Service tactics to win cheap points

Service tactics to win cheap points

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One of the benefits of having a table tennis table in my garage, is that I get to practise my serves a lot. I spend time practising my favourite serves – the ones I always use in matches. I also spend some time experimenting with different service actions and spin. As a result of all this practice, my service game is quite strong. I usually win lots of points on my serve and my service tactics get me out of trouble when other parts of my game aren’t working quite so well. In this blog post I share some of the service tactics which help me win cheap points. Keep reading

Advice for players who hit the ball very hard, but keep missing

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I have four players I’m coaching at the moment who all have the same problem. Their attacks are so powerful the ball goes long more often than it hits the table. For every successful attack they make, they usually miss another three or four. In this blog post I share two very important pieces of advice for any player who makes too many mistakes by hitting the ball too hard. Keep reading

Are you ready for the new table tennis league season?

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For many players in the UK, the new table tennis league season will start in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Some players will be bubbling with anticipation. Other players will be twitching with anxiety at the thought of competing again. Whether you’re excited or anxious, it’s important to use this period before league matches start to get yourself ‘match-ready’. Here’s three tips to help you prepare for the new league season… Keep reading

How to compete with younger players – lessons from Vladimir Samsonov

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One of the most inspiring moments of the table tennis event at the Rio Olympics was Vladimir Samsonov getting to the semi-final of the men’s singles. Modern professional table tennis is increasingly physical, favouring younger bodies. To reach an Olympic semi-final at the age of 40 is a phenomenal achievement. What can we learn from Vladimir Samsonov’s success? How can we keep on competing with younger players and play close to our best when past our physical peak? In this blog post, I share four lessons I’ve learnt from watching Samsonov. Keep reading

Magnificent Ma Long – the greatest table tennis player of all time?

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Ma Long wins again! At the Rio Olympics Ma Long once again showed why he is the top ranked player in the world. In the men’s singles final, he crushed his Chinese rival and reigning Olympic champion, Zhang Jike, 4-0. Gold medal to Ma Long. What a performance! Is Ma Long the greatest table tennis player of all time? Here’s my thoughts… Keep reading

Ignore the haters, TTX sounds great fun!

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The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has launched a new version of table tennis, called ‘TTX’. The new game has a bigger ball, simplified rackets with less spin, time limited matches and extra points for clean winners. Not everyone is happy about the new game, but I think TTX sounds great fun. In this blog post I explain why you should play a game of TTX too. Keep reading

Tactics for beating a looper

Tactics for beating a looper

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As you progress from an intermediate player to an advanced player, you will start playing more and more loopers. These are players who like to play big topspin shots (loops), whenever they can. If you push a ball, they loop! If you block a ball, they loop! Even if you topspin a ball, they loop! What the heck are you supposed to do against this looping onslaught? Do not despair. Loopers are not unbeatable. Here’s a few of my favourite tactics to use when playing a looper. Keep reading

REVIEW: Butterfly Amicus Professional Table Tennis Robot

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When I first started playing table tennis, I bought the basic Practice Partner 100. A good entry level robot which is not that expensive. But it had a very limited range of spins and drills. I wanted a robot which was able to replicate more realistic spins and sequences of balls. It took a while to decide on which robot to buy. I went on table tennis forums and decided in the end that the Butterfly Amicus Professional was the one that would do virtually everything I wanted. I have had the robot for a few months now. Here’s my ‘for’ and ‘against’ appraisal. Keep reading

How to deal with too much conflicting table tennis advice

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Last week I received a panicked email from a player I coach. In her own words, she was “completely muddled with all the different pieces of advice from different people”. She was beginning to doubt if her fast, attacking topspin game was the right way to play. An experienced player had told her she should play slow and spinny. A coach said she should flat hit rather than spin the ball. Another coach gave her some tactical advice which was the opposite to the advice she had received from a completely different coach. How was she supposed to make sense of all this? Read on to find out my advice… Keep reading

7 step plan to improve your forehand topspin

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A lot of players at the intermediate level struggle to attack backspin balls. It’s one of the key skills which prevent them from playing at a higher level. I’ve faced many opponents who are great at attacking a topspin or a blocked ball, but give them some backspin and their attacking game falls apart. If only they could learn to attack these backspin balls too, they would be quite formidable. In this blog post, I share my seven step plan for getting much better at attacking backspin balls. Keep reading