Tom Lodziak 
How do you return a backspin serve, which lands short, in the middle of the table? You actually you have far more options than you think. You can be very creative in how you return a short backspin serve. I picked up some great tips in a group coaching session I attended this week, which was run by Craig Bryant. In this blog post I share some of the things I learnt from Craig about how to improve the variation of your service returns. Keep reading
This week, I want to share with you a very, very, very good coaching website, which is still relatively unknown. (Shhhh, let’s keep this as our secret!). A few months ago I noticed that Dan Ives – the mastermind behind the Table Tennis Daily website – had launched a new coaching website with professional player Tom Maynard. Interesting, I thought to myself. This could be good. Dan very kindly gave me access to Table Tennis Daily Academy. I’ve now been using the site for a few weeks and I want to share my views on whether it’s any good and if you should sign up… Keep reading
One of the challenges every table tennis player faces is choosing which rubbers and blade to use. One researcher worked out there are over 262 million possible combinations! With this much choice it is understandable why many table tennis players continually meddle with their equipment. But actually, too much time spent worrying and meddling with your equipment can really mess up your game. In this blog post I argue it is better to stick with what you have, than changing equipment too often. Keep reading
Many players I coach come to me with the same issue. They have a pushing problem. In matches they will push, push, push, push, push – waiting and hoping the other player will make a mistake. Does this sound familiar? Is this something you also struggle with? In this blog post, I will explain how you can change your pushing mindset and become more attacking. Keep reading
What are the best table tennis rubbers and blades for advanced players? There are literally hundreds of rubbers and blades you could potentially buy, and a lot of them are very good. In this blog post I give my recommendations on really good table tennis rubbers and blades you can buy. I also give advice on how to do your own research and testing. This blog post is really aimed at those players who have moved beyond the intermediate level and are now becoming advanced table tennis players. Keep reading
If you play table tennis at an amateur level, especially at lower levels, you can dominate your opponents with long serves. These are serves which land very deep on your opponent’s side of the table, ideally with a lot of speed and spin. In this blog post, I explain why long serves are effective (especially at lower amateur levels) and how to do devilish long serves which can give your opponents nightmares. Keep reading
The league season in Cambridge finished a couple of weeks ago. It was my second year playing in Division 1. Last year my team finished 2nd. This year we finished…..2nd again! In this blog post I give a review of my season, sharing a few highs and a couple of big lows, including a 7 match losing streak. Ouch! Keep reading
If you play in local league or amateur tournaments, you will come across all kinds of weird and awkward styles. These are players with strange looking strokes and movements. They may not look great, but somehow they have developed an unorthodox playing style which works for them and can be infuriatingly effective. In this blog post I give four tactics to try when playing against weird players. Keep reading
I have great pleasure to announce that I am now a full-time table tennis coach. Over the past few years I’ve been doing both my day job and table tennis coaching on the side. But my coaching has been going so well, it has become viable to do it full-time. I am hugely excited by this. In this blog post, I share some of my plans for the future and also explain how my new career has got off to a disastrous start! Keep reading
I’m taking a short pause from my table tennis blog because of illness. I was admitted to hospital last week and diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Fortunately I was diagnosed and treated quickly, so I was able to avoid some of the really bad complications you can get with the infection. I am now recovering at … Keep reading