I played a match this weekend with one of our up-and-coming junior girls. For two games, we battled it out, my steadiness versus her vicious hitting. On her serve, I’d either topspin the serve back and start countering, or push it, she’d loop, I’d block, and we’d be countering. On my serve, I’d mix in …
Category Archives: Coaching
Serving to Set Up the Attack
A discussion I had with Dan Seemiller (5-time U.S. Men’s Champion) has always stuck out with me. It was back in 1990-1991, when I spent two summers staying at his house all summer as his assistant coach for all his summer camps. He said that the thing that confused him the most about players was …
Playing the Wide Angles
Why don’t players focus on this more? For the great majority of shots, everything should go to one of three spots: wide backhand, wide forehand, or at the opponent’s middle, i.e. playing elbow. And yet most intermediate players tend to play most shots to the middle backhand or middle forehand.
Mistakes
Mistakes. From recreational level to World Champion, everyone makes mistakes. However, there is a huge difference between the average players and the pros. The average players make the same mistakes repeatedly. Once they are down 2-0, or lose the match, or driving home after the tournament, they discover the fault and possibly think of a …
Training with a Robot
Top players and coaches agree that table tennis requires a variety of training types. Some examples of training include drills, robots, multi-ball practice, serving practice, matches, plus a variety of physical training. Within those types of training, a multitude of variations are excellent. To be a complete player, one must be able to win against …
5 Steps Toward Success
Everyone wants to improve in table tennis, however most players will plateau at a certain level, around USATT rating 1200, 1800, or even 2100. Here are some of the strategies that I have used to advance my game far beyond my fellow club members.
What’s Your Ideal Mental State?
Table tennis is a highly physical and athletic sport, but there’s also a mental side that you need to take note of. In my own experience, I’ve seen how different mental states can strongly affect my play. I’ve found that I play at my best against challenging opponents when I take the role of the …
5 Service Rules You Need to Know
I’ve heard a number of ridiculous rules brought about by recreational players that are just silly. I’ll try to dispel some of these myths and give a short-list of the essential rules you need to know when serving. If you can follow the rules outlined here, this should prevent 99% of the conflicts that often …
The Easiest Movement and Its Significance
Introduction Many player movements are made in table tennis. Movements are made with our hand-wrist axis, our forearm, our upper arm, our upper body, our waist, and our legs. These movements are made in a coordinated manner in the course of playing the game. The length and speed of the movements vary depending on a …
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