Technique Training
From TableTennisTraining
This page is devoted to methods of training "table tennis specific" skills and techniques such as service, strokes, and footwork.
Contents |
Technique training without a table
Beginning players can work on hand-eye racquet skills such as seeing how many times they can consecutively bounce a ball on their paddle, dribble the ball against the floor, or bounce the ball against a wall.
Training alone with a table
It's difficult to do a lot of technique training alone even with a table, but it's a great time to work on new service techniques. A good method is to get a box of a hundred or so balls and just practice a few service techniques, obsersving the results of each serve, then making slight modifications to the service stroke. Feel free to be very experimental during this type of practice, there's typically no one around to laugh, and some of the most useful service techniques require gaining new motor skills (very similar to trying to learn to write for the first time).
Methods for training with a robot
Methods for training with a partner
Drills
Multi-ball
Game play
Standard games
Don't be afraid to experiment when playing with a partner. While it's good to be competitive with your partner, try not to be so competitive that you're not willing to risk losing a match in order to try some new strokes or serves. This is one of the lowest pressure times to try a new technique that you've been training and since you know the other player well, you should be able to guage the effectiveness of the change in your game within a few matches.
Push games
A good way to improve one's pushing skills is to play games where both players are only allowed to push the ball. Another more difficult variation of the push game is where players are only allowed to Short Push the ball.
No push games
Another interesting practice game is to avoid any pushing. This is a good way to work on your offensive game. Try to attack any long balls and flip any short balls.
Attacker vs defender games
This is a good way for one player to improve his attack instinct and for his opponent to develop their defensive play. In attacker versus defender games, the attacker must attack any non-short ball (ball which would not bounce twice on the table if not struck) with either a loop or smash shot. Pushing or blocking of a long ball results in an immediate loss of point by the designated attack player. The attacker's opponent is only allowed to push, block, lob, or chop the ball. Variations of this include, attacker versus pure chopper and attacker versus pure blocker.
Short Service and Short push/flip games
A good way to practice your "short" game is to play games where both players must serve short serves. This allows you to practice your short push and flip strokes without the pressure of having to maintain readiness for a long serve.
Forehand or backhand only games
To improve your footwork, try this variation: play games where you're only allowed to hit shots exclusively with either your forehand or backhand (probably start with forehand-only games first, since you can cover a lot more area with your forehand). This is a reasonably difficult exercise, but it will really push your ability to move around the table.
