Using PingSkills to run courses in Table Tennis

Peter Brandis Asked 1 month ago

Hi folks - I'm an older gent (age 68), just taken up table tennis - (although I'm fit and strong - from weightlifting and jiu jitsu - I find table tennis for 3 hours quite hard). I've learnt so much from your videos - so thanks for doing them. I do find it hard to transfer the learning from the videos to real life playing (and I don't see other players improving much )- any thoughts?

Also, currently I play at Kiama which is about 40k away - it's a great club and I enjoy it tremendously. But I've been thinking of establishing a club in Nowra (where I live), to save the travel time, but wondered about running introductory courses (in part as a means to get new members) and using your video tutorials as the basis of the courses. Has anyone done this before? Do you have any hints on how this could be done?

And do you have any comments on Ping Pong Parkinson and how some of your courses could be used for this?

Regards

Peter

Alois Rosario Answered 1 month ago

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing your story, it’s fantastic to hear how you’re jumping into table tennis with such enthusiasm. You’re right, it’s a very different physical demand compared to weightlifting and jiu jitsu instead of short bursts of maximum strength, you’re moving constantly, bending low, reacting quickly, and engaging lots of small stabilising muscles. Three hours can feel like a marathon at first, but your body will adapt with regular play.

On the challenge of transferring learning from videos to real play that’s very common. In drills or watching instruction, everything feels clear, but in games, there are so many variables: different spins, timing, positioning, nerves. A couple of ideas:

• Break it down: Pick just one thing from a video to focus on during a session (for example, your forehand topspin). Don’t try to apply everything at once.

• Controlled drills: See if a partner will help you do 5–10 minutes of a specific practice from the videos before you jump into games. Even a little structure before social play helps build the link.

• Feedback loop: Record a short clip of yourself playing. Often, you’ll see the exact gap between what you think you’re doing (from the videos) and what’s actually happening.

About starting a club in Nowra — that sounds like a great initiative. We’ve seen people use our tutorials as a backbone for beginner classes. A simple way is:

1. Run a short introductory course (say, 4–6 weeks).

2. Each week, focus on one or two basics (forehand drive, backhand drive, push, serve).

3. Show a short clip from our video, then spend most of the time getting people on the table with simple drills.

4. Finish with fun games to keep people motivated.

This way, you don’t need to be the “expert coach” you’re more like a facilitator using content, and people learn by doing.

On Ping Pong Parkinson our simple skill progression (starting with controlled strokes, pushes, then adding spin) fits well for this. The key is keeping it enjoyable and achievable, so people get a sense of progress without pressure. Some groups around the world already use table tennis in this way, and a supportive community is just as important as the physical benefits.