OOAK Table Tennis Forum

At the club....and under no time pressure....

Before playing your first match....
Do you prefer a structured warm up....FH-FH...BH-BH...or maybe drills? Or do you prefer to just knock the ball around before a match?

I find a structured warm up to be quite boring. I prefer to spend most of the time just hitting.

For example, I sometimes hit with a guy who can't win many matches (maybe he's 1300 or so) because he's simply not too proficient at match play (serve, 3rd ball etc)
His style is very unorthodox, he's very athletic, hits really hard, is very strong and is developing a robust spin game.
I find warming up with him to be quite stimulating largely because I never know where he's hitting the ball. I just know it will come back with a lot of spin and/or it will come back fast. For example, if I hit to his wide FH and he almost never will return cross court. He aims, and frequently hits, my backhand corner with a vicious smash.

I think the randomness more closely simulates game conditions. I get a chance to use all my strokes... and seems to prepare me for matches later.

I play at 2 clubs regularly.

At the first club I started playing at there is no structured warm up. The club has less competitive players and is a bit more social, although this club does have regular USATT 2000+ players.

The other club I play at has a much higher caliber of player on average. And most people here play competitively and get coaching regularly. At this club structured warm up is the norm.


I believe a structured warm up allows for getting a better feel of the ball and getting into a rhythm before the match starts. I also think structured warm ups tends to support better form in the long run, and are almost like a pseduo drill. I prefer structured warm ups, especially if there is limited time to warm up before a match.

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VKM
Tenergy 05 2.1
Feint Long III .5

We do FH-FH then BH-BH.

I would prefer to start of BH-BH-I think we do way too much FH-FH and not enough BH play.

When we got to other clubs the lack of structure with some players drives some of my club-mates more than a little crazy.

Watch the Korean women warm up at the club and you'll get ideas.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Yes, yes, but what about the warm up?:grin:

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

I would prefer a structured warm up. Sets your timing right. At our club, we have a table intended for drill before plunging in the main table.

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

I prefer structured warm-up.
It allows you to find the right timing and rhythm for the strokes. Usually FH-FH, BH-BH and Topspin vs. Defense.
Then - after the structured part - we do some serve and return exercises. Sometimes with announcing where the return is supposed to be played, sometimes just serve and free.
This depends on what the player wants to play.

So - now I realize - that it is a combination. First structured and then serve and return unstructured. This is very close to the match situation, so ok for us

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Werner Schlager Academy - Table Tennis School in Vienna, Austria:
http://www.wernerschlageracademy.com/table-tennis-school.html

Coach at WSA and modern defender.
Racket:
BTY T05 (2,1mm) - BTY Joo Se Hyuk, straight - TSP Curl P4 (1,5)

It seems like every chinese old guy just blasts the ball at me and thinks that that is alright!

I hate unstructured practiced although there are benefits like others have pointed out above.

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

when I young I never seen any structured warmups, actually even when playing interclub sometimes we just started , with no warmup lol

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Blade Ulmo Duality| FH Tibhar mx-p Black, Dawei 388D-1 red OX
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