from the handle to the top of the paddle is somewhat restricted by the extended fingers on the back of the blade, which restricts the adjustment of the angle of the paddle on the backhand side. Like the traditional Chinese penhold grip, it is difficult to perform consistent backhand topspins with this grip, not including professional players who prove that it can be mastered. Similar to the traditional Chinese penhold grip, it requires players to have a large reserve of stamina and fast footwork in order to make up for the poor reach on the backhand side.
Similar to the traditional Chinese grip, this grip is favored by players who prefer to attack with their forehand. Players who use this grip tend to play farther away from the table than the players who use traditional Chinese grips. They use fast topspin loops with their forehand, while blocking or fishing (a heavy topspin stroke used at a medium to far distance from the table and that which usually lobs the ball high over the net) with the backhand. They rely on rapid footwork to hit with their powerful forehand strokes as often as possible in order not to become wholly defensive players. The last few decades prove that there has been a shortage of defending champions who use this type of grip.
(Sample Penhold Player: Xu Xin | Source)
The last variant of the penhold grip is the reverse penhold backhand grip, where the back of the penhold is used to hit balls that come over to the backhand side of the player. The fingers holding the racket are similar to the traditional Chinese grip. Players using this grip commonly use inverted rubber on their backhand, to produce efficient topspin balls with significantly larger amounts of sidespin, which also comes from the natural movement of the arm and paddle.
The advantages of this type of grip is that while it has the advantages of the traditional Chinese penhold grip, it removes the normal penhold weakness in the backhand, allowing users of this grip the capability to produce heavy topspin backhand strokes with good power and wide reach. This grip also allows users to attack short balls with his backhand, since wrist movement is flexible. Some players use a combination of the traditional Chinese penhold grip and the reverse penhold backhand grip to maximize performance.
However, if the reverse penhold backhand grip is used exclusively from the backhand side, it suffers the same problems as the shakehand grip, where the player will have a crossover point or point of indecision. If the reverse penhold backhand grip is combined with the Chinese penhold push and block strokes, a problem that might occur is that the player must quickly decide which type of stroke among the two to use, and then adjust the paddle accordingly under pressure.
Another limitation of the reverse penhold backhand grip is that it is actually quite difficult to produce topspins on the backhand side that do not have a little sidespin to them. This makes aiming a straight ball from the backhand more difficult than hitting a cross-court ball.
This grip is currently being used by players who prefer to play with heavy topspin on both sides, in other words, players who favor an attacking style. This grip is relatively new, and it might be some time before one can see whether or not this type of grip will become popular.
Penhold grip players are considerably rarer than shakehand grip players, since this grip leaves the backhand with a gaping weakness, a lack of reach on their backhand side. However, this does not mean that it is not common on the international scene. There are several top players who use penhold grips who win World Championships, World Cups, and Olympic games on a regular basis. The backhand weakness can actually be reinforced and backed up by adequately excellent footwork and supplemented with the knowledge and skill of a reverse penhold backhand loop stroke. This style is often most common with players in Asia, most notably, players from Japan, Korea, and of course, China.
Xu Xin, currently the third best international player from China, uses a penhold grip. Wong Chun Ting, currently the eleventh best international men’s player from Hong Kong, also favors this grip. As one can see, it is rarer for this type of grip to be present in international scenes. For the women’s, none of the top ten players use penhold type grips, but Li Jiao, rank 20 from Holland, Ni Xia Lan, rank 58 from Luxembourg, and Lay Jian Fang, rank 137 from Australia, are some of the rare few who prove that it’s possible to use this type of grip and excel at it.
Aside from the shakehand and penhold grips, there are also a few more unusual and infinitesimally rare grips that rarely make it onto international scenes due to their unproven effectiveness in matches. Some examples of this would be the V-grip and the Seemiller grip.
(Sample V-Grip | Source)
The V-grip is when the blade is held between the index and middle finger, spread apart at first to form a letter V. When the blade is in place, the index and middle fingers curl down the blade, gripping it, and the ring and pinky fingers are wrapped around the handle of the paddle. The thumb can be placed wherever it feels most comfortable for the player.
Some of the advantages of this grip, as reported by Tom Veatch when he went to China and first observed this new grip unver development, would be an extended reach, more leverage, and more power and spin in attacking. This grip also allows wide-angled shots and more control.
The disadvantages of this grip are that balls shot towards the player’s elbow are difficult to return without fast footwork, since backhand and forehand strokes overlap and the area of overlapping prove to be even smaller than for the shakehand grip. And as with all unproven grips, it is hard to find a coach who is familiar with this grip enough to teach it. This grip is mainly experimental, and whether or not it will prove to evolve into a majorly popular grip in the future remains to be seen.
Another minor grip is known as the Seemiller grip, made popular by Dan Seemiller, an American player who won five U.S. Men’s Singles Championships, became number one qualifier for the U.S. World Team in 1972, and was once rank 19 on the international scale. It can be observed to be a variation of the shakehand grip, but the tip of the forefinger is placed near the edge of the paddle, or around the edge of the paddle. There is a 90-degree turn so that both thumb and index fingers are grasping either side of the paddle. Most players using this grip will put either put long pimpled rubber or anti rubber on the back, as the combination rubber and occasional twiddling can confuse opponents with their varied returns.
The advantages of this grip would be free wrist movement, allowing strong snaps for forehand topspins, and good for blocking on either forehand or backhand sides. There is no crossover point or point of indecision like for the V-grip or the shakehand grip.
However, disadvantages of this grip would be that backhand side wrist movement is hampered, limiting heavy topspin and powerful returns for the player. Also, ever since table tennis introduced the two-color rule, which states that a player must have either black or red on either side of the blade, the strategy of twiddling the blade with combination rubbers is now less effective, since the opponents can keep track of the rubbers.
The grip is used by players who are mainly attacking style players, who attack with strong forehand topspins and steady backhand returns. Players who use this grip also prefer blocking and countering from either side.
Table tennis is unique among racket sports, since it supports a wide variety of different styles of players, and before a player has a definitive style, there is first the matter of grip. One’s grip should never be tight, merely firm, as to hold the paddle in place. This of course ensures that the player’s grip on the paddle remains constant throughout playing. Other than this, there are no laws in table tennis that prescribe how players should grip their paddles, and hence, there are multiple variations on gripping styles. It would be ideal for a beginner to listen to the advice of his or her coach on what style of grip to use, but sometimes, it would be best to just find a grip one is comfortable with. After all, table tennis is a very individualized sport.
]]>Admit it, you’ve been bitten by the Pokémon Go bug too, but that’s no reason to slack off on training… table tennis training that is. We may love our Dragonites, but table tennis will always be our true love. Here are 8 essentials that all players, whether aspiring, beginning, or intermediate, need to up their game!
As a warrior does not wage war without a sword, a player does not play without a paddle. Depending on your playing style, you should look for rubbers and a racket that suit you. Please look forward to a more comprehensive list about this in the future. The type of the blade will be listed on the racket packaging itself, so just look out for these short-hand forms:
While the rubbers are classified into one of the below:
Players only develop a very particular playing style when they have mastered the sport, so most players go with an all-round rubber + racket combination at the beginning.
As a beginning player, you will probably be unfamiliar with playing styles, but a professional table tennis facility will be able to help you determine the best rubbers + racket combination for you.
People may underestimate the importance of agile feet—“It’s not like a basketball court or a tennis court, it’s just a table” (yeah, right)—but players know that footwork is key. Having fast feet is one of the most essential aspects to winning in table tennis, and the right shoes can make or break your footwork.
Choosing sports shoes is a process that is much like any other shoe-shopping experience. One usually looks for comfort and quality. But unlike shopping for heels or boots, you should probably take into account the following when you’re choosing a pair of pingpong shoes:
When you’ve been doing a many-balls table drill for twenty minutes straight, you will no longer care that the shoes on your feet are not in the color or style that you wanted. What matters is that you feel comfortable wearing it.
It’s also important to wear in shoes before using them in a tournament; sore feet on top of pressure is not a good combination.
The thickness and hardness of the sole is important, seeing as it’s what your feet will be landing on with every movement.
It’s a generally accepted statement that lighter things move faster. Without the added weight on your feet, you’re sure to improve the speed of your steps.
Not all playing floors are rubberized. If you want to avoid slipping and injuries, it’s best to go with shoes that have a nice rubbery grip to them. You’d be surprised at how slippery some shoes can be!
There are many types of balls in the market. It’s important to know that, as of July 1, 2015, the old celluloid balls have been replaced by poly balls. The difference between the two is palpable.
When training competitively, we highly recommend you use the ball that will be used in tournaments, as this can make a lot of difference for a player, with respect to both how hard to hit the ball and how much spin to brush it with.
Though you may argue that table tennis does not require as much gym time as, say, volleyball or weight-lifting, a player can reap innumerable benefits from lifting a few weights, running a few laps, and doing some core exercises.
Especially useful are ladder drills to improve footwork and core-strengthening exercises to improve stability, balance, and body strength.
Yoga can help massively as well, as it helps strengthen the core and can even help you control stress and pressure (something all players will need when facing an intense match.)
Table tennis is a sport that requires endurance. Do you think these players could have pulled off such long counter rallies if they were out of breath by the second or third ball? From someone who gets short of breath while jogging, I can personally tell you that if you have a below-average amount of stamina, leading an unhealthy lifestyle will NOT help. Eat healthy, drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration, cultivate healthy habits, avoid unhealthy ones, and train a lot: these will all help you up your game.
What is commitment? I once knew somebody who, having left his shoes at home, trained barefoot. Yes, you read that right: he trained for over an hour with bare feet. This is not recommended (see #2 above), obviously, but that was truly a prime example of commitment. Of course, you don’t have to train without shoes to show commitment, you just have to:
As simple as it sounds, simply showing up can speak volumes about your commitment to something. Your presence is already you winning half the battle. Of course, presence here is not limited to the physical, but to the emotional and spiritual as well. What’s the point of showing up at training if your mind is somewhere else (like playing Pokémon Go)? You can go through the motions but if you don’t pour your heart into it, the lacking intent will come back to bite you in the ass during tournaments and match plays.
The internet exists for more than just animal videos or Facebook. YouTube has a plethora of instructional videos on different aspects of table tennis, as well as videos of professionals during games and tournaments. It’s worth checking out their gameplay—maybe you’ll even pick up a technique or two while watching. Or you can subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest tips and tricks to up your table tennis game!
No coach? No teammates? That’s an excuse for the lazy. As long as you have a table, a racket, and / or balls, there are tons you can do to up your game, such as:
Try to perfect a particular serve, aiming at a specific spot on the opponent’s side, or even just mastering the high toss!
Forehand, backhand, forehand-backhand, against the wall- the combinations are limitless! You can even challenge yourself by setting a particular number that you have to reach and increase it after you’ve reached it.
And so much more! Even without a fellow player, don’t take the lazy route if you really want to improve.
A good coach makes all the difference. Yes, you can train by yourself or train with a teammate or playmate, but having a coach who can supervise, guide, and watch over you while you play will help.
It’s much like when you’re playing in a match: you may be too immersed in the game to notice your weak points, how to correct them, or how to take advantage of your opponent’s weak points.
A good table tennis coach is someone who can guide you, correct your form, and prescribe appropriate drills and training regiments to suit your particular playing style or strengths and weaknesses.
Though there are many athletes who do not allow their circumstances to define them, (Refugee Olympians! #Respect) a well-equipped training area is highly beneficial to any player who wants to train competitively. A training area should ideally:
Every player knows movement is key, and without the space to train, it may be difficult for one to improve.
Slippery floors and non-grip shoes are the worst combination, trust us on this.
Again, the circumstances do not define the player, but as with one’s racket and rubbers, training competitively on an ITTF-approved table instead of, say, just any wooden surface, makes a huge difference.
While training, it is important to keep your body hydrated and well-ventilated. Your body will already be working overtime as you move to hit those shots, so having enough oxygen and water will most likely prevent any fainting spells. (Yes, I’ve seen it happen.)
So there you have it—8 essentials on how to up your pingpong game. Let us know in the comments below if they have been helpful for you in improving your skills!
]]>Have you ever seen one of those blog posts about some celebrity’s handbag and the things that you can find inside it? If you haven’t yet, it just basically involves going through each item and explaining its uses and how essential it is to the owner and the owners are often asked the question “What items can’t you live without?”
Well.. What if we make our own version? What if we asked you table tennis players “What’s in your tennis tennis bag and what items can’t you live without?”
We would like to assume that the items below are just some of them!
You know what can annoy your coach the most? It is when you say “Coach, sorry but I forgot my racket at home.” Well, it should be obvious why!
Your table tennis racket is the most important equipment you will ever need and you can never walk into the training room or into the playing court without it otherwise it’s like running into battle without your sword and full battle gear on. Never mind if you forget to bring your playing shoes to the tournament as you can always borrow your teammate’s (as unhygienic as it sounds, but it’s your fault). But when you forget your racket, you can never borrow someone else’s. Actually you can, but be ready for the consequences.
Table tennis rackets vary in several aspects (weight, type, speed, control, etc) especially because they are assembled according to the playing style of the player – meaning your racket is specifically made for you. So when you forget to bring the racket that you have been using in training to a tournament and resort to using someone else’s, chances are it will have a different feel and it can affect your performance. Because no matter how good you are, the transition from using your own racket to another’s cannot be done by doing a few drills before the game. It takes a lot of practice to get used to a racket so never ever leave your house without your racket in your bag!
Scared you might damage your blade and scratch your rubbers while inside you bag? Do not fret because there are several convenient and not to mention stylish racket cases you can always choose from!
Tournament organisers always provide official tournament balls but if you are up for a few drills before the actual game, it is always best to carry your own. No need to worry about squeezing and destroying the balls while in your bag as you can always purchase ball containers to protect them.
Ping pong balls vary in quality and there are only specific balls that the International Table Tennis Federation allow for official games. The number of stars determines the quality of the ball and the grade ranges from one (1) to three (3) stars.
If you are just going for multi-ball training and drilling exercises, using one-star and two-star balls will do since you will be needing a lot of them and they are way cheaper than the three-star ones. These balls are generally soft and can easily break when hit hard but nonetheless they are can substitute three-star balls for friendly and unofficial matches. Three-star balls on the other hand are the highest quality balls and are the only kind the ITTF allows for official matches.
So if you are a serious player of table tennis, you pretty much know the kind of ball you should be carrying with you all the time!
So we were saying that you can always borrow your teammate’s shoes if you forget to bring yours… or maybe not really, that is why I am sure you will agree that it’s still best to carry and wear your own.
It is common knowledge that table tennis requires a lot of footwork and lateral movement and one of the factors that allow table tennis players to improve this skill is the kind of shoes that they wear. (Interested in improving your footwork? You might want to check this article out!)
Some people might get away with wearing normal kinds of rubber shoes and sneakers while playing the sport but serious players would know that there are several factors to consider when choosing the perfect shoes – the level of grip, the weight and cushioning and the price.
To be able to move quickly and properly, the shoes you are playing in should have gum soles that have anti-slip provisions and can grip the floor well. This will prevent you from slipping as you shift weight and prepare for your next move.
At the same time, it should be lightweight and have comfortable cushioning that will allow your feet to breathe. Since we all feel anxious and nervous when competing, the last thing that we’ll need during those times are painful and uncomfortable shoes to play in, right?
Another thing to consider is the price of the shoes. The price range for table tennis shoes can vary depending on the brand and technology. There are cheap pairs that are decent enough but you can always invest on top-of-the-range ones if you have the budget.
How many hours do spend on each training session? 3 hours? 4 hours? Well, can you imagine just how sweaty you can get?
As an athlete, you should know how important it is not to leave your sweaty training shirt on. You have to have extra shirts and towels with you every time you step into the training gym not only because hanging out in your sweaty training shirt is unhygienic, but also because it can have bad effects on your skin and health.
We are sure your coach will agree on this one. Coaches cannot afford to have a sick player who will not be able to join training for a couple of days. So if you do not want to be stinky and get pneumonia and skip training, always carry extra pieces of shirts and towel in you bag.
Wondering where you can get these light, comfortable and stylish dri-fit shirts? We have several pingpong apparel to offer here!
Table tennis rubbers do not really need to be re-glued to the blade every training session but you want to be ready in case the need arises. It is therefore convenient to carry a bottle of rubber glue in your bag with you all the time.
Clearly, the reason table tennis players would re-glue their rubber is when some areas of the rubber sponge start to detach and fall off the blade. When rubbers start to detach, it results to air pockets between the rubber and the blade and this could affect and downgrade the performance of the racket.
There are different kinds of rubber glue and the most common ones are the speed glue and water-based glue. Speed glue can increase the speed of table tennis rubbers but it got banned in 2007 because it contains substances that are harmful to humans and the environment. Since then, people switched to using water-based glue. This kind of glue provides short drying time and can be easily removed from the blade when you want to change or re-glue rubbers.
Table tennis rubbers do not come cheap and sure enough you want to keep it in good condition for as long as possible. Unfortunately, dust and dirt get on the surface and this downgrades the performance of the rubber as it becomes slippery and dirt prevents the ball from gripping on it. So how do we avoid this and get that dirt off our precious rubbers?
You can get away with using water and a normal piece of cloth clean your rubber but this method might not preserve the quality of it. Good thing there are available rubber cleaner solutions and sponges that can do the job!
Rubber cleaning solutions can effectively remove dust and grime off your rubber and they can also extend the durability and firmness of it. And with the use of cleaning sponges and brushes (for pimpled rubbers), you can also avoid the tendency of damaging scratching the rubber’s surface.
It is always better to carry these items with you and not just leave them in the gym lockers. Whether you are training or competing, your rubber gets dirty just the same. So never remove them from you training bags!
No cleaning equipment yet? No worries! You are just one click away from them!
The items mentioned above are necessary for table tennis players but for athletes in general, we believe that there are other things that should come handy all the time, just like the items below.
Injuries are an inevitable part of being an athlete and this is the reason why medics are always present during tournaments and competitions. However, when you are training, say inside the campus or at training centers, first aid services might not always be available, therefore, it is also important to always prepare and have your own first-aid kit with you.
It does not have to be the typical first-aid kit that we know. You can always eliminate some items that might only take up space in your bag. But some of the items that we think should be in the kit are these: bandages, muscle spray and muscle tape.
Bandages can be used to cover blisters. Table tennis players do a lot of footwork exercises and they usually suffer from blisters because of too much friction between their feet and shoes. Sometimes they also get blisters on the palm of their hand because of their tight grip and from holding on to their racket during trainings for several hours. Fortunately, covering blisters with a bandage can minimize the pain and protect the skin from being damaged. So it is always good to have them in your training bags.
Muscle tapes on the other hand offer substantial muscle support for athletes especially when they encounter muscle injury in the middle of an event or training. Muscle tapes are usually applied to help stabilize and hold together affected muscle to prevent further damage allowing athletes to continue and maintain performance. Aside from tapes, athletes can also use muscle spray-on pain relievers for aching muscles and joints. Since it is normal for athletes to get their muscles overworked, spray-0n painkillers should always be present in their bags.
Since it is not advisable to eat heavy meals before training, athletes should always have some snacks in their bags. It could be anything that can give them energy but as an athlete myself I prefer carrying bananas and hard boiled eggs.
When athletes work their muscles and sweat, the potassium present in their body gets depleted and this event could lead to an increase in blood pressure. Good thing bananas are rich in this mineral and they can support an athlete’s body energy requirement. They are also an instant source of iron and vitamin C that help transport oxygen throughout the body allowing it to perform strenuous activities. Hard boiled eggs on the other hand are rich in protein that allow muscle building and development. They also contain vitamin D that strengthen bones and develop endurance – exactly what athletes need in order to perform.
So if each of your practice sessions lasts for several hours, it is best to bring some snacks so that you will not run out of energy!
Honestly, we do not really need to expound on this part. As an athlete, you need to stay energised and hydrated. During training and competition, you need to drink as much water as possible to regulate your body temperature and lubricate your joints. Our body needs water in order to perform at it’s highest level so never leave the house without your water container in you bag!
So that’s just about it! We hope we didn’t forget anything else. But in case we did, feel free to comment and share what else you think is important to have in our bags all the time! 🙂
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