The focus of this training camp is all about winning more points, winning more matches and improving your win percentage. You will work on different aspects of match-play, including preparation, controlling the table, consistency, getting your strengths into play, exploiting weaknesses and excelling in pressure situations. The goal will be to develop your game confidence and develop new strategies to win more points and matches.
- Date: Tuesday 9 December 2025 to Friday 12 December 2025
- Venue: Cambridge University Sports Centre, Philippa Fawcett Drive, Cambridge, CB3 0AS
- Start / finish time: 10am-4pm each day
- Coaches: Tom Lodziak, Ferenc Horvath, Tony West (Tue + Wed) + Kaung Htet Paing (Thu), Martin Gray (Fri)
- Participants: Maximum of 16 players per day
- Cost: £70 per day
- Flexible booking: Join for 1, 2, 3 or 4 days
Programme
Here’s what to expect from the training camp…
Tuesday 9 December
- 10am-10.15am – Warm-up
- 10.15am-12.30pm – Match preparation … Learn how to prepare both physically and mentally for league matches and tournaments and get off to a quick start.
- 12.30pm-1.15pm – Lunch
- 1.15pm-3.45pm – Controlling the table … Learn how to dictate games with accurate placement of your shots.
- 3.45pm-4pm – Debrief / stretches
Wednesday 10 December
- 10am-10.15am – Warm-up
- 10.15am-12.30pm – One extra shot … Learn how to out-rally your opponents with good quality and consistent topspin strokes.
- 12.30pm-1.15pm – Lunch
- 1.15pm-3.45pm – Maximising your strengths … Learn how to get your big strengths into play and dominate your opponents.
- 3.45pm-4pm – Debrief / stretches
Thursday 11 December
- 10am-10.15am – Warm-up
- 10.15am-12.30pm – Service strategy … Learn how to serve with stronger spin, better placement and more variation.
- 12.30pm-1.15pm – Lunch
- 1.15pm-3.45pm – Returning serves … Learn how to return tricky serves with controlled strokes and punish weak serves with strong attacks.
- 3.45pm-4pm – Debrief / stretches
Friday 12 December
- 10am-10.15am – Warm-up
- 10.15am-12.30pm – Punish the weakness … Learn how to identify weak spots in your opponent’s game and exploit them again and again.
- 12.30pm-1.15pm – Lunch
- 1.15pm-3.45pm – Pressure points … Learn how to win points when the pressure is really on. This could be when the game is tied at 10-10 or when you are facing match points or have match points of your own.
- 3.45pm-4pm – Debrief / stretches
Coaching team
The coaching team for this training camp will be:
Lead coach – Tom Lodziak
Tom is a full-time table tennis coach, based in Cambridge. As well as face to face coaching Tom has a popular coaching YouTube channel and is the author of Spin: Tips and Tactics to Win at table Tennis. Tom competes in the top division of the Cambridge league and veteran tournaments around the country.
Support coach – Ferenc Horvath
Ferenc is head coach of Paragon Table Tennis and has featured in many of my YouTube videos. He has coached in many countries in Europe, plays to a very high standard and in 2024 won the 40+ English national championships. Ferenc will be joining the training camp for all four days.
Support coach – Tony West
Tony is a full-time coach based in Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. He is the current Oxford University team head coach, as well as head coach at Kidlington TTC and Oxfordshire county coach. He is a former winner of the veteran Premier British league, plus a Sky Sports and BT Sport commentator. Tony will be joining us on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Support coach – Kaung Htet Paing
Kaung is head coach at Cambridge-Parkside TTC and Coaching Co-ordinator from the Cambridge Table Tennis League. He trained with the Myanmar national team and has won many trophies at the club level. He’s a very fast left-handed player, with lots of useful tips to share.
Support coach – Martin Gray
Martin has three decades of playing and coaching experience. He has been Cambridgeshire singles champion on multiple occasions and currently competes in British League. Martin coaches in the Cambridge area – running group sessions and giving 1-to-1 lessons. Martin will be joining us on Friday.
Who is this training camp suitable for?
This training camp is suitable for players who are already competing at a local league level or in amateur tournaments. At a minimum you should be able to serve confidently and be competent playing a forehand push, backhand push, forehand drive and backhand drive.
This training camp is not suitable for complete beginners. Instead, I recommend 1-to-1 coaching. If you are unsure whether this training camp is suitable for you, please email me with more information about your playing standard and I will advise.
You can also read testimonials of players who have previously attended my training camps.
Training camp format
There will be a maximum of 16 players per day on this training camp. The big benefit of attending a smaller sized training camp is that you get lots of feedback from the coaching team.
There will be a mixture of demonstrations, drills and match-play exercises. There will also be opportunities for you to set your own exercises and work on the skills which are really important to you. The coaching team will observe you play and give technical and tactical feedback.
You will get the opportunity to play with different people throughout the training camp – usually a mixture of players from around the UK and also players from other countries. You will experience a positive coaching environment, joined by like-minded table tennis enthusiasts.
In the evenings, there might be opportunities to play table tennis at nearby clubs. There may also be opportunities for 1-to-1 sessions. More details will be given nearer the time. Alternatively other players may wish to meet up together for food and drink.
Venue + accommodation
This training camp will take place at Cambridge University Sports Centre, Philippa Fawcett Drive, Cambridge, CB3 0AS.
There will be eight good quality tables and high quality training balls.
The sports centre has a small car park (free of charge) and modern changing facilities. The sports centre sells basic refreshments and also has free water dispensers to fill up water bottles.
If you require accommodation, please take a look at this accommodation guide, which gives lots of affordable options.
Visit Cambridge
If you live in another part of the UK (or another country), you could combine this training camp with some sightseeing of Cambridge in the evenings. There is always plenty to do in the picturesque university city. Find out what’s on in Cambridge on the Visit Cambridge website.
How to book
This training camp took place in December 2025. Click here to view the latest list of training camps.