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
One of my favourite shots in table tennis is the block. In many ways, it’s a very simple shot. Little physical effort is required, you just need to get your body and bat in the right position and work with the speed and spin already on the ball. The other player does all the hard work, whilst you use all their speed and spin against them, putting them under lots of pressure to keep the rally going. In this blog post I look at different types of block shots you can use to frustrate your opponents. Keep reading
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
There is plenty of excitement at the moment about 18-year-old Swedish player Anton Kallberg. He has had a rapid rise up the international rankings in the past year and once again confirmed his potential with an impressive run of results at the 2015 Swedish Open. I have to confess, I’m excited too. It’s very early days, of course. There have been plenty of 18-year-olds who have shown potential, but never made an impression on the world’s top 50, let alone the world’s top 5. But I think Kallberg is different and has the potential to reach the very top. Read my blog post to find out why… Keep reading
One of the trickiest opponents you will face when learning to play table tennis is the player who uses long pimples. I vividly remember my first match against a long pimples player many years ago. I simply didn’t have a clue what was going on. My pushes were popping up high. My blocks were going into the net. My attacks were all over the place. But over the years, I have got used to long pimples and now win many more matches than I lose. In this blog post I share a few tactics to help you win more points against the tricky long pimples player. Keep reading
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 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
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
One of the challenges most table tennis players face is choosing which rubbers to play with. There just so many rubbers available. To try and make life a little easier for you, I have created a short list of the top attacking table tennis rubbers – and which style of play they are suited for. This list is based upon my own personal experience and reviews from other players. It’s also based on the rubbers top professional players use. Keep reading
One of the things I find frustrating about table tennis is its lack of media exposure. In the UK, the only time that table tennis gets any decent national media exposure is during the Olympics. But once the Olympics are over, table tennis disappears and is forgotten about for another four years. What we need is for table tennis to be in the media spotlight more often. One way to do this would be to introduce Grand Slam tournaments, similar to tennis. Keep reading