Time Out Calling
Table Tennis Match Strategy
Last updated 7 years ago
Temitope Ogunsanya Asked 7 years ago
Hello Alois,
Compliments of the New Season!
Straight to my question --- When are the very best moments, period and time to call for time out in a Tournaments ?
Regards
Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago
Hi Temitope,
Players have Time Outs for various reasons.
One can be if they think their opponent is on a roll and winning a few points. Or they may be feeling nervous or confused themselves and just need a chat to their coach to get some ideas.
Take a look at these previous questions:
Thoughts on this question
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Ilia Minkin Posted 7 years ago
I heard about the rule that some players follow: if it is a possibly the last game in the match and you trail by three points, take a timeout. I think it is a good rule of thumb. There are others situations, of course.
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago
This is something that a lot of players tend to do Ilia.
Marius Darian Posted 7 years ago
Greg Letts has written an article about timeouts (it is on about.com or gregsttpages.com).
Jean Balthazar Posted 7 years ago
Most people only take their time out in the last game (i.e. when it's 2-2 and the first to 3 games wins). That's a big mistake in my opinion. Often a time-out could have helped securing a win in a previous game, which could have resulted in a win before the final 5th game, which is always hazardous to play. That's especially true when you play a stronger player. If you have an opportunity to get a game under your belt, you should take it. It will put more pressure on your opponent if he loses a game, and it will give you more time to get into the match.
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago
The Chinese players will often take their time out earlier in the match.
Marius Darian Posted 7 years ago
I read somewhere that the Chinese better at keeping a lead compared to other players and worse at coming back.
So they might take a timeout at 9-9 in the first game to make sure they go up 1-0 and then have a great chance of winning.
Temitope Ogunsanya Posted 7 years ago
Learning from all your comments guys . More comments will be appreciated.
Dieter Verhofstadt Posted 7 years ago
On two occasions now I have called a time out when having match point on 10-8 and having to serve. On both occasions I was very nervous because I was close to winning a game against a much higher ranked player and I felt the margin was narrow. I mainly wanted to calm down by chatting to someone else and share the responsibility of deciding which serve to do next. 1st time my club mate said: either surprise serve or most comfortable serve. I chose surprise serve and won. 2nd time my club mate said "serve which we last practiced". I did and won again.
It worked for me.
Earlier in the game I will usually not be that nervous and get back into the game or keep my advantage on will power or tactical thinking alone. I have my towel break routines, serve routines and in between set routines to calm me down. But on match point I can use something special.