Timeout!
Photo courtesy of ITTF

Use Your Timeout Effectively

One of the big changes in Table Tennis has been the ability to use a timeout. The rule is starting to be used effectively now that players and coaches are getting used to the concept.

In it’s infancy, players would save their timeout till the end of the match no matter what. The general feeling now is that you should use the timeout as soon as there is a critical situation in a match. This could even be in the first set of a best of seven set match. If you think about it this seems to be the more practical use of the timeout. What is the use of saving it for a situation that may never arise. If you use that timeout in the first set and win it, that may be the turning point of the match and allow you to go on and win the match 4 - 0. If you don’t use the timeout in the first set and go down 1 - 0 the match could be altogether different.

How often do you think that the timeout makes a difference to the result of the match?

As a coach I have often sat there and pondered whether I should call a timeout … Letting the opportunity go I sit there and watch as my player turns things around anyway. Wow, I think to myself, that was a great call by me to not call a timeout! Conversely, after calling a timeout with my player in trouble, the match continues on its spiraling path and my player goes on to be meekly defeated.

So when do you call a timeout?

I think if the player is experienced it should largely be left to them to call the timeout. As a player if you don’t feel right mentally, perhaps you are getting nervous or you feel a discussion or a break could help momentum, then a timeout should be called.

For the coach, call a timeout if you see something that is especially going to change the course of the match. Perhaps a tactic that has become obvious to you or you can see that the player is not coping mentally, then it is time to call the timeout. It is a bit like playing God though, trying to tell the future and know how the player is feeling at that time…

It certainly does add interest to the spectacle, if nothing else…

My Advice

Use the timeout when and only when you think you can make a difference to the result of the match… And that could even be in the first set.