This article was published on Table Tennis Australia’s website recently. It has been reproduced with the permission of the author.

by Brett Clarke – TTA National Head Coach

Brett Clarke and Jeff Plumb competing at Sydney Olympics

Australian Table Tennis faces major challenges to become more competitive on the world stage. Unlike Asian and European players, our High Performance players must work or study to earn a living, resulting in less training and international competition opportunities. Furthermore, it is expensive for Table Tennis Australia (TTA) to send players abroad for tournaments so isolation is another major hurdle.

To overcome the above factors which inhibit our progress, I believe that Australian’s must be smarter in the way we go about things. As TTA National Head Coach, an important part of my role is to be aware of what the world’s best players are doing and to identify techniques and strategies which consistently win matches at the highest level. I’m now broadly implementing some of my findings into the games of our elite players.

I will be writing a series of technical articles to publish my findings and offer suggestions to coaches who wish to teach more advanced techniques. I will be very happy receive feedback and answer question from coaches who would like further discussion.

I believe the most important stroke in Table Tennis is the return of a short serve and this is the reason why I have chosen to focus on this area in my first article. Returning serve has been the downfall of many Australians whilst representing at international events and we need to find answers. Our players tend to flick or push long when returning serve and both of these responses don’t win matches.

The Chinese generally have the best returns of serve so I have studied their techniques to identify what we can learn. Ma Lin (Olympic Singles Gold Medallist) has a very simple approach to returning as he attempts to return short in almost all situations. He takes the ball very early and uses a sharp stoke to impart lots of backspin whilst keeping the ball short and fast on the opponents’ side of the table. The end result is that Ma Lin’s opponents are forced to play the 3rd ball long, allowing him the first opportunity for a strong topspin attack. Most attempts to flick or to play short against Ma Lin’s return finish up in disaster as his return has incredible amounts of backspin.

I understand that returning short has been around for many years however Ma Lin’s methodology is relatively new. Previously players would return short in a more defensive way as they attempted to stop the opponent from attacking by keeping the ball low and short. The Chinese technique is far more aggressive and, if done correctly, can be a match winning weapon.

Wang Hao (Olympic Silver Medallist) along with German stars Timo Boll & Dimitrij Ovtcharov also has an advanced and effective method for returning short serves. These players use a long backhand sidespin flick which stays low on the opponent’s side of the table. The technique is a little difficult to explain, however you can go to youtube.com to see footage of these players. Unlike Ma Lin’s heavy short push return, the backhand sidespin flick can be attacked by a player who has strong topspin strokes and experience in dealing with this tricky return. Strangely, this shot was first used in the 1970s by World Champion Istvan Jonyer although it was never really adopted by other players at that time and the technique has remained dormant till recent years.

I am encouraging all High Performance players in Australia to learn both of the service returns mentioned above. In particular, I’m focusing on the short heavy backspin return as it has less risk and it dramatically increases the chances of our players getting the first attack opportunity. The best way to teach this return is to make a line or place a small target (I use masking tape) about 45cm before the net on your side of the table. Then you should serve short with different spins (including topspin) and ask the student to take the ball extremely early and push it quickly with lots of backspin. The student should be aiming to hit your side of the table between the net and the line you have made. As you can imagine, there is little margin for error here as the target area is small and playing short and fast isn’t easy. This technique should be practised daily to ensure the player is accurate. It should then be used consistently in training matches and later in competition, providing the player is comfortable with the stroke.

In my next article I will discuss serving which is another critical part of Table Tennis. Australian players also need to dramatically improve this aspect of the game if they are to move forward internationally.