As a coach, I often give advice to beginner players about what table tennis bat to buy. There is a lot of choice available and if you have never played before it’s quite difficult working out a good bat from a rubbish bat. Rather than giving my wisdom only to players I coach, I thought it would be good to share my thoughts on the best beginner bats to a wider audience. So here’s what I tell my beginners… Keep reading
In a recent video, I asked viewers to give me some suggestions of tactics I should try against Jarek – a player who goes back from the table and returns all my hard attacks. I had a fantastic response with over 100 suggestions of tactics to try. Now, I am left with another problem. I have a long list of tactics, but which ones should I choose? Keep reading
Have you ever tried developing a new shot (e.g. a backhand flick), but found it difficult to actually use it in a competitive match? You can play the shot easily in training drills – and even in a practice match – but when it comes to a league or tournament match, you dare not use it. Why can it be so hard to add a new shot to our game? And what can we do about it? Keep reading
I spend more money than I should on table tennis rubbers, so I really try to look after them. I want them to last as long as possible and retain their grippiness, so I can get lots of spin on my shots. Taking care of my table tennis bat doesn’t take much effort or cost much money. In this blog post, I explain what I do (and what you should do too). Keep reading
A few years ago, I purchased a table tennis table for my home. It was an agonising decision (really it was!). Do I have enough space? Where am I going to store it? How much should I spend? Who am I going to play with? Am I really going to use it? Will I improve my table tennis skills? So many questions. In this blog post, I’ll share some advice about buying a table tennis table for your home and give a few recommendations of decent (and affordable) tables you can buy. Keep reading
A player I coach, Paul, had a frustrating experience in his league matches last week. Paul is in his early 60s and is very competitive – maybe a little too competitive – and this can often result in him rushing his shots, playing too aggressively and making too many errors. He is so eager to win, he often defeats himself. And this is what happened last week. Keep reading
Modern table tennis is all about attack. Topspin, flick, smash. Attack this. Attack that. Don’t push! Attack, attack attack. When players train, they almost always focus on their attacking shots. A pushing drill? Nah, that’s for wimps. A blocking drill? Pfft, waste of time. Is defence important any more? Is there any benefit in practising our pushes, blocks, chops and lobs? Well, yes, I believe there is a huge benefit. Let me explain why… Keep reading
So you want to buy a table tennis table? It’s not an easy decision. There’s a lot of choice available. In this blog post, I share advice about how you can tell a good quality table from a poor one, which brands are best, how much you should spend and where you can buy. I also give specific recommendations on which table tennis tables to buy for your home, club and school. Keep reading
Imagine you had played 35 matches and lost all of them. What would you do? Most people would quit table tennis and find another activity to do. But not Uma. Here’s a inspirational tale of a player I coach who keeps picking herself up after defeats and has finally achieved her first ever league win. Keep reading
I am delighted to announce that my new online academy – Tom’s TT Academy – is now live! In Tom’s TT Academy you will get access to exclusive coaching content, including the following… Training drill library – There is a mixture of drills focusing on different aspects of table tennis. Each drill includes and video … Keep reading