Should we play with weak players?

Abhinav Raje Asked 15 years ago

I am learning table tennis and I look for oppurtunities to play with good players. I believe it helps in improving my game. But if we play with players who are not very good player does it restrict in improving our game.

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Abinhav,

I htink in a club situation you need to play with all types of players. Of course if you play with better players you will probably improve the fastest.

But, we can still gain a lot out of practicing with players that are lower in ability than ourselves.

During this practice time, you can focus on things like tracking the ball. Practice your balance and movement, make sure you are doing your strokes correctly. Don't waste an opportunity even when you are practicing with a weaker player. Challenge yourself by trying to play all ofrehands, or work on your placement by picking spots on the table you are aiming for.

The possibilities are endless.

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Chris Unknown Posted 15 years ago

I think that is some great advice.

Let's be honest, none of us want to practice with weaker players, but if the players better than us, thought like this, then we would never get to play them, so I think you have to do your bit.

So while practicing with them, testing out different things about your own game makes a lot of sense.

Well, that's my opinion anyway.

Abhinav Raje Posted 15 years ago

That's great advice. Thanks again

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 15 years ago

Yeah, unless the opponent is an absolute beginner, there is always something you can practice. When I find myself having a hit with a much weaker player, I normally concentrate on aspects of the game you normally don't have the chance to concentrate on explicitly (because you are too busy hitting the ball!). Namely: correct and quick footwork, getting your body into correct position for every shot, returning IMMEDIATELY to a neutral position after a hit instead of standing there admiring your last stroke, being aware of your position in relation to the table, the ball and the opponent, and being aware of the placement of your shots.

Charles Unknown Posted 15 years ago

This has been a problem with the European professionals. Take Timo Boll for example. He can't play with other European Professionals like Samsonov and just trains with Butterfly Trainers. In China, the professionals train with each other. They also make clones of European professionals to get used to playing them. An example of this is Kong Linghui. He was modeled to defeat JO Waldner, a thread to the Chinese Team.

When I play against weaker players, I usually do a drill that they don't know I'm doing. That way I can help them. I usually score because of there errors duting the game. I'm not like those evil people who finish the game 3-0 in just 5 mins when they have a match with beginners.

andrew brand Posted 15 years ago

i think you need to play with lots of different styles of players, however try not to play with vastly weaker players all the time because i find when this happens i tend to drop down to their level and not play to my standard, and this is counter-productive and quite frustrating. before you know it you are considering giving up because your game isnt as good as it used to be! like i said try to play a variety of players, if you get asked to play a weak player try and keep it limited to say a best of 5 games and then move to another opponent if possible. hope this helps.