3 Basic Principals of All Table Tennis Strokes This article is unique because the information it contains impacts every

stroke in the game. These concepts cut across all differences in grips, playing style, and personal technique. Strict adherence to these principals is necessary for any individual stroke to be successful. 1. TimingWhen To Touch The Ball

There are three possible timing possibilities As the ball is rising At the top of the bounce As the ball is descending STROKE TIMING (Changes according to type of ball being struck.) Stroke TIMING Rising Top Falling Counter Fast Loop Slow Loop Reloop Off Bounce Reloop, Mid-Range Push, Normal Push, Fast Chop Block Against Loop 2. Application of Force and FrictionHow to Touch the Ball

Force contact occurs when a forward moving racket strikes the ball. An example of this occurs when you bounce the ball straight into the air on the racket. You can often hear a wood type of sound (hard sound). Most of the energy goes into producing forward motion. Friction contact occurs when you brush the ball with the racket. Most of the energy goes into producing spin (ball rotation). Sound is muffled (soft sound). Most strokes are a blend of Force and Friction. Slow Loops, serves, and pushes are maximum friction and minimum force. Fast Loops are medium Force and medium Friction. Counters and Kill shots are maximum Force and minimum Friction.

DIRECTION OF STROKE FORCE (Changes according to type of ball being struck.) Type of Incoming Ball Stroke Direction Against Topspin Down & Forward Against Backspin Up & Forward Against Right Sidespin To Your Left & Forward Against Left Sidespin To Your Right & Forward Against a High Ball Downward Against a Low Ball Upward 3. Ball ContactWhere to Touch the Ball

Most important of the 3 principals. Always contact the Front of the ball. Front of the ball is an area, not a specific point. Front of the ball is a constantly changing area, determined by the trajectory of the ball. It is the part of the ball facing the direction of travel. AREA OF CONTACT FOR VARIOUS STROKES (Changes according to type of ball being struck.) Stroke Contact Area On Ball Counter Against Topspin Above Center Kill Against Backspin Center Slow Loop Against Backspin Center Or Below Center Fast Loop Against Backspin Center Or Above Center Reloop From Mid-Distance Center Or Below Center Reloop From Close To Table Top Push Against Backspin Below Center To Bottom Chop Against Topspin Center Or Below Center Definition of "Front" and "Center" of Ball

Relationship Between the Front of the Ball and Stroke Timing The area of the ball facing the direction of travel defines the Front of the ball. The Front does not change even if the ball is spinning. When you are aiming for a spot on the ball you must also consider the stroke timing that you are using. Here is an example of how the contact point on the ball will change with the timing you use. Lets assume that your opponent chops a ball to your forehand that you wish to loop. According to the chart on where to contact the ball for this stroke, the contact should be

below the center of the front of the ball. Now look above at where that point on the ball would be when the ball is struck at the top of the bounce. Now compare how that location would change if you let the ball fall. You can see how your racket angle would have to change as your timing changes.

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball - A Different Point of View Keep Your Eyes (and Your Mind) Open The big issue on this topic is really where the ball is in relationship to the body at contact. I think you will agree you can't see contact on most backhands as the ball is shielded due to the paddle position, yet backhands are probably the most consistent shots we make because the ball is in front of us versus to our side like forehands. Also If a player is relooping off the bounce on the forehand they are probably also shielding the ball with their blade so again telling a person to see contact might be impossible. Some forehand flips to the middle also shield contact. Sean's Advice for Players Here is what I tell my students. You should always have your eyes on the ball through out the rally. At the same time you should be aware of where your opponent is at all times. Track the ball with your eyes and not your neck. Make sure you have a solid backswing, contact and follow through on all shots. Try to hit the ball in the center of the racket. Note by Greg: Despite our minor differences of opinion about turning the neck, the advice above is solid gold from someone who knows his stuff. Disregard it at your peril! In relation to seeing 100% contact, I don't think it is as critical as a good follow through since many shots are shielded and you will never fully see contact on those anyway. I am very careful what words I use as they create a visual for the player. In essence, I purposefully just leave it out telling players to actually see contact with both eyes. Refocus on Your Opponent Many players even at the higher level forget to refocus on the opponent after the shot is complete. It seems to me the best watch the ball just as long as needed and then refocus on the path as it is leaving their racket. This transition should be seamless and not 100% ball then 100% opponent but 2-3 inches before contact you know you will hit the ball and watching all the way doesn't add any value. That should be the time to make your final decision on where you are going to hit the ball to and double check where the opponent is in case they have moved. That is if you believe that the top players actually can hit to multiple locations from any one shot. If you see the image of Waldner or Smirnov on the www.donic.de website I think you will see they are not seeing contact as the risk of losing the path of the ball. On the other hand, I think that Baum is hitting the ball late and thus his neck and eyes are focusing more on the ball. Maybe a better way of saying it is if you are late in your stroke you may want to track the ball more to your paddle. If you are early (ball in front of body) it is probably impossible in some instances to even see the contact. In the Persson photo on the Donic site you will see his shoulders have turned which means the shot wasn't late and you can see that his eyes are already focused on the ball in front of his body.

Use your Eyes, Not Your Neck When I tell my students to watch the ball all the way to contact they will regularly error and use their neck which doesn't have the strength to move at contact speed. Maybe some of your students will just use their eyes to track the ball when you mention to watch contact, but I know most Americans will track it with their neck and this is why I am extremely careful not to even bring it up. We had 2 solid Olympic players on the US Team that tracked with their neck and it really hurt them in their ball placement of their shots. The point I am trying to make is I don't see any problem with someone not seeing actual contact. The Pro's probably do this more often then not. There is nothing wrong with not seeing contact when the ball is in front of as you would have to wait and hit it late to peek over the paddle anyway. And I really get nervous when some one often hits the ball late and then has no clue where the opponent is since they use their neck muscles to track the ball. I don't think we are really in much disagreement as I want the players to focus more on their opponent at contact as they are improving as that will help them decide where to hit their shot. A similar situation occurs when people ask if they should use wrist on their shots. I tell them not to think about it but to keep their wrist relaxed. This will allow for a solid wrist snap during the stroke instead of an abbreviated stroke with too much wrist. Words do have tremendous meaning for new players. Beginners vs Advanced Players One final thought. As beginners it is critical we make solid contact and focus on the ball as long as possible. I often say beginners will keep 90% of their attention on what is happening on their side of the net. As we improve we begin to shift that percentage to 50%-50%. At the highest level the attention is about 90% to 10% on watching what is happening on the other side of the net as our strokes and movements are grooved and we know what we will do thanks to countless hours of practice. I try to get players to get to the 50-50% relationship as fast as possible knowing it is a requirement to then going 90-10%. I am guessing when I started driving a car my focus was on the steering wheel a little more than it is now as I tend to pan further in front of me and less to the sides. I think the analogy although a little tortured is a little like pong. I thank you for doing an article on the topic as clearly there is more than one way to skin a cat and top players often do watch full contact. I just think it is more due to body /ball position than conscious thought of not wanting to miss the puck!

Table Tennis Footwork for Beginners You put your left foot in...

Basic Ready Position From Right Side It is often difficult for beginners to learn to use the correct footwork. At the beginning, you can get away with poor footwork since it is not the most important part of the game. But as you get better having good footwork becomes more and more important, until it is an essential component of the game in advanced play. Rather than starting out the wrong way and picking up bad habits that are hard to get rid of later, I'll give you some simple tips that will put you on the right track for the future. What is Good Footwork? The point of using footwork is to get you to the ball so that you can hit the same stroke as much as possible. Good footwork allows you to consistently use your best technique, instead of having to stretch, be cramped, or bend from the waist. Good footwork is not just about sheer speed. It's also about moving the right amount at the right time. A slow player who moves correctly will have better footwork than a quick player who goes to the wrong place, or with his feet the wrong way around. One of the most common errors I see from beginners is what I call the 'all or nothing' syndrome. This is the habit beginners have of not moving their feet at all if they can stretch for the ball, even though this puts them off balance. Then, for balls that they can't reach by stretching, they move too far, and actually get too close to the ball, cramping their stroke. You can avoid this problem by remembering to always move to the ball, even if you only move six inches or so. Get in the habit of moving into position, and you will soon be able to get into the right position to hit the ball, whether it is near or far away. When your opponent hits the ball very hard, you may find that you do not have time to move your feet at all. When this happens, leaning a little to the left or right to reach the ball may be necessary and unavoidable. But move whenever you can, you'll be better balanced to hit the ball, and you'll be able to recover for the next stroke more quickly. Footwork - the Basic Ready Position Try to position yourself so that you are always just slightly to the left of the middle of all possible angles your opponent can hit, assuming you are a right hander. This will give you the best chance of being able to reach the ball no matter where he hits it. You stand a little

to the left of the middle of all angles because you can reach further to the right (on your forehand) than on your backhand, and because your forehand is hit on the right hand side of your body, while your backhand is hit in front of your body. See my article on base positioning for a more in-depth explanation of this concept, along with explanatory diagrams. Your shoulders should be facing square to where the ball is coming from, and your feet should be as far apart as you can comfortably put them - about one and a half times your shoulder width is a good rule of thumb. Place your feet also facing the ball, and then move your right foot about six inches to a foot further back than the left foot, and you will have your basic ready position. The right foot is placed further back to allow you to transfer your body weight slightly backwards and forwards when hitting your forehand. If you have your feet too square you will not be able to hit with full power. Having the right foot further back will not affect your backhand much, since there is not much weight transfer on the backhand stroke. Get on the balls of your feet - not your toes and not your heels. Too much on your toes and you'll tend to overbalance forwards, and too much on your heels and you'll tend to lean backwards too much. Make sure your knees are bent, and you should have a slight crouch and a little amount of forward lean. Keep your feet light - some players like to bounce from one foot to another, and others like to jump on both feet at once. Use whichever you like, but keep moving - it's easier to get around if you are not standing still. For balls that are table height or lower, bend your knees more to get down to the ball, rather than bending from the waist. Using your knees allows you to hit the ball using your normal technique, while bending from the waist changes the way you have to swing, since your body is now leaning over. Try both ways and you will see what I mean. Keep your crouching position as much as you can while playing - this helps keep your center of gravity low, and will help you move around the court more smoothly. Standing up straight will raise your center of gravity, lock your knees and impair your ability to balance and move quickly. Rallying Footwork From the basic ready position described above, you will be able to cover 80-90% of the court simply by taking a simple shuffle step to the left or right. A shuffle step to the right is done by moving the left foot towards the right (not towards the right foot, which is further back), and just before touching the ground, moving your right foot to the right as well. The left foot will hit the ground first, and then the right foot, and then you will hit the ball. Try not to hit the ball while you are still moving, since it is harder to hit a stable stroke. Both feet should move the same distance, whether it is six inches or a foot and a half. Reverse the process to move to the left. Whichever direction you move, your left foot should still finish six inches to a foot in front of the right, when compared to your shoulders. For balls that are too far to reach with one shuffle step, you can use two or more shuffle steps, or use crossover footwork. A crossover step to the right is performed by moving your left foot to the right past your right foot (crossing in front of the right foot), and then

moving the right foot the same distance to the right just before the left foot touches the ground. Once both feet have settled, the ball is hit. For the times when you want to move forwards or backwards only, use a simple shuffle forwards or backwards, keeping your feet in the same relative position. Don't worry too much about which foot should move first, it will happen naturally. For moving large distances forward or backward, normal running footwork can be used to get in position. Finish with one foot forward to allow you to push yourself back in the other direction after playing your stroke. When you are moving sideways and forwards or backwards, combinations of these basic methods can be used. For example, to move a small distance to the left, and backwards a little, the right foot should be moved diagonally backwards and to the left, and then the left foot moved the same way, using a shuffle step. To move further, you could move the right foot backwards and to the left, crossing behind the left foot, and then the left foot is moved the same way just before the right foot touches the ground. Serve and Serve Return Footwork When you are serving, make sure that you don't end up too close to the table. Most players serve from close to the endline, and then move a half step backwards, to give them room to swing properly, and not get caught by deep returns. When you are returning serve, stand a little further back than you normally like to play, and as the server serves, move in to this position. If the ball is going to be long, you can stay at this distance and hit the ball. If the serve is going to be short, you can simply keep moving forward to reach the ball. When returning short serves, step in with the left foot for balls on your backhand side, and with your right foot for serves on your forehand side. Another technique used by the professionals for returning short balls to the backhand is to shuffle forward with both feet, while keeping the shoulders facing the direction the ball is coming from. Your left foot will naturally be in front of the right foot when you use this technique. Against very deep serves (or if you have come in a little too far) step back with the right foot for serves on the forehand side (or shuffle both feet back if you have time), and shuffle both feet backwards for deep balls on backhand side. Conclusion Footwork in table tennis is not something that most of us do correctly as a matter of course, instead it is something that must be thought about, and then practised diligently. Resist the temptation to do things your way, or else you will regret it later when you have to correct your bad habits. Learn from the example of better players - footwork should be simple, efficient and consistent. Start off on the right foot(!) and you'll always be able to put your best foot forward.

Table Tennis Positioning - Back to Base-ics All Your Base Are Belong to Us...

Basic Ready Position In this article I'm going to put down some thoughts for those table tennis players out there who have mastered the basic techniques of the sport and are looking for other areas in which to improve their game. In particular, I'm going to talk about the subject of base positioning in table tennis. By this I mean the skill of positioning yourself on the court during a rally so that you can play your best table tennis. Why Base Positioning? Yes, it's a bit of a strange name, I know. But I like to think of this skill as base positioning because it reminds me of the base camps used in Arctic expeditions or mountain climbing. A base camp is used as a safe starting point from which explorers or climbers go to more dangerous territory. In table tennis, your base position is the place on the court that gives you the best chance of coping with your opponent's upcoming stroke, and from which you can move as needed to reach the ball. Base Positioning - Basic(!) Concepts Stay Neutral In general, it's a good idea to adopt a ready position and stance that allows you to play both forehand and backhand with ease. I'm not going to go into huge amounts of detail about this in this particular article, but here's a quick summary of what to do. For right handers, keep your feet either square to the line of play (see further below for an explanation of line of play) or the right foot a little bit behind the left foot. Keep the feet wide apart - typically a fair bit wider than shoulder width - check out the professionals in action for examples of just how wide they go. You should be crouching forward a little, and your elbows will be roughly shoulder width apart, with the tip of the bat pointing forward. I'll talk a little more below about where exactly to point the tip of the bat. The basic idea is that it should be easy to hit both forehand and backhand from this position - the forehand by simply turning the shoulders to the right, and the backhand by rotating the forearm 90 degrees towards your torso.

Base Positioning - Advanced Concepts Your Base Position Will Change During a rally, your base position will change a number of times. This can be due to a number of factors, such as:

What stroke you are about to play What stroke you just played Where you put the ball on the table What angle you hit the ball from What shot your opponent is likely to play

You might have noticed that of these factors, only one of them actually relates to your opponent. So in fact you have a lot of control over where your base position will be. Let's have a look at these factors one by one. What Stroke You Are About to Play On the forehand side, most strokes are played from pretty much the same position relative to your body - a little to the side. But on the backhand, this can be different. Backhand pushes and counters close to the table are usually best performed directly in front of your torso. As you move back from the table, backhand drives, loops and chops tend to be better if you take them a little more to the side of your body. This can and will affect where your base position should be, in terms of sideways positioning. What Stroke You Have Just Played The stroke you have just made will also affect your positioning, but in a more up and back manner. If you have just made a strong attack or tight push or chop, you are likely to get a slower, weaker return from your opponent, so you will probably want to come closer to the table, or hold your position. If you have made a weak shot, your opponent is likely to be able to hit harder, and so you may wish to retreat from the table a little. Where You Put the Ball On the Table This can have an effect in two ways. Firstly, where you put the ball on the table will help determine what distance away from the table your opponent hits the ball, which can then affect whether you should be coming in close to the table or moving back. Secondly, if you can put the ball in places that are difficult for the opponent, such as wide angles or into his crossover point, you are more likely to get a weak return, and as such you should be coming closer to the table or holding position, looking for another powerful follow up attack. What Shot Your Opponent Is Likely to Play The stroke that your opponent is likely to play is in part influenced by his own positioning, strengths and weaknesses, and in part by the return you have given him and your own

positioning during the rally. The best place to put yourself will change depending on how these various factors interact. For example, if your opponent has a strong forehand loop crosscourt, but is not so good at hitting down the line, you could adjust for this by standing a little further to your right, knowing that he is not as likely to hit down the line during rallies. Or if he is strong at looping off pushes but tends to block topspin returns, you may wish to go back a little when pushing, then come forward when you reloop his first attack. An opponent who prefers to run around his backhand to hit off-forehands to your backhand may require you to move to your left when he runs around his backhand to attack, but come back to the right if you can survive his first attack and put it wide to his forehand, giving you a chance to pin him down on his backhand side. Another point to note is that if you can force your opponent to play a certain stroke or a certain direction consistently, you can adjust your base position accordingly. For example, if you have a good deep sidespin serve to your opponent's backhand that your opponent is finding difficult to return down the line, you can stand further to your left when waiting for his return of service. By cutting down his available options, you can get away with standing in a position that would be suicidal if he was flipping the ball down the line easily. Conclusion Well, as usual, I started out to write a few thoughts and ended up with more than I had planned. If you have anything you'd like to add regarding the concept of base positioning (or whatever you like to call it!) feel free to drop me an email or post a comment in the forum.

Table Tennis Base Positioning - What Angle You Have Hit the Ball From Comfortable Angle of Play

Comfortable Angle of Play 1 Each player has a range of angles that he is most comfortable hitting within. As he faces in different directions, this angle tends to move with the way he is facing. The angle you have hit the ball from will affect the way that your opponent is facing. As such, different parts of the table will be within his comfortable range of angles. The accompanying picture shows a ball hit by you from your backhand side, to the opponent's backhand side. Examine the comfortable range of angles that your opponent can hit from this position (Note - the comfortable range of angles is simply the area that your opponent will find it physically easiest to hit the ball, and thus most players are more likely to put the ball in this range).

Comfortable Angle of Play 2 Now compare this to a ball hit to the same location, but from wide on your forehand. Notice how your opponent's comfortable range of angles moves with his orientation. Plan your base position according to this knowledge.

Table Tennis Base Positioning - Face the Ball, Not the Endline Line of Play - Facing the Ball

Line of Play - Facing the Ball 1 Beginning players often make the mistake of always standing square to the endline of the table. The only time that this is correct is when the ball is coming from the direction of the center of the opponents table. The rest of the time, you should face in the direction that the ball is coming from. If you drew an imaginary line between the ball and yourself, this would represent the line of play. You should always strive to be square-on (or almost square-on, depending on your preferred stance) to this line.

Line of Play - Facing the Ball 2 The reasoning behind this becomes obvious when shown visually. If you always face the endline of the table, there will be times when you will not be in the best position to hit a forehand or backhand. By adjusting to face the ball, you should always be in the optimum position to hit both forehand and backhand.

The Neutral Position in Table Tennis/Ping-Pong

The Neutral Position in Table Tennis Assuming you are right handed, when you are waiting for your opponent to hit the ball, in general your bat should actually be pointing somewhere between one foot to one and a half feet to the right of the ball, not straight at the ball. Why is this? Because if you are facing the ball, your bat is actually one to one and a half feet to the right of your body when you are standing ready and keeping yourself able to go to the forehand or backhand equally easily. So if you point your bat directly at the ball, you will actually be in a slightly backhand waiting position. Pointing Your Bat at the Ball - The Problem So what, you might say? Well, if you are pointing at the ball just like the player in the diagram, and the opponent hits the ball at the area between your bat and your belly button (your playing elbow, you are already in position to hit a backhand stroke - so guess which stroke you are likely to play? That's right - a backhand. The problem is that you should actually be hitting a forehand when the ball comes to this area. Since your racket is pointing to the wrong location, you are more likely to play an awkward backhand than the forehand you know you should play.

Pointing Your Bat to the Right of the Ball - The Solution Now compare what happens when you point the tip of your bat around a foot to the right of the actual ball location. When the ball comes to the area between your bat and your belly button, you are in position to hit your forehand, just as you should do. Balls that are aimed to the left or right of this area can be handled with your backhand or forehand as per normal. Easy! Table Tennis Base Positioning - Always Move Towards Your Best Base Position

Adjusting Your Base Position 1 As discussed previously, your best base position will be changing from stroke to stroke during the rally. Always make it a goal to be moving towards this best location once you have hit your stroke. At the time you hit the ball, you should know fairly well where the ball is going to go, with what pace and spin. You should also have a fair idea where your opponent is and what his likely responses are. This will give you a large and fuzzy base location to begin with.

Adjusting Your Base Position 2 As you continue to move towards this base location, you should continue to watch your opponent, and you will get more information about what stroke he is going to play, and where he is likely to put the ball. This will allow you to fine-tune your guess as to the best base location, and you should be making small adjustments with your footwork to get there in plenty of time.

Adjusting Your Base Position 3

Finally, once your opponent actually hits the ball, you will be able to quickly determine the direction, depth and power of his stroke. This will give you a final small base location that will give you the best chance of making a good return of your choice. Remember, it is better to take one small step towards your best base location, than to simply stand still after hitting your last shot. Even the smallest of steps in the right direction will improve your chances of getting to the next stroke. So don't ever stop and wait, unless you believe you are already in the right place!

Beginner's Guide to Returning Serve in Table Tennis I have already talked about the importance of the service in table tennis. Now that you fully appreciate why serving is so important, it's time to look at the flip side of the coin (or bat!), and discuss the return of serve. Ask any beginner who has been playing a while why he is having trouble winning games, and a common excuse will be the difficulty of returning serve. You'll hear this put in a variety of ways - from blaming the opponent ("I could beat so-and-so if he didn't have those tricky serves"), to blaming the equipment ("The table/ball is bouncing funny"), but you will rarely hear someone say that it because their own return of serve is bad! Don't fall into this trap - if your opponent is serving legally and you are having trouble returning the ball - it's not him, it's you! For beginners, the return of service is very probably the most important stroke in the game. Even at high levels the return of serve is a very important stroke, and is trained accordingly. As with the service, it is possible to break up this discussion of the service return into four topics: Table Tennis - Why is Returning Serve Important? Since I spent quite a bit of time explaining why the serve is important, you might well be thinking that getting the serve back must be important too. And you'd be right! Listed below are the main reasons why the return of serve is so important in table tennis today:

As we discussed previously, the serve is used by smart opponents to help set up their attacks. Good returns of serve can neutralize the server's advantage and put the receiver into the rally on equal terms. Very good returns of serve can actually take the initiative from the server, and allow the receiver to get his own attack started first, forcing the rally to develop along the receiver's own favorite type of play. If you can't return serve well, you won't be able to use your rallying skills at their best. You will always be on the defensive when you are the receiver, since the server will be able to dominate the game with a good serve and powerful follow up attack. Remember that you will have to return serve on 50% of all points in singles there's no way to avoid it! As one of the most difficult aspects of table tennis to master, the serve return also has the greatest potential for improving your game. The return of serve is often the most neglected aspect of the beginner and intermediate player's game (advanced players have usually learnt better from bitter experience). With a little work you can soon have a better return of serve than most of your competition (since they are generally not practicing their return of serve at all), which is a handy edge to have.

Having a good return of serve can increase the pressure on your opponent, since he knows that he must serve well to prevent you from attacking him. It is very difficult to serve well when you are tense from knowing that anything less than a good serve will be attacked ruthlessly by your opponent!

How To Improve Your Return of Serve - Theory Now that you can see why returning serve well is vital to playing good table tennis, let's talk about what you need to know in order to have the best chance of having a good return of serve. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Be aggressive when returning serve. Try to attack whenever you can, and if you can't, try to return so that the server can't attack well. The mental checklist shown in point two below gives the stroke priority in which you should be trying to return serve. Don't think that you have to ask yourself every question in reality there isn't enough time. But with practice your decision making will speed up and your choices will improve, even if you aren't consciously making these decisions. 2. o Is the ball going to bounce off the end of the table? If YES then attack the ball. o Is the ball going to bounce high? If YES then attack the ball with a well placed [/od/glossary/g/flip.htm]flick. o Is the ball going to bounce near the net? If YES you can use a short push or float return to make a double bounce return that is difficult to attack, or o Does the ball have medium to heavy backspin? If YES, push the ball fast and deep. If NO, you can push or flick the ball to make a return that is difficult to attack well. 3. When returning serve, be aggressive in proportion to the quality of the serve. Good serves should be handled with care, and placement used instead of power. Average serves can be attacked with good spin and some speed. Weak serves should be attacked strongly with power and some spin. Many beginners lose too many points by trying to attack an average serve with too much power, and end up hitting the net or missing the end of the table. Don't give your opponent any freebies. 4. You must be watching like a hawk at the time the server actually hits the ball. Seeing the moment of contact is what will give you the best chance of deciphering what spin, speed and placement is on the ball. Without seeing the contact you are stuck with making guesses, and the chances are good that you are going to be wrong. 5. At the time of contact, note the direction that the server's bat is moving. If it is moving to your left, the ball will jump off your own bat towards the left side of the table, and vice versa if his bat is moving to the right. If his bat is moving under the ball (or down the back of the ball), there will be backspin, and if it is moving over the ball (or up the back of the ball), there will be topspin. Remember that most serves have a combination of sidespin and either backspin or topspin.

6. For topspin and backspin, it is easiest to return like with like. Return topspin with topspin, and backspin with backspin. Your spin and your opponent's spin will tend to cancel each other out, allowing easier control of the ball. Don't be afraid to try it the other way around though for variation, since using backspin against topspin and topspin against backspin can be very effective, although a little more difficult to do. 7. For sidespin, working with the spin is easiest. For example, if the server's bat is moving to your right at contact, put your bat a little to the right of the ball and hit the ball a little on its right hand side, aiming towards the left side of the table. This will keep a lot of your opponent's sidespin on the ball, and he will have to deal with it on his next stroke. 8. Working against the spin for sidespin serves is an advanced tactic that is recommended for advanced players only. Although very effective it requires a lot of control and touch to perform well. 9. It is easiest to always use a little spin at least to improve your ball control. Returning serves using float balls requires very good timing and touch, and an exact reading of the spin, which is difficult. Using a small amount of spin will allow you to be slightly incorrect and still make a good stroke. 10. Most of the time it is easiest to hit the ball at the peak of its bounce. Do not be afraid to change your timing every so often to increase the amount of variation the server has to cope with. 11. When placing the ball, you should stick to a few simple rules. Making the server move to hit the return is always a good idea. Placing the ball into the playing elbow is also a very good tactic if you can hit it with a little bit of speed, but your target is not that big, so be careful of trying this too often. If you keep making mistakes with the placement use the wide angles more often. 12. Some beginners get carried away with flicking, and try to flick every short serve. Dont overdo it serves with heavy backspin are difficult for beginners to flick well, and a flick that is badly placed is an easy ball for a server to attack, since flicks don't have much topspin. Again, the fast push can be used effectively to give you more variation, and give the server a harder ball to attack due to the backspin on the ball. 13. Take note of what patterns and favorite shots your opponent uses, and try to return so that he can't do these well or often. Instead, try to return so that you can play your own favorite shot or patterns. 14. Remember that a smart opponent will adjust very quickly if you always use the same return against a particular service. Use your best return the most often, but also use different types of strokes, spin, speed and placement so that your opponent finds it harder to get used to your returns. How To Improve Your Return of Serve - Practical As I explained previously, the return of serve is very important, so you might well ask why is it so neglected? The main reason is probably because it helps to have another player to serve to you in order for you to practice your serve return. Funnily enough, most players aren't willing to allow you to practice returning their best serves most unfair! So here are some practical tips that will help you improve your return of service, both with and without a partner. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite

Here's How: 1. Practice with a friend/training partner that wants to work on their serves and serve returns. Have them use serves that you are having trouble with they get to practice their serve and you get to practice your returning. Then swap around and do some serves for them to practice returning. 2. During a match, if a serve hits the net and comes over to your side, don't catch it. Let it bounce and hit it back, noting the type of spin on the ball. It's like a free preview of your opponent's serve. 3. Note that the ball generally bounces lower on service, since it is mainly contacted fairly close to net height. Make sure that you use your knees to get down to the ball when returning, instead of bending from the waist. 4. A good way to practice telling the difference between long balls and short balls is to have a training partner serve the ball to you, and then play a shadow shot with your empty hand, deliberately missing the ball. Notice how often you would have pushed or flicked balls that were actually going off the end of the table and could be attacked with power instead. 5. When you are not playing at a tournament, watch your opponent's serves against other players, and try to pick what type of serve they are doing. This will help you get familiar with a particular player's favorite serves. 6. Put in the middle of the server's side of the table table a folded towel, or even better a piece of string with blu-tack or low-adhesive sticky tape on the corners to form a square about 15-20 inches wide. Have your training partner serve the ball, and when you return the service try to keep your return out of the square. You should be able to notice that the more often you keep your return out of the square, the harder it is for your training partner to attack strongly. 7. A robot can be handy for learning to deal with different types of spins. The nice thing with robots is that the spin and speed can be set to the same amount over and and over again, until you get master your return technique. A human server will always have some variations in his serve, and may well lose patience with serving the same serve to you over and over again! The downside with a robot is that you do not get to practice watching the service motion. 8. If you are having problems finding a training partner willing to serve to you, why not pay a coach or advanced player to give you some serving practice? You'll probably get some good tips as well well worth the money! 9. If you do training drills, start more of the drills with a proper serve and server return, rather than the standard easy topspin serve. This can easily increase the amount of serve return practice you get, without taking up any more time. 10. If you are having problems returning a particular serve, try to master the serve yourself. Once you understand all about that serve, you will find it much easier to pick when your opponent is using it on you! 11. From time to time, try using one type of return against every serve. You will make a few mistakes, but you will also find that you will succeed in returning serves that you would not normally have even tried to return with that type of stroke. This method is a very good way of finding out exactly what you can and can't do with a particular type of return you may be better than you think! How To Troubleshoot Your Return of Serve

Just as there are times when you will not be serving well, there will also be times when you are having problems with returning serve. Actually, there will probably be more times when you are struggling with your serve return, since when you are serving you have total control of the ball, and when you are receiving serve your opponent is trying to make your life more difficult! Here are some ready to go tips for when you need to fix your return of serve fast. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. When you are in doubt about the amount of spin on the ball, spin it yourself a little more, not less. The natural reaction when you are unsure of the spin is to gently touch the ball, attempting to caress it back. Unfortunately this does not work well with modern rubbers and their intense reaction to spin. So when in doubt, use a heavy spin it will increase your chances of overpowering whatever spin your opponent has placed on the ball. Don't hit it faster, just spin it more. 2. When you are having trouble attacking the serve, and being forced to push when receiving, a double bounce push is the best return, provided you can keep it low. It is also the most difficult return to make. I would recommend to keep practicing this stroke but only start using it in games when you can do it successfully at least 70% of the time. Until then stick to using a fast deep or fast angled push, which is a little less effective but much easier for you to do successfully. 3. When your opponent is attacking your returns too easily. When you are learning to return serve, the middle of the table is the safest place to aim at to allow for errors. As your control improves, you must begin to keep away from the middle of the table when returning serve. You want to either make your opponent move sideways to reach the ball, or aim at his playing elbow so that he has to decide whether to hit it with his forehand or backhand, and then has to move to play the stroke as well. 4. If you are having trouble reading the spin, make sure you are watching closely at the time of contact. Also try to watch your opponent serve against other players, and try to guess what spin he is putting on the ball. With a little close observation you'll soon start to recognize his different serves. 5. When you are having trouble with a particular serve, master the serve yourself not only will this give you another serve to add to your own arsenal, but it will help you understand and return that type of serve more easily. Watch better players return that serve - see what they do, think about why they are playing that stroke, note how effective it is, and decide whether that type of return would suit your style of play. If so, then try it out! 6. If you are making too many mistakes when attacking the serve, you should try to be as aggressive as you can be while maintaining some margin for error. If you are attacking but hitting too many serves into the net or off the end of the table, reduce your power a little, and increase your spin. This will give you more height over the net, and a ball that drops a little shorter on the table with good spin. When your opponent blocks the ball back, you can hit his return with more power.

7. If you find that you are still making too many mistakes when attacking the serve, you can try using a push or chop instead. Get the ball back into play a few times, and make your opponent work for the point. Don't just keep hitting and missing if you can't get the ball on - your opponent may just have too good a serve for you to attack, and you can't afford to keep giving him freebies. Then make sure you do some more practice against that type of serve in training later on. Putting Your Strokes Together Add 1 Forehand, 1 Backhand, 1 Push and 1 Smash - Mix well and serve One of the common things I see when I watch beginners play is that they quite often look all right when they are warming up. Their forehand counterhit and backhand counterhit seem fairly consistent and in fairly good form. Then the match begins and everything goes out the window once their opponent starts to move the ball around with different placement and spins. This can be very frustrating if you are a new player - you can play each individual shot quite well, but you just don't know how to put them together properly so that you can play your best. So in this article I'm going to give you some guidance on solving that jigsaw puzzle that is your table tennis game. Your strokes are the pieces - put them together in the right order and suddenly your whole game will come together. Due to the improvements in technology over recent years, the amount of spin and speed that can be put on the ball has increased markedly. The overwhelmingly dominant style in modern table tennis is one that uses this technology for aggression, where the player takes controlled risks and is constantly looking to force mistakes from his opponent with his attacks. It is very rare for players to reach a high level by playing 'safe' - looking to avoid mistakes and hoping that the opponent will miss. Better players don't make enough mistakes for this to be a winning strategy. At lower levels though, the story is different. Beginners and lower intermediate players do make a lot of mistakes when attacking, and it is perfectly possible for a 'safe' player to do very well at this level, since the odds are in his favor. Once a 'safe' player reaches the high intermediate level of competition, he will begin to struggle, since his opponents are more consistent in their attacking. Unless the player begins to develop other facets of his game, he is not likely to rise above mid-intermediate level, since the odds are now stacked against him. The decision for a beginner about whether to play a safe style to begin with, or start out by being aggressive, is not an easy one to make, and can affect the rest of a player's career. I've got some advice for new players to consider before deciding on their style. I've already talked about serving and returning serve separately, so I'll just mention some important points relating to how these strokes fit together with the rest of the rally. Once the serve and serve return are completed, the rally begins and the battle for control of the point starts, with both players looking to neutralize their opponents chances of

attacking, and make the attacks themselves. Your tactics should change depending on whether you or your opponent is in control, or the battle is even. Finally, I have included a few general tips on rallying that apply no matter who is controlling the point. As a beginner, it can be frustrating at times when you are training hard and trying to be aggressive and play a positive game, but you are losing to opponents who are playing a safe, unaggressive style. If you are in this position, don't give up - keep at it and sooner than you think the separate pieces of your game will come together and make a sum that is bigger than its parts - and you will find yourself moving up the playing ranks quicker than you thought possible. Safety vs Aggressiveness Should You Stay (Calm) or Should You Go (for It)? As I mentioned in my introduction to putting your strokes together, it is true that you can win at beginner to low intermediate levels just by having a consistent push, avoiding risky strokes (i.e. trying to attack), and letting your opponent make the mistakes. There are two schools of thought on whether this is a good idea or not. Safety First Arguments in Favor of a Safety First Approach

At lower levels, it is often the player that makes the least mistakes who will win. By sticking to a consistent pushing strategy, you minimize your risks and encourage your opponent to play the riskier, more aggressive shots. The chances are good that he will make enough mistakes for you to win. As you continue to practice and improve, you can slowly extend your range of strokes and become more aggressive, within your limits. This way you are always playing a consistent game with a minimum of errors. You will get plenty of encouragement from the wins you will be getting over other beginners who are attacking and making mistakes against you.

Arguments Against a Safety First Approach

There is a common theory which states that when under pressure, a player will revert to the style of play he was first successful with (some take this even further, and claim a player will prefer the first strokes he learned). According to this argument, you risk that in the future, when you are under pressure against good opponents, you may feel most comfortable with pushing. This won't win against better, more consistent players. By beginning with a pushing only strategy, you may not ever fully develop the aggressive attitude and timing needed to play at a higher level. Waiting for your opponent to make mistakes is not a winning strategy at higher levels - the dominant strategy is to take calculated risks with aggressive strokes and force mistakes from your opponent.

Your game style and tactics will be constantly changing, as you slowly bring in new shots and increase your aggressiveness.

Aggressive Attitude Arguments in Favor of an Aggressive Attitude

The dominant modern style in higher level table tennis is an aggressive game, taking controlled risks with attacks to force mistakes from an opponent. By playing this style right from the beginning, you will groove the tactics and techniques required to play this style successfully at higher levels. By being aggressive, you will be playing with the right attitude right from the start of your career, and you will not need to change your tactics and style very much as you improve. According to popular theory, when you are put under pressure you will able to play your normal game, since that is what you first learnt to do. Once your technique and tactics come together, you will zoom past the pushers, who will not have any answers to your consistent attacking.

Arguments Against an Aggressive Attitude

Because you will not have consistent technique at first, and your grasp of tactics will be shaky, you will lose to 'negative' players, who will simply push the ball and win from your mistakes. You will feel like you are losing the game when playing against pushers, rather than your opponent winning it. You may get frustrated with your losses and give up on the sport too soon. It does take some time for all the pieces of your game to get up to the standard where they will work together smoothly, and it can be difficult to keep going when you are not seeing any improvement in your results for some time.

I would recommend to the majority of new players to adopt an aggressive approach, and stick with it. You'll lose a few more games in the beginning of your playing career, but if you stay the course you'll have a much better chance of maximizing your potential. This doesn't mean blindly attacking every ball though. Use intelligent tactics with your aggressive approach. Keep reading and later on I'll give you some help with what tactics to use to get the most out of your game. For the minority of players who do like to push the ball, I would suggest one of two possibilities.

The first is to get some coaching to develop your natural tendencies, and learn to chop the ball properly, playing a modern defensive game which mixes heavy backspin from a distance with counterattacks. The second option is to accept that you will be likely to 'top out' at around the middle of the intermediate ranks, and once you have reached that level, continue to slowly work on adding incremental improvements to your game. Each little bit of aggressiveness you can add will notch you up another step. This is probably a

better approach for those older players whose mobility is not quite what it used to be. Remember that if you are 40, you probably have 30 years or more to slowly develop your game, so enjoy yourself in the meantime and view it as a long-term project. You may be surprised at just how high you can go! Serve and Return of Serve Now that you have received some advice on what general style you should play as a beginner, it's time to recap some advice on serving and returning serve. Serving When serving, you should be looking to set up your third ball or fifth ball attack, so you can be in control of the rally. Good serves will win the occasional point outright as well, but in the main you are trying to force a weak return from the receiver, so that you can start your attack sequence. As a beginner, it is unlikely that you are capable of attacking difficult returns consistently, so the advice I'm going to give you is a little different than what I would recommend for advanced players.

A weak return from the receiver should be attacked with power immediately - the classic third ball attack. An average return should be attacked with a little more spin and less speed for safety, and hopefully the receiver will have to block your attack, and you can then look to attack the fifth ball harder. Good returns that are too difficult for you to attack consistently should be treated with care, and returned so that it is difficult for the receiver to attack you.

Returning Serve When returning serve, your goal is similar to when you are serving - to be the first player to attack well. But first you have to neutralize the server's advantage by returning his serve tightly. Again, as a beginner you will find it difficult to make great returns from every serve. So the advice I would give you is linked to your current abilities.

Weak serves should be attacked as hard as you can, while still being sure that you will make the shot. Don't overdo it. Average serves should be attacked with care (more spin and less speed), depending on your ability at attacking serves. If you aren't so good at attacking yet, don't be afraid to push the ball instead, going for placement wide or into the playing elbow, good spin variation, and reasonable speed so that your opponent does not have a lot of time to get prepared to attack. Good serves should be returned as tight as you can. If you are having trouble getting the serve back at all, aim for the middle of the table to give you a better margin for error. Once your control improves, start aiming for your opponent's playing elbow, and wide of his power zones.

power zones Definition: A player's power zones are those areas from which he can play a forehand or backhand stroke without having to adjust his footwork, allowing him to hit the ball with maximum speed and power. The power zones are typically found in front of the left half body for a right hander's backhand strokes, and an area about a foot to a foot and a half wide beginning around 9 inches or so to the right of a right hander's playing elbow for forehand strokes. playing elbow Definition: The phrase 'playing elbow' is used in table tennis to describe the area in front of a player, in which the player has to choose between hitting a forehand or backhand stroke, and neither stroke is significantly easier to play, making the decision more difficult. You can see a visual representation of the playing elbow here. The size and placement of this target will vary from player to player, although a general guide would be the 6-9 inches on each side of the elbow of the player's racket arm, hence the name. The playing elbow is a favorite target of opponents, since hitting the ball to a player's playing elbow forces that player to decide quickly whether to play forehand and backhand, and then move accordingly to play the stroke, since neither forehand or backhand can be played at their best without moving position. Also Known As: crossover point, area of indecision

Table Tennis Advanced Guide to Serving - the Crossover Point The Crossover Point and Power Zones

Crossover Point and Power Zones A good option is to cross over or go into the opponent's playing elbow (also called the point of indecision). For shakehanders and reverse penhold backhand (RPB) penholders, this area is where the opponent must make a decision between returning with a forehand or backhand. For standard penholders, the point of indecision is the area where they must decide between a forehand side hit and a backhand side push/block or hit. Crossing over or entering this area forces the opponent to decide quickly which stroke to use, and then he must also use footwork to allow him to hit the stroke correctly. By forcing him to make more decisions and use footwork too, you increase the chances of him making the wrong decision, or making a mistake whilst trying to move and then hit the ball. Aim at Playing Elbow Simple Drill

Aim at Playing Elbow Simple Drill Performing the Drill The idea behind this drill is to allow a player to find out how well he is able to direct his third ball attacks to a moving location - in this case, his opponent's playing elbow. Player A can serve the ball to any location, and Player B should then return the ball to Player A's forehand court (preferably either high enough or long enough for Player A to attack). Player B should then move to another location of his choice, and wait in this position, while facing square on to the location where Player A will play the ball from. Player A should then play his third ball attack, and attempt to place the ball so that it travels between the space between Player B's racket and his right hip (i.e. his playing elbow). Player B should not attempt to hit the ball, but should hold still so that Player A can see whether he has managed to successfully target the ball. Benefits of the Drill This drill is mainly of benefit to Player A, since he will receive practice at:

Serving to any location.

Performing a successful third ball attack with his forehand. Learning to keep track of his opponent's movement around the court, so that Player A can aim at his opponent's playing elbow successfully.

Player B can still practice his serve return, however. Being able to place the ball consistently to an opponent's playing elbow is a skill that is useful at any level of the game. At lower levels it may result in outright points due to an opponent's mistakes in dealing with such an awkwardly placed ball. At higher levels it makes it harder for an opponent to attack or counterattack such a ball, which is important for retaining control of the point. Variations

Allow Player B to return to any location, forcing Player A to play both forehand and backhand third ball attacks. Allow Player B to return the ball short enough to stop Player A looping or driving, if he can. In this case Player A should push or flick the ball towards Player B's playing elbow, in order to practice making it hard for Player B to start his attack. If Player B returns the ball short, allow Player A to try to return the ball short as well if he wants to. Now the first player to successfully attack the ball should aim at the playing elbow of his opponent, who should in turn stand still to allow the attacker to see whether he has placed the ball on target.

Keeping the Ball Low - Net Post Extensions

Net Post Extensions to Check the Ball Height Over the Net Keeping the ball low over the net is an important skill to possess in matches, especially when serving, returning serve, pushing, and playing drop shots. When practicing, because we tend to face the net square on (and look down from above), it is not always easy to tell just how high the ball is traveling over the net. The use of net post extensions can be very helpful in allowing you to check whether you are keeping the ball low enough - and is a simple technique that can be added to many drills. They are also quite simple to make! What You Need to Make the Net Post Extensions You don't need to spend a fortune to make a useful net extension. All you need is two PVC or plastic tubes that are big enough to slip over your net posts, some nuts and bolts and a drill (or some nails and a hammer), some cord or string, and a good knife or saw to cut the tubes. Needless to say, this is a job for adults or children with adult supervision. Making the Net Post Extensions

Cut the tubes to length - say maybe 1 foot (30cm) or even 1 feet (45cm). Cut a slot in each tube that is wide enough to slip the net cord through, so that you can slide the tubing over each net post. Put a nail through each tubing just above the top of the slot you have cut, so that the tubing will sit on the nail on top of the net post, and will not rest on the net cord. You might want to cut the tip of the nail so that there is no sharp tip pointing out. Or you can drill a hole through the tubing, and use a nut and bolt instead - I would recommend using the nut and bolt myself. If you are using nails, place several nails spaced an inch or so apart at the top of the each tube. Leave the head of the nail out a little from the tube, so you can tie the cord around the head of the nail. If you are using nuts and bolts, drill some holes in the top of the tubing, spaced an inch apart. You can use a nut and bolt on each tube, tying the cord around the nut. The nails or drilled holes will allow you to vary the height of the cord - you can lower the cord as you get better at keeping the ball down. Tie the cord at the height desired.

That's it! You now have a simple to use tool that allows you to check the height of your serves, serve returns, pushes and drop shots. Give it a try - you might be surprised at just how high some of your touch shots are going over the net! Backhand Serving Across the Playing Elbow Table Tennis/Ping-Pong Tactic The use of forehand serves is dominant in modern table tennis these days - but the backhand serve can still be useful to all levels of ping-pong players, for a number of reasons. In this article I'll explain how smart use of the backhand serve can help you to improve your chances of starting a successful attacking sequence. Backhand Serve Tactics 1 - Crossing the Playing Elbow - Right Hander

Backhand Serve Across the Playing Elbow 1 In this article, I'm going to discuss using a backhand sidespin serve (with topspin or backspin as well if preferred) to execute a simple tactic - that of crossing the playing elbow of your opponent when serving. Although the strategy is quite simple, it has a number of benefits, which I have listed below. Execution of Backhand Serve Tactic - vs Right Hander In order to perform this tactic against a right hander, the server (Player A) stands near the middle of his own endline. He then serves the ball so that it bounces slightly to the right of the playing elbow of his opponent (Player B), using the natural sidespin of the backhand serve to curve the ball in the air and off the table from his right to his left. When the correct amount of speed and spin is used, the ball should then bounce on his opponent's court somewhere near to area of Player B's playing elbow. If the serve is a double bounce serve, the ball should then continue to move across the playing elbow of his opponent from right to left, with the second bounce near the left hand boundary of the playing elbow area. If the serve is a long serve, the ball should reach Player B just as it moves out of his playing elbow area.

Of course, if this serve was performed so that it crossed the playing elbow every time, Player B would soon know to expect the ball to reach his forehand side. So it is important that Player A serves that some serves almost enter the playing elbow area, some serves almost reach the left boundary of the playing elbow area, and some serves fully cross the playing elbow area before reaching Player B. This will make it harder for Player B to be sure of the final ball position, and choose the correct stroke to use to return the ball. The change in serving angle from the usual forehand corner, to the center of the table, is also useful to provide some variation to your normal forehand serves, and gives a different sidespin to the normal forehand pendulum serving variations. Although this tactic can also be performed with a reverse pendulum serve, the backhand serve is much easier for beginner and intermediate players to execute. Backhand Serve Tactics 2 - Crossing the Playing Elbow - Right Hander

Backhand Serve Across the Playing Elbow 2 If the backhand serve is performed correctly, there are several other benefits besides getting some variation in your usual serving angle, and forcing your opponent to decide quickly which stroke to play. These include:

Because of the natural spin of the backhand serve used, the ball will tend to jump to the server's right when it hits the bat of the receiver. This makes it harder for the receiver (Player B) to play the ball to the server's backhand, moving the likely area the ball will be returned in to the right of Player A. If Player B uses his forehand to return the ball, it is more awkward to control the spin with his natural stroke, increasing the chances of Player B making a mistake, and also making it more likely he will return the ball further to Player A's right. If Player B uses his backhand to return the ball that has crossed his playing elbow, he is likely to be out of position - I'll discuss this further in the next diagram.

By forcing Player B to return more to Player A's right, Player A is then able to hold his position in the middle of the table, knowing that it is unlikely for most receivers to be able to return the ball to his wide backhand (more advanced returners may be able to do so, but it will still be the more difficult shot to play). Player A then has a good chance of being able to play his next stroke without having to move his feet very much, increasing his chances of hitting a strong attack. Furthermore, the sidespin is tending to force the ball to Player A's right, making it harder for opponents with weaker serve returns to keep it from Player A's forehand. Player A can then start to anticipate a return to his forehand, allowing him to make better preparations, and again increasing his chances of hitting a powerful third ball with his forehand. Backhand Serve Tactics 3 - Crossing the Playing Elbow - Right Hander

Backhand Serve Across the Playing Elbow 3 As mentioned in the previous diagram's explanation, if Player B misjudges the placement or spin of Player A's serve, there is a chance that he may believe the serve is going to go to his backhand, and start to prepare to hit a backhand return. If the serve then crosses over the playing elbow of Player B, he must decide quickly whether to change his stroke and play a forehand instead, or to continue with his backhand stroke. If Player B changes his stroke to play a forehand, he will find it difficult to make a good preparation and a powerful stroke, since he will have to abort his preparation for his backhand, and try to start again on his forehand, all while the ball is still travelling towards him. On the other hand, if he continues to play his backhand stroke, he will need to move over to his forehand side to reach the ball, as shown in the diagram. This will pull him out of position and open up a gap on his backhand side.

If Player B moves to cover the gap on his backhand, Player A can place his attack out wide to Player B's forehand, which will be likely to catch Player B moving in the wrong direction and unable to reach the ball. If Player B holds his position instead, Player A can aim at the wide gap on Player B's backhand side, and Player B will again find it difficult to defend the attack. Finally, if Player B only takes a half-step back to his backhand, Player A has slightly narrower gaps on both the wide forehand and wide backhand, either of which should be a winner if Player A can hit his mark, and still difficult for Player B to answer with a strong shot if Player A is anywhere close to his targets. Backhand Serve Tactics 4 - Crossing the Playing Elbow - Left Hander

Backhand Serve Across the Playing Elbow 4 Execution of Backhand Serve Tactic - vs Left Hander When serving to left handers, the basic idea of crossing the receiver's playing elbow remains unchanged, with a couple of minor modifications. Instead of moving the ball away from the receiver, the server will be serving into the body of the receiver instead, tending to cramp his return.

Due to the placement of the ball, the receiver is more likely to prepare for a forehand stroke initially, and then move to his right to adjust for the curve of the ball. Backhand Serve Tactics 5 - Crossing the Playing Elbow - Left Hander

Backhand Serve Across the Playing Elbow 5 Since a left handed receiver is likely to return the ball with his forehand, he will be using a stroke that is more comfortable to handle the sidespin on the serve. This, coupled with the fact that the normal stroke of the left hander is crosscourt, will tend to push the normal landing area of the return a little more to the server's left than for a right handed receiver, although it should still be more to the right than for a forehand serve. Player A will need to stand not quite so far to the right in order to compensate for this. This backhand serving tactic is not quite as effective against left handers, although when combined with a forehand serve that crosses the receiver's playing elbow from left to right it can still be a very useful strategy.

Beginner's Guide to Serving in Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong Ping-pong beginners often concentrate on their rallying strokes (fun), and do not give much thought about their serves (boring!). In this article I'm going to explain why this is a mistake that you should avoid. I'll also give you some theoretical and practical tips on how to improve your serving, and discuss what to do once you have mastered the serving basics. This information can be broken down into the following topics: Once you have mastered the 4 basic serves, along with the no spin variations, and can troubleshoot them when necessary, you will be ready to begin working on your advanced serving techniques. These include the use of the forehand pendulum serve, and the forehand reverse pendulum serve, (currently the most popular serves in advanced table tennis) and other less used variations. These serves and their use will be the subject of attention in the advanced section of this site. Next: It's always great to have good serves, but don't forget your opponent will probably have some too! With that in mind, it's time to take a detailed look at improving your return of service in ping-pong. Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong - Why is Serving Important? Almost all beginners love to rally, and are willing to spend lots of time practicing their rallying strokes. After all, the rally is what ping-pong is really about, isn't it? Well, not quite (not even close, actually). Here are some reasons why the serve is more important in table tennis than most beginners think.

To begin with, every rally in table tennis starts with a serve. You will be serving for half the time in singles, (and a quarter of the time in doubles matches). That's anywhere from 16 serves in a best of 5 whitewash (11-0, 11-0, 11-0), to 50 serves in a best of 5 singles match that doesn't have any deuce games (11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9). If you make bad mistakes with your serve 25% of the time, you will be giving your opponent a lot of free points - not a good thing! The serve is also the only shot in ping-pong where you have total control over the ball without any input from the other player. So it makes sense to try to use this advantage as best you can to make life harder for your opponent. You can use the serve to help you play more of your favorite shots during the subsequent rally, and also to prevent your opponent from using his favorite shots. If you are best at backspin strokes, using short backspin serves will allow you to play more backspin rallies. Likewise, if you are good at hitting topspin balls, you can use long or short topspin serves to help create more topspin rallies. And if you struggle with sidespin, you can avoid using sidespin in your serves, making your life easier when rallying. Better opponents will be able to attack your bad serves, putting you under pressure straight away. Good serving will prevent an opponent from making powerful attacks, and improve own your chances of making good attacks. This is a important factor in table tennis as your standard rises and you play tougher opponents.

If you can serve well, you increase the pressure on your opponent, since he knows that he will not have any easy serves to hit. You will also win a few easy points each match from your opponent's mistakes.

How To Improve Your Serve in Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong - Theoretical Advice Now that you know why the serve is so important in table tennis, let's look at some of the theory behind how to serve better. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Make sure that you understand and can comply with the rules of ping-pong that cover the serve. There's no point developing a killer serve if the umpire is simply going to fault you every time you use it! 2. Remember that a fault loses the point automatically. There's no second service rule in table tennis - once chance is all you get. So you need to do enough practice so that you can serve without faulting when the pressure is on. 3. Deception is an important part of serving in table tennis. For beginners, it is easiest to start practicing deception by learning to vary the amount of spin you put on the ball. This will force your opponent to watch your serve closely so that he can judge the amount of spin on the ball when making his return. By varying between light, medium, heavy and no spin serves, you will make the return of serve more difficult for your opponent. 4. Sidespin can also be used to make it harder for your opponent to read the amount of topspin or backspin on the ball. You must be careful not to use more sidespin than you are comfortable with. It is not uncommon for an opponent to return your serve without changing the amount of sidespin you have put on the ball, in which case you will then have to deal with your own sidespin! 5. Don't serve the ball where the opponent can hit it easily. Try to serve the ball so that he has to reach or move to return it, since he will find this more difficult (it's much harder to move and hit the ball at the same time). Another good option is to serve the ball at his playing elbow (the elbow of the arm holding the bat), so that he has to decide whether to take it using his forehand or backhand side quickly, and he will also have to move to give himself room to make the stroke. 6. Keep a close eye on how each opponent you face handles your serves. Try to discover what he is good at returning, and what he is relatively weak at. Then use more of the types of serves that he is having difficulty with. 7. As you improve your ability to attack with topspin against all types of returns, you will find it useful to serve what is called a double bounce serve more often. A double bounce serve is performed when the ball bounces twice on your opponent's side of the table, with the second bounce within 6 inches or so of the endline. 8. When done correctly, a double bounce serve is the most difficult serve for your opponent to attack strongly, and gives you the best chance of attacking his return with a strong shot of your own. You will need to be able to attack both topspin and backspin balls, since your opponent is likely to return a double bounce serve with a flick or a push.

How To Improve Your Serve in Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong - Practical Advice Now that you understand the theory involved in improving your serve, it's time to give you some practical advice for when you get out on the table. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. A few excellent serves are better than a lot of mediocre serves. Concentrate on mastering four serves to begin with: the forehand topspin serve, the forehand backspin serve, the backhand topspin serve, and the backhand backspin serve. Keep the spin on each serve the same until you can perform each serve consistently (if you can regularly hit a piece of Letter sized paper on the first bounce on the opponent's side of the court 8 times of of 10 (without any faults), that is pretty consistent. 2. Once you have mastered these serves, begin to vary the amount of spin on the ball. Keep practicing until you can serve the basic four serves consistently with any amount of spin, from heavy to virtually no spin. Once you can do this, you will actually have added two more types of serves, the forehand no spin serve, and the backhand no spin serve. And you will have a wide range of serves available just by varying the amount of spin on your four basic serves. 3. There are several ways to vary the spin on the ball, and you can use any one or combination to do so. Ways to vary the spin include: o brushing or skimming the ball different amounts o using more or less wrist snap o hitting the ball down into the table at different angles (the more you hit the ball straight down on the table, the more the spin is reduced) o using faster or slower arm speed o using the tip of the bat (which moves faster than the rest of the bat if the wrist is snapped). 4. In order to practice serving with different spins, start with one of the serves you have mastered. Try increasing the amount of spin you put on the ball by skimming the ball a little more at contact. Notice the difference in the way the ball moves topspin should kick forward a little more than your normal serve, and the backspin ball should hold up on the table a little more. Keep increasing the spin until the ball does not bounce on the other side of the table. This is your upper limit. 5. Next, try reducing the amount of spin from your normal serve. This should have the opposite effect of increasing the spin, the topspin serve will kick forward less, and the backspin serve will slow down less. Keep reducing the spin until you can see the marking on the ball is not moving much when you serve. This is your no spin serve, and your bottom limit. 6. Now, as mentioned earlier, try aiming at the piece of paper on the table again for each type of serve, but vary the amount of spin on the ball. Keep practicing until you can vary the spin but still hit the piece of paper 8 times out of 10 attempts (with no faults). When you have achieved this, you will have mastered the basic serves you need to play table tennis well.

7. The above suggestions sound simple, but what do you do when your serve isn't working as well as it should? When it's going too high or low, too long, without enough spin or with no deception. That's when you start troubleshooting your serve. How to Troubleshoot Your Serve During your table tennis career, despite all the theory about serving you have learnt and the serving practice you have done, there are going to be times when your serve is not working as well as it should, and your opponents will be hitting winners left and right. Rather than giving up and going home, here is some advice that will help you get your service back on track fast. Learn to improve your serves by taking note of the result of each serve, and then adjusting your service motion accordingly. I would recommend trying to change only one thing at a time, to make it easier to see whether your change was successful. If you change several things at once, it can be hard to know which changes are working and which aren't. How To Stop Your Serve Bouncing Too High / Too Low A common problem for beginners is serving the ball with too much bounce, so that their opponent can easily attack the ball. The opposite problem, serving so that the ball does not clear the net, is also common. If your serves are bouncing too high and being attacked by your opponent, you could try any or all of the following to make your serves bounce lower. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Throw the ball a little lower. The higher you throw the ball, the more speed it has when coming down. This extra speed at contact can often make the ball bounce higher. 2. Make contact with the ball at a height closer to the height of the net. If you make contact with the ball way above net height, you will tend to get a ball that bounces very high. 3. Hit the ball a little more horizontally, instead of up or down. Hitting the ball up will cause the ball to rise in the air more, making it bounce higher. Hitting the ball down will propel the ball into the table with extra speed, also making it bounce higher. Hitting the ball more horizontally will allow the ball to fall on the table with less vertical speed, reducing the amount of vertical bounce. 4. You can also reverse these ideas to get more bounce if your service is bouncing too low and hitting the net. How To Stop Your Serve from Going Too Long Another common problem at all levels is serving the ball too long, so that the opponent can easily attack it.

If your serves are going too long and being attacked strongly by your opponent, there are several ways that you can make your serves shorter (remember, a double bounce serve is ideal) and more difficult to attack. Let's have a look at them. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Increase the amount of sidespin that you are putting on the ball. More sidespin will make the ball curve more, causing it to be able to travel more and drop further while still remaining short. 2. Serve using the diagonals of the table. The table is only 9 feet (2.74m) long from end to end. But on the diagonal it is about 10.3 feet (3.14 m) long . That's a lot of extra table to work with! 3. Decrease the amount of speed that you are putting on the ball. This could be done by: (a) slowing down the speed of your swing/and or wrist snap; (b) swinging in a motion that is more parallel to your own endline, instead of forwards towards your opponent's endline. How To Increase the Spin on Your Serves There is no doubt that being able to put spin on the ball when serving is important. After all, if you can't put much spin on the ball, you can't vary your spin very much either, can you? If you are not getting as much spin as you would like on your serve, you have many options to increase the spin you are generating. Here is a number of them. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Make sure that you are skimming the edge of the ball, rather than hitting towards the center of the ball. The closer to the edge contact is made, the more spin you will generate. 2. Increase the amount of wrist snap or arm speed that you are using. 3. Use the tip of the bat to make contact with the ball, since the tip moves faster when the wrist is snapped. 4. Use a little extra height on your ball toss. The extra speed of the ball will be partly converted into extra spin as well as speed if you hit the ball with some brushing action. 5. Avoid hitting the ball down into the table - this tends to kill some of the spin (which is actually quite nifty for producing a low spin ball that looks spinny!). How To Serve with more Deception (Sneakier Serving)

If you are having trouble deceiving your opponent about the amount of spin on your serve, remember that you have many factors under your control that can affect the spin you produce. Different combinations of these factors can help produce subtle variations of spin that are not easy for an opponent to read. These factors include the following items. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: Indefinite Here's How: 1. Service motion - the speed, height, and direction of your swing can all be varied. 2. Wrist snap - the wrist can be used to any degree you like, from a heavy snap to no snap at all. Making contact at the beginning or end of the wrist snap, when the bat is moving more slowly, can also affect the spin. 3. Height of the ball toss - the higher the toss, the more potential for spin. 4. Direction the ball is hit - hitting down into the table will tend to kill the spin. 5. Amount of brushing vs. solid contact - an almost infinite amount of variations of brushing contact can be made, producing many different amounts of spin. 6. Adding sidespin - the addition of sidespin adds extra complexity to the path and bounce of the ball, and makes it harder for the opponent to read the amount of backspin or topspin on the ball. It also means that you can produce a serve that obviously has heavy spin, but your opponent will have to determine what proportion of sidespin vs. topspin or backspin is on the ball.

Changing the speed of the serve - faster serves tend to curve less and deviate when bouncing less than slower serves. So you can actually get quite different serves with the same amount of spin just by changing the speed. Not exactly a deception in spin, but still effective!

The Battle for Control Once the serve and serve return have been played, the main rally begins. How the rally will develop will depend upon the quality of the serve and serve return. Essentially, the rally is the battle for control of the point - the player who is in control of the majority of the points and attacking successfully will be the player who is winning.

A bad return will put the server in the driver's seat for the rally, and he should be in control of the rally until the receiver manages to make a shot good enough to even things up or even wrest control from the server. An average serve return will still give the serve the first chance at controlling the rally, since he should be able to perform the first attack (although not a power attack). Again, the server should be in control until the receiver can play a shot good enough to equalize the rally or take control himself. A good serve return should put the rally on even footing, since the server will not be able to attack the serve well enough to take control, but he should be able to prevent the receiver from attacking hard as well. The rally will continue to be even until either player makes a mistake and allows their opponent to attack, or one player takes a risk and makes an attack from a difficult ball, thus taking control. In this situation, you will generally see pushing rallies until one player hits an attack and takes control, or counterhitting rallies when each player is attacking, but the other player is attacking as well, and neither can attack hard enough to control the point.

A great service return will put the server on the defensive, allowing the receiver to make the first attack. The receiver will be in control of the rally until the server can make a shot good enough to equalize control or take control himself.

What you should do during the rally will depend on whether

you are in control of the point your opponent is in control of the point the rally is even.

Tactics for When You are in Control of the Point

The basic idea is to maintain pressure on your opponent, and make him take big risks if he wants you to stop attacking him. Your own attacks should be low risk in comparison. Attack with good speed and spin into your opponent's playing elbow, and wide of his power zones, so that he is constantly on the move to hit his strokes. Don't just focus on side to side placement, remember that you can change depth as well. If your opponent is playing far away from the table, use a drop shot to bring him back in, and attack the next ball to push him back again. If he is staying right up to the table, aim some balls closer to the endline to help push him back from the table, then go shorter again.

When your opponent makes a low or tight return that is difficult to attack with power, settle for an attack with more spin and a bit less speed. The extra spin should help force him to return the ball a bit higher, and hopefully you can hit harder again. It is a better strategy to keep the pressure on him by successfully attacking again a bit slower, than trying to hit too hard and making a mistake. When attacking with power, don't compromise your technique. Real power comes from the use of good technique at slightly under maximum effort level. Keeping your attacks at around 90% maximum power is a good rule of thumb. Following on from the above point, don't use too large a follow through - it will affect your balance and slow down your recovery time, making it difficult to make consecutive attacks. Don't follow through past the middle of your body, unless you are trying to put the ball away. Be prepared for the ball to come back. You may need to attack several times to win the point. Don't make the common mistake of hitting each attack harder until you lose your technique, and lose the point. Use your footwork to move you around the court and allow you to play your best shots more often, without bending or reaching for the ball. Good footwork is what allows you to maintain the pressure when attacking, since it is much harder for your opponent to place the ball to a location that forces you to stop attacking.

Tactics for When Your Opponent is in Control of the Point

When you are attacked strongly, use a block as your return of choice. Aim for placement rather than power (into the playing elbow, and wide of his power zones), and as you get used to your opponent's strokes you can try for more speed on the block. As a beginner, you probably don't have the timing or technique to consistently counterattack a powerful attack. Use your strengths instead, and a simple block return with good placement will force your opponent to work harder. The idea is to make your opponent earn every point - at beginner to intermediate levels your opponent is usually only good for around 2 attacks in a row, especially if you can force him to move his feet to reach the ball. If you can consistently make your opponent hit 3-4 attacks on the move to win the point, you will find that you will win many of these points through your opponent's mistakes. By being steady with your block, your opponent will miss several attacks, and at other times a well placed block will force your opponent to stop attacking altogether. When that happens it is time to begin your own counterattack to regain control of the point. When you have forced a weaker attack from your opponent, use a counterhit to return the ball with more power to the areas I have recommended, and try to start your own attack sequence. You are attempting to halt your opponent's attack and regain the initiative. After watching advanced players, you may be tempted to return your opponent's attacks by using a heavy topspin loop counterattack. This type of return requires excellent timing and control and is best left for advanced players with sound technique. Trying to use this stroke without the training to back it up is a sure recipe for handing plenty of cheap points to your opponent. For every crowd pleasing counter loop you hit, you'll miss five.

Tactics for When the Rally is Even

Be positive - if your opponent is not attacking, go ahead and try to take control with your own attack. If you find you are making too many mistakes, you can always go back to playing safely. If you aren't able to attack your opponent successfully, try to tempt your opponent to attack you by giving him balls that look tempting but are still difficult to attack. Examples would be a ball that is higher but with more backspin, or balls that are floated but just out of reach, making him move or stretch when attacking. Aiming at his playing elbow and giving him a tempting ball can also be a good strategy. Hopefully his attack will be weak and you can counterattack successfully. Try to use your favorite or best shot to take control of the point - this will maximize your chances of doing it successfully. Use your rallying strokes to set yourself up for your best shot whenever you can. Play to your opponent's weaknesses. Try to get your opponent to give you a return that is easier to attack. Occasionally put a more difficult ball to his strength to tempt him to attack it, and hopefully he will make a mistake with his attack.

General Rallying Tips

Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Use your training time to improve your shots and push your boundaries a little, and get a clear picture about what your limitations are. Then stay within those limitations when playing matches. Don't make guesses about where the ball is going - hold the bat in a neutral position and watch your opponent closely. Don't commit to hitting a forehand or backhand until you see in what direction your opponent has hit the ball. By watching your opponent closely, you will train your anticipation to work faster, and you will move more quickly to the ball. When you hit the ball, take note of where you have hit it, and move to where you are in the middle of the possible angles your opponent can hit. Too many beginners make the mistake of playing within the sidelines of the table. Cut the sidelines more often, and use the wide angles to make your opponent move to reach the ball. Training a few favorite serve and follow up patterns, or serve return and follow up patterns, can be handy and make your life easier. Just remember not to use the same patterns every time. A little variation here and there will help keep your opponent on his toes and make your favorite patterns more effective.

Table Tennis Drills - Degrees of Complexity Getting the Third Degree... First Degree Drills The simplest drills are when you know everything about what is going to happen, and no footwork or movement is involved. Examples of such drills are forehand counterhit to forehand counterhit, or backhand counterhit to forehand block. In these type of drills, you know exactly what stroke is going to be played, where the ball is going, roughly how hard your opponent is going to hit it, approximately what spin he will put on the ball, and little or no footwork is required. Think of these as first degree difficulty. Most of the drills you begin training with as a beginner should be first degree drills. Aim to hit 10 successful shots in a row. Once you can do this consistently, try for 20, then 30 and so on. When you are consistently doing over 50 in a row with good technique you will be ready to move to drills with an extra degree of complexity. Second Degree Drills There are many ways to increase the complexity of a drill by one degree. Using the forehand to forehand counterhit drill as an example, you can change any of the following factors to make this drill a second degree drill.

Change the side to side placement. Have your partner hit the ball to your forehand corner, then the middle of the table, then back to the forehand corner again. You must move your feet to hit the balls with your normal forehand stroke. Change the stroke. Have your partner block one ball, then counterhit the next. Change the spin. Have your partner hit a normal counterhit for one ball, then a spinnier counterhit, then a normal counterhit, and so on. Change the pace. Have your partner counterhit one ball softly, the next normally, the next hard, then back to softly, and so on. Change the depth of the ball. Have your partner hit one ball short, the next deep, then short again, and so on.

Third Degree Drills To add another degree of complexity, you can combine two of the above factors, or add an element of uncertainty to the drill, by varying one of the factors at random. Randomness in drills is very useful when used correctly, since it greatly adds to the difficulty of the drill for the person who is on the receiving end, while the person who is using random variations doesn't have to work any harder. This can be very handy for when a weaker player has to train with a better player. I would recommend not using random elements in your training until you are comfortable using second degree drills. Being able to perform second degree drills 50 times in a row consistently before adding a random component would be a reasonable rule of thumb. Using the forehand to forehand counterhit drill as an example, a good use of randomness would be to have your training partner hit to your forehand most of the time, but every so

often hit the ball to your backhand (say approximately 1 ball out of 5). Sometimes he will hit more often to the backhand side, sometimes less, but on average about 1 ball out of 5 will go to your backhand. This drill is a good use of random ball placement. You will be able to practice your forehand counterhit most of the time, while having to stay alert for the ball that is hit to your backhand. You can't afford to get lazy with your footwork or recovery or you will be likely to miss the ball on the backhand. You must also keep your concentration up so that you are ready when the feeder changes the placement. It also more closely simulates a match situation than a standard drill where the ball placement is known in advance. Beginners should not use drills with more than one random element. For example, using a forehand to forehand counterhit drill where your opponent randomly hits the ball to your backhand, and also occasionally chops the ball instead of counterhitting, is probably a bit too much for a beginner to handle. You'll miss the ball so often that you won't be getting any benefit from the drill. Stick to a good second degree drill with one random element added at most.

Table Tennis - Getting Out of a Rut How to Improve When Your Game is as Flat as a Pancake... Have you had a bit of a plateau in your table tennis level recently? Been looking for a way to break out of that rut and get a lift in your rating, but don't have any more spare time to train? Then read on, for today I'm writing about one aspect of your training that could be holding you back - the point of no return. What is the Point of No Return? Well, technically I'm really talking about the law of diminishing returns, but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? The point of no return is when you have reached equilibrium, where the training you are doing is enough to maintain your level but not enough to improve it. If you are a typical ping-pong player, you have probably got a routine that you follow week after week, with the occasional tournament thrown in. Now and again you try some new equipment in the hope that it will be the miracle cure for your table tennis woes. You get a lift for a short while as you adapt to the new blade or rubber, and then you drift back into the table tennis doldrums. You want to improve, but you just can't train any more than you are doing already, and you can't think of any other options. Sound familiar? Since you can't just do more training to solve your problem, you are going to have to look at how you can use your training time more efficiently in order to improve your game. I'll assume for the moment that you aren't currently wasting time during your training sessions (if you are, consider yourself smacked upside the head - <smack!> - pull the lead out and stop stuffing around!). Recommendation #1 - Is Your Strength Really a Weakness? The first thing I would recommend is to look at the amount of time you spend training your strengths. While it is true that every player needs some strengths in his game, it's probable that you are spending too much training time indulging in the shots you like - you have hit the point of little or no return for that stroke. Your strengths are already highly developed, so the amount of effort you need to improve them by say 5%, is much more than the amount of effort you would need to improve the biggest game weakness that you have. Try cutting the time you spend training your favorite shot by 30%, and spend that time training the biggest flaw you have that is costing you matches. Do this for a month and see the difference! I'm going to qualify the above recommendation a little, and ask you to use your common sense here. If you are a two winged attacker, you are probably terrible at chopping, but this does not mean you should spend this time training your defense! Look for the weakness in your game that costs you points, such as the inability to open up off a backspin ball, or an unreliable flick return of serve. Train the relevant weaknesses to your style.

Recommendation #2 - Keep It Real The second recommendation I would make is to not try to bring your weaknesses up too high. Remember, you have only a limited amount of time, and there is a reason it is a weakness in the first place. You will hit the point of no return at a much lower level for a flaw, simply because you are not naturally any good at it. Trying to raise it too much further will take too much time that could be valuably used elsewhere. Don't try to make it a strength - just make it hard for an opponent to exploit. Recommendation #3 - Think About It The third recommendation is to use your brain. Is there any way you can use different tactics in your game that will make the most of your strengths and minimize your weaknesses? For example, if you are bad at forehand looping from your backhand corner, either: (i) don't use the standard forehand pendulum serve that naturally kicks the opponent's return towards your backhand; or (ii) use the serve but be ready to open with your backhand, rather than running around to hit a forehand. There may be a point of no return with using your brain - but it's unlikely that you will hit it and I mean that in the nicest possible way! <g> Recommendation #4 - What He Said The fourth recommendation is to practice your serve and serve return. <Yawn!> Everybody says that, you say! Only because none of you are doing it! Find a partner who you are willing to show your best serves, and who is willing to show you his. Then spend at least 25% of your training time practicing serves and serve returns. It's an efficient use of your time if you want to win. It'll also probably be the weakest part of your game if you are a typical player - and one of the areas that you can improve in most easily. It will take a long time to reach the point of no return in your serve and serve receive. How can you compete against the best if you are already at a huge disadvantage as soon as your opponent serves or returns serve? Recommendation #5 - Shake Things Up The fifth recommendation I would make is to include more random elements in your training routine. Once you have improved your basic technique and footwork to the point where you would have to train longer for much further progress, bring in a random basis to your training drills. Just having the occasional ball go in an unexpected direction or with different speed or spin will force you to concentrate and make sure that you can actually use that grooved technique and footwork under match conditions. Don't overdo it - as you get better you can increase the amount of randomness - start small and work up. Don't be one of those players who looks like a million dollars warming up but falls apart once the match starts.

Recommendation #6 - Seek Professional Advice The sixth and final recommendation is to get yourself a coach. A coach will be able to watch you train and pick up your strengths and weaknesses much faster than you or your training partner will be able to, since he can focus on you alone during the training. He will be able to correct your mistakes before they become habits, and encourage you to keep doing those things that you are doing right. Conclusion So there you are, a cool half-dozen ways to bring a plateau to an end (in the right direction!). If you are in danger of flat-lining in your table tennis level, use these techniques faithfully for a month and I'll bet dollars to donuts that you'll have improved in level by the end of that time. And don't skip the service practice!!