skill development

3rd ball attack training drills

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You can win lots of points with strong 3rd ball attacks. You serve, your opponent returns, you attack. If all goes to plan, you win the point on the third ball. Even if you don’t win the point on the third ball, you are likely to be in control of the rally. To be a strong 3rd ball attacker you need to practice lots of different serve and receive routines. In this blog post I share a few 3rd ball attack training drills. Each drill below includes a diagram, step-by-step instructions and suggestions for making the drill harder. Keep reading

Learning from Desmond Douglas at Westfield table tennis camp

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In December, I attended the Westfield table tennis camp in Northamptonshire. This was my second visit to the Westfield table tennis camp. The first time, back in 2014, I attended all three days. This time I only attended one day. I would have liked to have done all three days, but with a 3-month-old baby back at home, it would have been a bit unfair on my partner! Here’s my review, including lessons I learned from table tennis legend, Desmond Douglas… Keep reading

5 alternative match-play exercises to help you improve

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Sometimes it’s useful to mix things up your training, especially the match-play element. You don’t always have to play the standard best of 3, 5 or 7 sets up to 11. There are alternative games you can play, which help you to work on weaknesses and strengths, put you outside your comfort zone and keep you focused and engaged. In this blog post I share five alternative match-play exercises I use as both a coach and a player. Keep reading

How to make an existing serve even better

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When coaching a player for a first time, they will often ask me to teach them new serves. They want serves which will bamboozle their opponents and win them lots of cheap points. But before I reveal my serving secrets, I ask them to show me their existing serves. And you know what? In most cases, the player already has a couple of decent serves, but they use them in a very predictable way. So before teaching any news serves, I always try to improve the serves they already use. In this blog post I reveal some of the things we work on (and you should do too)… Keep reading

How to play table tennis like the Chinese

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I’ve been watching videos of the Chinese players quite a lot recently. It’s a joy to watch these players in their full attacking flow. Apart from the occasional surprise loss, their standard of play is in a different league to other players in the top 20. From my many hours of watching these great players, I’ve identified a few things I think we can all learn from them and try and implement in our own game…. Keep reading

The dreaded first league season

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The winter league season has started. There are regulars playing for the umpteenth season, rekindling old rivalries and trying to achieve their highest ever win percentage. But there are also lots of people playing their first ever league season, who are struggling to win a single set, let alone an entire match. If you’re a new player, make sure you read this blog post. I have some great tips on how to survive your first season. Keep reading

Coping with defeats in table tennis

Coping with defeats in table tennis

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Losing. We have all experienced it, lots of times. The moment of anguish, when facing match point, you send the ball into the net or your opponent smashes the ball past you. Game over. Another loss to add to the list. Losing can be very dispiriting. But don’t despair. Instead of dwelling on a loss in a state of self-pity, you should try and take a positive approach. Here’s my step-by-step process on what you should do after you have lost a match… Keep reading

Can a table tennis robot help you improve?

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Two years ago I bought a table tennis robot to use in my garage at home. It was a hugely exciting purchase – a Robo-Pong 2050! Friends and family were amused by the thought of me thrashing it out against this strange named machine in my garage, but for me it had a serious purpose – extra practice. The big question is, has the robot helped me improve? Read my blog post to find out. Keep reading

10 training drill ideas for the first five shots in a rally

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In this blog post I share 10 training drill ideas for the first five shots of a rally. There are two drills each for service, receive, 3rd ball, 4th ball and 5th ball. Each drill includes a diagram, step-by-step instructions and suggestions for making the drill harder. Keep reading

The quickest way to improve your win percentage

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Table tennis rallies are short. In fact they are very short. Various studies over the years have shown that the average table tennis rally is anywhere between 3 and 5 shots. What can we do with this information? For me, it seems fairly obvious. If you want to increase the number of points you win, you should focus a lot of your training on the first five shots of a rally. Keep reading