Table Tennis Blog

by Brett Clarke

Thanks to Brett for providing us with this insightful article of Serving. Brett is the current Australian National Coach and during his playing career was widely regarded as having one of the best serves in the game.
My first article in the “Advancing the Australian Game” series covered the importance of returning serve. […]

Wang Liqin’s Strengthphoto courtesy ITTF
STRENGTH TRAINING FOR TABLE TENNIS PART 2
By Eric Rosario
In the last issue we suggested that Strength Training is a very useful addition to Table Tennis Training but not all players or their coaches realise the principles of specificity, overload, and power to weight ratio which govern strength training. In this article […]

This article appeared in our June Newsletter. If you didn’t get your copy, all you need to do is subscribe. To subscribe to the Free Newsletter just go to the PingSkills Home Page and add your details.

In each of our Free Online Lessons, there are 3 things that we at PingSkills focus on […]

Prisca & Eric RosarioLifetime of Table Tennis and Weights
by Eric, Prisca and Alois Rosario
Eric Rosario (my Dad) was an International Weightlifter, Indian National champion and representing India at many International events. Since then he has turned his attention to Strength and conditioning for athletes of many sports. Some of his 60 years of […]

Wang HaoWorld Champion
While it is up on the ITTF website, take the opportunity to watch the best players in the World in the comfort of your own home.
The Mens singles final is table tennis at its best.
Watch for:
Wang Hao’s exceptional footwork.
How he keeps his legs strong and his upper body still when he […]

This article is from our latest PingSkills Newsletter
Here is a handy hint for you if you are struggling to change something technical.
We all slip into bad habits. Finding a way to correct these is often a big problem. It is always difficult to change technique, especially if you have been doing that […]

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 […]

Footwork - What is it?
So what is footwork?
Basically it is just getting yourself into position to make an effective stroke.
There are all types of names for footwork. Shuffling or Side to Side, Crossover or One Step. Whatever way you get there it needs to be efficient and get you into a balanced position […]

Wang LiqinPhoto courtesy of ITTF
The ready position is an important part of your movement. Without this good basic setup position, as you progress, you will struggle to move well.
Having a weak ready position is the single most common mistake I see when starting to help players that have played for a while. If […]

Joo Se Hyuk, KoreaHighest World Ranked defender, No.11
Here are some tips for playing defensive players. We don’t often get the opportunity to play defensive players so each time you get an opportunity use it as such. One of the defenders assets is that you don’t have as much experience at playing against their […]

BalanceA Key for Life… and Table Tennis
Listening to a jockey the other day, he talked about horses racing in the wet and who was going to win. His comment was, the horses that have developed better balance are better in the wet . Not knowing much about horse racing, I thought about this […]

This is the time of year when we often have difficulty fitting in everything including our Table Tennis practice. Firstly I would say, don’t feel too guilty. We all need a break sometimes. It makes us fresher and more eager when we get back to the table. Some players feel like they […]

How often have you heard that saying?
Well I say it is wrong… It should read Perfect Practice makes Perfect.
I have seen too many hopeless training sessions with players practicing and just going through the motions. Many people tell me how many hours they train. I don’t care. I do care that they […]

Once again these thoughts have been spurred on by Bob Dwyer - former Australian Rugby Coach.
Here are some extracts from him for you to think about.
Budgets

The only answer to this conundrum is for us to be as good as we can be
“When addressing gatherings of business people I often upset them by talking about […]

Have you ever wanted to practice some routines but your partners just want to play games?
Doing routines is an important part of training. You need to be able to get your strokes consistent and practice your placement.
So they want to play games and you want to practice some routines. Well it is possible […]

Training beginners is a daunting task. When teaching beginners you need to consider both now and the future. It is not enough to teach them things that will help them in 5 years time if they have no success now. Similarly it is no good teaching them only the way to win […]

Table Tennis is a spectacular sport with lots of hard hitting and spin, retrieving from several meters away from the table, smashing at over 180 km/h.

If you can’t prevent your opponent from attacking, all your wonderful forehand and backhand strokes are worthless
Unfortunately, that is not what makes a great table tennis player. In fact […]

New Video Lessons

PingSkills has just released 3 brand new free Table Tennis lessons

Backhand Topspin Against Block
Backhand Topspin Against Backspin
Choosing a Good Table Tennis Ball

We have another 7 Table Tennis lessons being finalised over the new few weeks which will also be added to the website. Once all 10 are ready we will package them into […]

I found the following section in an insightful chapter of Bob Dwyer’s (Australian Rugby Coach) Memoirs, titled Full Time. It focuses on a conversation between himself and David Campese, one of Australia’s greatest Rugby League players of all time.

It brought home a couple of essential elements of competing and training. The section is […]

The first question that needs to be asked is, “how do you practice effectively?”
To practice effectively you need to have the ball coming to you in a manner that will allow you to practice what you want to.
Group Training
To this end, if you are in a group environment where there are a few players of […]

In Table Tennis one of the important things to learn is where to stand at the table.
How far from the table?
For beginners a good distance is one where you can just touch the table when in your ready position. This will allow you to reach the shorter balls as well as cover the balls […]

When playing a teams match the order of your players can be all important.
There are a few things that teams need to consider.
1. Your best player should finish his/her matches first. This is a to ensure that your best player gets to play all of his/her matches It would be a shame […]

Table Tennis has developed over the years and right now the big key to developing your game is the use of topspin. If you are an attacking player, without it you are struggling.
Why is topspin so important?
The main reason is the length of a table tennis table. Because it is relatively short you […]

A common mistake is to rush out into a match situation and try and win cheap points with a great new serve you’ve just seen. Often this ends with a number of faults and a number of winners hit past you.

Serving is a skill that takes years of practice to master, and something that you […]

I’ve often been asked about how I “glue my bat”. Most top offensive players glue their bats with speed glue before every Table Tennis match and I’d like to share my techniques with you. There is a video below showing how easy it is. It is interesting to note that there are significant changes ahead […]

What is the most appropriate way to train?
Here are some guidelines for you to follow. While this is not the only way this is certainly one way of doing it.
2 Hour Session for Club Level Player
5 to 10 minutes - Physical warm up including stretching
5 minutes - Forehand to Forehand
5 Minutes - Backhand to […]

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 […]

Photo courtesy of ITTFGo to the forehand

Although the backhand is used more in modern Table Tennis than in the past, generally people’s forehands are their most dangerous shot. To counter this, the ball is usually directed to the backhand side of the table, even with the serve. So players get used to pivoting around and […]

Jeff Plumb - Head and body
perfectly balanced for a short forehand return
Photo courtesy of ITTF

“Come On!!! MOVE!!!!” How often have you heard that in a table tennis hall either by players berating themselves or their coaches doing it for them?
Moving for the sake of moving is not the answer.
In Table Tennis we always talk […]

Video lessons are here!

Ping Skills founders Alois Rosario and Jeff Plumb have put together a number of video lessons:

Essential Rules
Get a Grip
The most important skill in Table Tennis
The forehand counterhit
The backhand counterhit

It is not often that you get access to an Olympic Table Tennis Coach, so we hope you enjoy these lessons and use them […]

What we are taught
Photo courtesy of ITTF

Early on in our Table Tennis lives, we are taught to serve short so that we can stop the opponent playing an aggressive return. We are then instructed to “get in” and play a big attacking topspin ourselves. Now this is really solid advice and worth following so make […]

Kids Starting Out Must Have Fun

I recently read the book “Reading Magic” by Mem Fox. Although the book has nothing to do with Table Tennis, I found some interesting points that I could easily relate to. Basically the book suggests that by reading aloud to our kids every night, they will find learning to read […]

Technique vs Skill which is the more important?

Well you may say, so what is the difference?

Technique is learning the stroke, making sure the strokes look correct and enable you to put the ball on the table efficiently.

Skill is being able to use the technique at the appropriate time and in the appropriate situation. Making the […]