Teaching Others to Translate Practice into Game

Bungo Bobbo Asked 9 years ago

Hello, I am a low ranking player (1300 ish), but I understand the fundamentals of table tennis well enough to teach them, as I have taken lessons myself, but I am having trouble getting a few of my school club members to translate their training into an actual match. During practice sessions, for example, they can loop many times in a row with improving accuracy. But, when it comes to a match, they often swing too soon, lose their footwork, or miss the ball entirely. At first it seemed as if they were just nervous during a tournament match, but even games against familiar friends caused mistakes that they normally do not make in practice. Do you have any suggestions for training exercises I can do with them to help them increase their competitive play?

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Jehron,

This is a question that a lot of players and coaches battle with.

I think the main thing is to do relevant training.  Instead of doing set drills where you know where the ball is coming, open it up to do more open drills where you don't know where the ball is coming.  This will improve your ability to track the ball and then still execute your strokes.