Tactics for beating a pusher

Tactics for beating a pusher

In local league table tennis, you’ll often have to play against pushers. These are players who like to push again and again and again. The pusher’s aim is to frustrate you. They want to draw you into a pushing match or force you to attempt a risky attack. The outcome is often an unforced attacking error, frustration, more attacking errors and more frustration. How do you beat these annoying players? Here’s some tactics you can try… Keep reading

Why is backhand topspin vs backspin so difficult?

A few days ago I had the pleasure of coaching at the Top Edge & Gertsen Training Camp at St Neots Table Tennis Club. Part of my role was to do 1-to-1 sessions with some of the players. In these sessions I asked the players what they wanted to work on. The players were a mixture of ages and standards, but strikingly most of them wanted to work on the same thing – backhand topspin vs backspin. This is consistent with my own coaching sessions in Cambridge. Backhand topspin vs backspin seems to be a shot which is very difficult for a lot of players (myself included) at the amateur level. Why is this? Keep reading

Changing your pushing mindset

Changing your pushing mindset

Many players I coach come to me with the same issue. They have a pushing problem. In matches they will push, push, push, push, push – waiting and hoping the other player will make a mistake. Does this sound familiar? Is this something you also struggle with? In this blog post, I will explain how you can change your pushing mindset and become more attacking. Keep reading

30 day challenge to improve your weakest stroke

30 day challenge to improve your weakest stroke

To kick off 2018, I thought I’d give you a challenge. For a 30 day period, your challenge is to work on, and improve, your weakest stroke. And I mean really work on it. During any table tennis training session you do over the 30 days, you have to spend a good chunk of time practising this weak stroke. The whole purpose of this is to use focused, deliberate practise in a condensed time period (30 days) to transform your weakest stroke into something which works in a competitive match. Keep reading

Tactics for beating a looper

Tactics for beating a looper

As you progress from an intermediate player to an advanced player, you will start playing more and more loopers. These are players who like to play big topspin shots (loops), whenever they can. If you push a ball, they loop! If you block a ball, they loop! Even if you topspin a ball, they loop! What the heck are you supposed to do against this looping onslaught? Do not despair. Loopers are not unbeatable. Here’s a few of my favourite tactics to use when playing a looper. Keep reading

5 training drills for switching between forehand and backhand strokes

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