OOAK Table Tennis Forum

1. Relax and stay focused
2. Stay positive
3. Get ready and in position
4. Serve strong and with variation
5. Watch the ball - don't rush
6. Play the point, not the match
7. Play your strong game
8. Attack your opponent's weakness
9. Learn from your mistakes
10. Take time out and drink water
11. Always be a good sportsperson

Relax and stay focused
Try and steady your nerves. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by inner thoughts, feelings, other people or your environment. Relax your body, breathe deep and loosen up. You're here to play the best table tennis you can, so forget about everything else.

Stay positive
This is directly related to the above condition, but it's about belief in yourself and your ability to be successful. It surprises me how often people come to a game with a negative attitude about their ability to win.

Get ready and in position
It's imperative to always maintain a solid ready-position for every point of the game. Keep your centre of gravity low and keep your bat in a neutral position. This is also the foundation for good footwork and solid stroke play.

Serve strong and with variation
Stick with your strongest serves, but try and vary their length and position. Remember that the server should have the upper hand and you must make the best of this advantage. Don't introduce weird, new serves into a game unless you know they're sure and strong. Serving is a key moment to employ your strongest tactics.

Watch the ball - don't rush
This seems obvious enough, but you have to watch the ball at all times as if it's an arrow aimed at your heart. Watching the ball also means watching the body and stroke of your opponent, so that you can anticipate the speed, spin and flight of the ball. Of course, sometimes it's vital to take the ball early, but just don't rush and swing madly at the ball. A great coach once said that the main reason a player fails to hit the middle of his bat is because the stroke should be slow then fast.

Play the point, not the match
Even if you're six points down, don't despair. If you give up because you think the match is lost, then it is. It is important to try and stay in the moment and that means only ever playing the point you're on. You'd be surprised how many times you can make up points by never losing sight of this fact. Even if you do lose, it's likely your loss won't be as bad as it could have been.

Play your strong game
It surprises me how often a player goes into a game and throws the baby out with the bath water. Sure, competition is tough and it requires a great deal of fortitude and self-belief. Your practice sessions should reveal your strengths, so start employing them in actual games. The sooner you play your natural game, the sooner they'll become second nature. Have confidence in your abilities.

Attack your opponent's weakness
It should become clear where your opponent's weakness lies, so concentrate your game to it. Again, I'm surprised how often players know too well the weakness of their opponent but continue to play a game that is oblivious to this. If your opponent's backhand is weak - focus your efforts there! If they don't handle backspin serves, avoid serving too many topspin balls. Like the service strategy, finding and exploiting your opponent's weakness is a vital tactic.

Learn from your mistakes
So, your opponent has found one of your weaknesses. Learn to adapt and try not to fall into their trap. If you have a weak forehand stroke, then try and force the game onto your backhand whenever you can. If there are fundamental flaws in your game, then get back to the practice room and seek out coaching.

Take time out and drink water
It may not be an official time-out, but just taking enough time out between sets can be very useful. Don't rush to get back to the game, especially if it's not going your way. Think about all the steps that make for good, solid play and, most importantly, stay focused and positive. Drink water to stay hydrated - it's vital for your active body.

Always be a good sportsperson
This is about etiquette and honesty. Remember that it's supposed to be fun and that in competition there are always winners and losers. Be friendly and mature at every stage of the game, from saying, "Good luck" before a game to shaking your opponent's hand after the match. Try and be honest during the game. If it's a 'let' it's a 'let', don't argue about the little things. If your opponent's ball just scraps the table, be gracious enough to admit it.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Very good advice Oskar! I bet if you red these steps before every game, it would have a very postive impact. Something to write on your hand perhaps

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Thanks, haggisv. I woke up this morning and had to put down the thoughts I've been having over the last few weeks. It's also been something I've been talking about with team mates as we put ourselves through more and more competition.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Yep, some good thoughts in there indeed Oskar. I was waiting for you to acknowledge the source...

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Great 11 step program for my recovery!

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A very fine summation of how to win at TT, Oskar, i agree and subscribe to all of those and would add that you have to be focussed to remember to achieve all of the "list"!

My favourite is to "play the point" and stay in the moment, then the score takes care of itself.
This methodology always works and pulls me through tough moments in a game.

The other point i have to remember is to move the feet for correct stroke play!

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One of the hardest things has to be to remember this list in the heat of the moment, without thinking about them too much, taking you out of your concentration/the moment. Any thoughts on that?

Edit:
I guess this is a 2 part question.
1) What can be done to remind you of the things on this list periodically during a match/set, or when you need them
2) When NOT to think of these things

On the topic of focus, I would like to add that thoughts will present themselves, they always do and that cannot be stopped. That is just how our brains work. If you want to not be distracted by them, let the thoughts come to you, and just send them on their way again. (Picture putting them on a boat and pushing it off shore, if you need to.)

Trying to remember a list like this during a match would be counter-productive. Like you suggest, it would just be another thing compromising your focus, which really shouldn't be a bunch of words on a list. I think the key is to incorporate a checklist like this into your practice sessions, just like you do when you're practising strokes or footwork or serves or tactics. And, like all these things, it should be close to being second nature by the time your playing competitively.



I agree, there's no use wasting energy trying to banish thoughts or feelings. Like you said, just learn to let them pass ... or give them a little push. I like your analogy of putting them on a boat.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Thanks for the share Oskar. This can be added to Hookshot strategy of writing relevant strategy on your hands.

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Setup 1 : Bty Timoball Spirit Forehand : Yasaka Razka 7 2.1mm Backhand : Tackiness Drive 2.0 mm
Tenergy to Razka7 = more consitency
will try : TBS or JSH with Razka 7 and TSP curl Pr1; choppers dream?

One I might add is to make sure to get a good warm-up. Over the weekend, I was at a tournament. On Saturday, I got a good warm-up in and played pretty well, losing some close matches to players higher than me. On Sunday, I didn't get a warm-up, only got to do some serve practice and it took me 8 games to start getting my touch. Learned a big lesson there.

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Admittedly, I've tried to keep this list to the magic TT number of 11. With regard to warm-ups, this is implied in the first step about loosening up. I think this could be clarified a little more in the definitions of each step.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Good list!

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For some reason I thought someone had pulled a joke like this one:
1-0
2-0
3-0
4-0
5-0
6-0
7-0
8-0
9-0
10-0
11-0

Good list though

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Good list until someone comes up with 10 ways to Win

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Table tennis is a chess game on steroids. You stop thinking quickly and you lose point. I experienced this most often. Rushing serve and not predicting what my opponent will do next.
This 11 steps is really helpful.

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Setup 1 : Bty Timoball Spirit Forehand : Yasaka Razka 7 2.1mm Backhand : Tackiness Drive 2.0 mm
Tenergy to Razka7 = more consitency
will try : TBS or JSH with Razka 7 and TSP curl Pr1; choppers dream?