practice

Small steps training drill

by

Some players are guilty of not moving their feet when they play. Instead, they reach or lean when trying to hit the ball. This is not good. When you reach or lean, you have far less control over the ball and are far more likely to make mistakes. To help improve a player’s footwork, I often get them doing a small steps training drill. The aim of the drill is to make small steps, left or right, to get into the ideal position to play shots as best as you possibly can. In this blog post, I show you how to do the training drill. The post includes both a video demonstration and a written explanation. Keep reading

How to recover from a dip in form

by

We all have periods when we feel our progress has stalled or our form has dipped. This is entirely normal. I often remind the players I coach (and myself), that improvement doesn’t take place in a straight line. In reality you will experience lots of ups and downs, but gradually moving in the right direction. In this blog post, I look at what can cause a dip in form and what you can do about it. Keep reading

Why learning to play table tennis is like learning to drive a car

by

Most players I coach have at some point had to listen to my dreaded table tennis car analogy. I usually reel it out when a player is having difficulty learning a new stroke. The player says something like “it’s difficult to think about what I need to do and watch what you’re doing at the same time”. Ding! This is my cue. It’s time for my table tennis car analogy. For your benefit, here it is… Keep reading

Lessons learnt from 1000 hours of coaching

by

Over the past two years, I’ve given over 1,000 hours of 1-to-1 table tennis coaching lessons. That’s a lot of coaching. Even though every session is focused entirely on the needs of the player I’m coaching, I’m also constantly learning. Learning how to be a better coach. Learning how to improve my instruction and drills. Learning more about table tennis. Since I’ve reached a 1,000 hour coaching milestone, I thought it would be useful to share some of the lessons I have learnt over the past couple of years. Keep reading

Are you ready for the new table tennis league season?

by

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

REVIEW: Butterfly Amicus Professional Table Tennis Robot

by

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

7 step plan to improve your forehand topspin

by

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

How to practice with a player of lower ability

by

Do you often find yourself practicing with players of a much lower-ability level? It can be quite a frustrating experience, but it doesn’t have to be a complete waste of time. There’s actually quite a few things you can do when practicing with a player of a much lower ability-level which will benefit your own game. In this blog post, I share some ideas on how to make practising with a weaker player more rewarding. Keep reading

5 training drills for switching between forehand and backhand strokes

by

Switching from backhand to forehand strokes, or forehand to backhand strokes, is a key skill in table tennis. During matches, the direction of play switches frequently. Rarely will your opponent play the ball to the same position for two consecutive shots. In this blog post, I explain how to improve switching between forehand and backhand strokes and share five simple training drills. For each training drill, there’s a video demonstration featuring myself and Nila, a player who I coach. Keep reading

Can you pass my consistency test?

by

Consistency is one of my big things. It plays a big part in all of my coaching sessions. There’s not much point having a devilish spinny serve or a big attacking shot if you can’t execute them consistently. You’ll give away points rather than winning points. This isn’t good table tennis. In this blog post, I explain why I think consistency is so important and how you can improve your consistency. I also challenge you to take my consistency test. Will you be able to get 10 out of 10? Keep reading