Tom Lodziak 
Buying a decent table tennis bat for your child can make a big difference to how he/she plays and improves. A lot of kids start out playing at school or at home with very cheap bats. These bats are fine if playing for a little bit of fun, but are not so good for developing good technique. In this blog post, I give some advice about which table tennis bats are best for junior players (beginners, intermediates and advanced).
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From September 2022, I will be organising a monthly group coaching day in Cambridge. This will involve 5 hours of coaching, focusing on a specific aspect of table tennis, e.g. serving, rallying, topspin vs backspin. The group size will be fairly small – a maximum of 10 players, which will allow me to spend time with each player and give plenty of feedback. Keep reading
At the beginning of June, I had the pleasure of playing with England no. 1 Liam Pitchford. Why the heck was Liam playing with an average local league player like me? Had he seen footage of me on the internet and decided I was an exceptionally good training partner?
Erm, no. Did he need a new coach and after weeks of research and deliberation select me as his number one choice? Nope, don’t think so. Was he harassed and cajoled into making some videos with me for my YouTube channel? Yes, that’s a bit nearer the truth! Keep reading
What table tennis rubbers are most popular with amateur table tennis players? To answer this question, I conducted a survey, asking players what rubbers they currently use for their forehand and backhand. I sent the survey to subscribers of my YouTube channel, mailing list, Facebook page, Twitter account and users of Table Tennis Daily. In … Keep reading
After my disappointing debut veterans tournament in February, I’ve been working a little harder than usual at improving my game. I’ve been pushing and blocking less and trying to attack more. I’ve made some good progress, but was I ready for my next official veterans tournament? It was time to put my skills to the test again. Keep reading
There is a huge benefit with practising with the most awkward player in the training hall. That player with unorthodox technique, unpredictable shots and disruptive timing. The player who doesn’t look like he can play table tennis – his shots are often weird looking – but is actually really hard to beat. Let’s look at the benefits of training with these awkward players… Keep reading
Some players at the beginner and intermediate levels try to emulate more advanced players (and even professionals) by always trying to hit the ball with lots of power. But playing lots of powerful shots is only effective if you can do it consistently. If you often try to hit balls really hard – but miss way more than you get on – then it’s not much use. And worse still, a focus on power will probably prevent you from developing many other areas of your game. Keep reading
Serving in doubles is something we have all experienced, but probably not given as much thought to as our singles service game. I don’t confess to having all the answers, but in this article I give a few thoughts on effective serves to do when playing doubles, focusing on placement, spin variations and forehand vs backhand serves. Keep reading
Some players just can’t smash high balls. Or I should say, some players have never learnt to smash high balls. It seems like it should be so easy. The ball is up high. There is a huge margin to hit the ball over the net. How can you possibly miss? Is this you? Can’t smash and won’t smash? Here’s what you should do… Keep reading
Over the past month I have been testing a brand new product called FastPong. This is a training system to help players improve ball placement accuracy, shot speed and reactions. In this review I am going to explain in more detail exactly what the FastPong training system is, and whether it is a useful product to help you improve your table tennis skills. Keep reading