Table tennis coaches (myself included) often favour teaching a modern topspin game – service from the backhand corner, playing forehands on ¾ of the table, playing topspin strokes as often as possible, attack, attack attack! But this isn’t the only way of playing table tennis. In this blog post I explore the benefits of unconventional playing styles. Keep reading
Social table tennis (or ping pong) has become very popular in the UK over the past few years. But for many social players, joining a table tennis club can be quite a daunting experience. In this blog post, I give some top tips on how make the transition from social player to club player. Keep reading
If you’re like me, you probably have a serve which you consider your best. A serve which often wins you a cheap point or sets up an easy 3rd ball attack. But when is the best time to use your best serve? Should you use it all the time, only occasionally or somewhere in between? Keep reading
Recently, I’ve noticed more and more people suffering from a new condition, which I have named ‘table tennis fever’. It can afflict young and old, male and female and can strike at any point of the year. Have a read of the symptoms and see if you’re a sufferer too… Keep reading
When you go to a practice session you have an important decision to make, do you prioritise working on your strengths or your weaknesses? In this blog post I examine the pros and cons of different approaches. Keep reading
I had great pleasure in attending the Werner Schlager Academy between 14 – 17 May 2015. Based in Vienna, it is a training base for over 50 professional table tennis players. It’s one of the main table tennis centre’s in Europe, rivaled in size and facilities only by the German national table tennis centre in … Keep reading
Many players at the beginner and improver level find it difficult to play forehand topspin strokes against backspin balls during match-play. They might be able to do it in training drills but when it comes to matches it doesn’t work. In this blog post I explain a simple idea for playing more forehand topspins. Keep reading
At the recent 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, Chinese players were completely dominant. In this blog post I ask whether Chinese dominance is a problem for the sport and what other countries can do to catch-up. Keep reading
It’s the last match of the season. My final opponent is an older female player – slim, tall, silver haired, with a determined spring in her step. I am expected to win, but I feel a little uneasy. I’m not quite sure how to approach the match. Part of me feels like I should be … Keep reading
Here’s a familiar scenario. Two players warm-up doing forehand drives cross court. And then they do more forehand drives. And then some more. Then they may do some random play varying spin and placement, but with the real purpose in mind. At some point, one of the player’s gets slightly bored and says ‘shall we … Keep reading