All serious table tennis players should set long term goals. Having a goal ensures that you keep making steady progress and spend your practice time effectively instead of stagnating as you practice aimlessly. Read more
Posts Tagged ‘strategy’
Writing Out a Game Plan for Improvement
Sunday, April 1st, 2012Being an Effective Coach at Tournaments
Sunday, August 28th, 2011
Encouraging and coaching fellow club members at tournaments is one of the best aspects of a competition. In this article, I’m going to outline how to coach another player between games. Read more
Changing Your Strategy Mid-Game
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
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 side-stop serves which she attacked, or backspin serves, which she’d push, I’d loop, and she’d jab-block or hit so aggressively I stopped using them. In most rallies, within two-three shots I’d be back fishing, then lobbing, and she wasn’t missing.
Serving to Set Up the Attack
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
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 why so many didn’t understand this simple concept: The purpose of the serve is to set up your attack. If you aren’t attacking off your serve, then something’s wrong.
Playing the Wide Angles
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
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. Read more
