OOAK Table Tennis Forum

What one piece of advice, and it can be only one piece, would you give to someone to help them get more out of playing table tennis?

It doesn't matter if you play international level, social level, club level, for fun, to compete and win, for health and fitness, whether you coach or simply to beat your mates and have a laugh.

It could be about finding a club, coaching, equipment, technique, fitness, tactics, spin, rules, etiquette, sources of information, matches to watch, where to watch them, competitive play or coaching skills. It could be something you have read, or something someone shared with you that you found very helpful in your own table tennis development. There is no right or wrong answer, because it's what you have found helpful. Please share and in doing so, hopefully help others.

You always have more time than you think.

Very true. It's amazing how many people move towards the ball, stepping in, when if they are patient, the ball will come to them and when it does get to them, it will be at the optimum height to play the return and they will have had the chance to get in the correct position to play the shot.

Unfortunately, I consider myself one of those who does step in and doesn't read the length of ball correctly, especially with service returns which ultimately cramps me.

Winning the point / Landing the ball on the table doesn't necessarily improve your stroke or your game.

Usually one needs to "go for it" with their strokes during training and games to really see if the technique is correct. Making cautious or half-hearted passive strokes may be "safer" at times and get the ball on the table, but your loop or chop won't improve unless you make a full swing at the ball. During an actual game for example, one may want to improve FH looping and counter looping, so you might purposely overuse that strategy to hone it in, causing you to lose the game. But with enough time and repetition, you will improve despite the loses.

I really had to do the last one for JPEN.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Great topic btw.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

I think when I was beginning to play, the best piece of advice I got was how to recognise and accommodate spin. Watch the direction of the bat at point of contact. If it is moving from left to right, angle your bat in the direction your opponents bat was coming from. If their bat is moving downwards at point of contact, it had backspin on so open your bat accordingly. If their bat is moving upwards at point of contact it has top spin on so close the angle of your bat. In short, if you want to know what spin is on the ball, watch the direction of your opponents bat at the point of contact with the ball and adjust your bat angle accordingly.

Learn to play to a decent level with inverted on both sides.
Try as many other peoples bats as you can.
Settle on a bat you like and stick with it for a year.
If you can, get a coach.
Don't fall into the EJ trap.
I have ONE main bat that I use for 95% of my play. I have another I use to experiment with mostly when new rubbers come out.
My main bat has used the same setup for over 8 years, just replacing inverted rubbers as they wear out. The anti side is the original rubber from 8 years ago.

Have a knock with Debater.
Can you remember what gear i was using mate.
I think it was tac c and best anti.cant remember if the blade was the grubba pro or the defplay?

Keep on playing your game..

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

learn a bit of technique and have fun with matches. Learn a bit more and have fun.(practice what you learn.) By doing both will like this sport and will getting better at it !

Lol, with snow falling in the North East it won't be anytime soon! Definitely late Spring after the season has finished and if you don't mind I'd like to bring a young lad up too - much better player than me and someone who would really test you.

I think it was the defplay - you had two of them from memory. You played with anti on the backhand side, not sure what your forehand was. And you never got chance to try the Taico Defensive blade I brought with me.

Have fun!
It's easy to find the fun in winning matches.
A bit harder to see the fun in practice drills. Look for it! The pleasure when you see your precision improve, the beauty of a loop trajectory ...
The hardest is perhaps to find the fun in losing. If you focus, there is nothing you learn more from than a match you lose. You have been playing a better player. Learn from it! Enjoy the learning experience.
Above all, have fun!

It is a game. It is meant to be fun.

Always expect the ball to come back.

When you start playing in a higher grade, it's a mistake often made, and takes a while to adapt to, especially when you only practice with players at your won level or below.

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Record your game or practice to watch back. It will help you visualise your current technique and will be easier to see what you could improve.

My advice? Play more.

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BTY Viscaria/Tibhar K3/Tibhar K3