Teaching kids table tennis

Can you suggest some drills/games for kids learning table tennis to help them learn good habits and have fun at the same time? E.g. 6-11 year old beginners.

Hi Stephen,

Here are some ideas.  

You can play a game of Round the Table where the kids all line up at the other end of the table and hit one ball, run around the hall and then return.  While doing this you can get them to hit certain strokes that you are working on with them.

Ins and Out - Have 3 or more players on each table.  The 2 players on the table play one point.  The winner is the King and the loser joins the line on the side of the table.  You can count how many points each player wins.

Table Cricket - Add some targets on the table.  Bounce the ball to a player at the far end and get them to hit the ball and see if they can hit the targets.  You can assign a points reward to each target.

Relays - You can do relays with the players with the players doing different skills as they run such as bouncing the ball on the racket, bouncing the ball on the floor, holding the ball on the racket, etc.

There are plenty of other options depending on your imagination.