Tom Lodziak 
How well do you know your serves? Hopefully you know how to execute your serves, but do you have a good understanding of how your serves are likely to be returned? This is a key aspect of serving, which is often overlooked, especially at local league level. Keep reading
Recently I have been testing a new training ball – TIBHAR T40 2*. These are designed to to be durable, hard, and, crucially, evenly round. What are these balls like to play with? Keep reading
We all know that having a strong service game is very important. But what makes a strong service game? What are the key components? And how good is your service game, really? In this article, I outline five key elements of a strong service game. I give myself a rating for each element and I want you to do the same. This will help you identify the areas where you can improve your service game. Keep reading
The team I play for has just finished the winter season in 11th place in a 12-team division: we felt we played fairly well but lost so many games that went to the fifth end – and we blew it. I guess we need more consistency overall, but can you think of any drills that would get us over that fifth-end issue? I think it’s just learning not to tense up (so easy to say) and to play to our strengths but we could do with a bit of help! Keep reading
For the past few weeks I have been using TIBHAR Evolution MX-P 50 on my forehand. This is the ‘hard’ version of the very popular MX-P rubber. The topsheet of MX-P 50 is the same as the original MX-P rubber, but the sponge underneath is harder. This is supposed to give a more direct trajectory and more speed. What’s it like to play with? And what type of player would benefit from using this rubber? Keep reading
In this blog post, I share some advice about buying an outdoor table tennis table, including information on brands, cost and some practical advice for how much space you need in your garden and how to look after your table. I also give a few recommendations on which outdoor table tennis table to buy. Keep reading
One of the worst things you can do in a table tennis match is be tentative. I should know. I’ve been way too tentative more times than I care to remember. A tentative shot is a shot that you don’t really commit to. You hesitate. You tense up. You only play half the shot. Why are some of us prone to tentative play? And what can we do to fix it? Keep reading
I bought a Der-Materialspezialist Wizard blade with inverted rubbers, which is quite light and I liked it. However, I was told if I replaced one of the rubbers with an Anti-Power rubber by Yasaka it would deflect all the spins received from other players. I think now it’s preventing me from adding spin to my … Keep reading
For the past few weeks, I have been testing the TIBHAR Felix Lebrun Hyper Carbon blade. I’ve been getting some pretty decent results in my local league matches, so I want to share my thoughts about the blade, its playing characteristics and what playing style it is best suited to. Keep reading
If you want to improve at table tennis, you have to put the hours in. Table tennis is a complex, fast paced sport. It can take a long time to reach an advanced level. How many hours you should train depends on a few different factors … the level you want to reach, your age, your life circumstances and availability of training opportunities. I’m going to outline a few different scenarios and what type of improvement you are likely to expect. Keep reading