Tips Archives - Learn and Improve Table tennis with coach Gary Fraiman

Tip of the Month: How to Play Practice Matches with a Weaker Player

owner — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 02:33:56 +0000

When playing practice matches with much weaker players, here are two suggestions: 1) Simplify your serves so you get higher quality returns to practice against; and 2) Decide something specific you want to work on, such as forehand loop, and use your higher level technique to force rallies where you can work on those shots. For example, serve short backspin and attack any long return with your forehand. If you need blocking practice, push long to them, and block. And so on.

At the same time, you should fight to win every one of these points, given the conditions above. You can practice mental focus and hustle against any level of player. You might also want to play some matches against weaker players where you ignore the above two suggestions, just to work on your “win every point” skills, including serves and using your best game, not just what you need to work on. (You might want to do this especially before a big tournament, to focus on your general match playing skills.) Some might argue you should play every match this way, even against much weaker players, but I think you lose an opportunity to practice certain things if you do that all the time.

By Larry Hodges

Image credit: djimenezhdez

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How to Improve Mental Toughness in Table Tennis Competition

owner — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 18:15:45 +0000

Below are Eleven Tips for Mental Toughness in Competition Table Tennis published by Dr. Robert Swoap

1. Routines.

Have a pre-serve routine (whether serving or receiving) that is unshakable.

Have an emotion-setting routine. You will be nervous — no question. That is not the problem. The problem is interpreting the butterflies in your stomach as negative. They are not. They are your body’s way of saying “I’m ready. I’m excited.” If you are really over-the-top anxious, slow things down a bit. Take a little more time before a point to breathe from your belly and to calm your mind and body.

Have a refocusing routine (when you lose a point or become distracted) — more on this in Tip #2

2. Refocus after distraction or a poor point. When Todd Sweeris was a junior, many times after he made a mistake, he would look to the crowd (anticipating negative feedback). I had Todd draw a small blue dot on his racquet that he would focus on after each point. This allowed him to prepare for the next point, leading to….

3. Next point mentality (NPM). Once the point is over, it is over. Quickly analyze what just happened and then move on. The mentally tough player is immediately onto the next point and rally.

4. Process not Outcome. Focus on the process of playing well. The second you think about the outcome (winning or losing), you are no longer in the present moment. You can only control the current point and the way you play it. Of course you want to win. But wanting to win (and thinking about winning/losing) isn’t the route to successfully competing. Wins come from playing each point with full intensity, courage, and composure. There is no point where you relax. And there should be no point where you over-try.

5. Thought control. Ideally, your thoughts will remain positive throughout a match and a tournament. The reality is that you may have negative thoughts (e.g., self-criticism) pop up. That’s okay. Just don’t attach any weight to those thoughts and self-statements. They are just thoughts. Let them go without trying to force it. The easiest way to do this is to get back to #3 (NPM).

6. Confidence. Confidence is easy when you’re playing well. But what about if things aren’t going so well. Remind yourself of how hard you have prepared for this and don’t allow your mind to move to negativity. Sean did this very well. He had a set of positive affirmations that he would repeat before a match and during visualizations. This got him into a confident mindset that translated to…

7. Try for every ball. (Sean’s rules…

Rule #1: Try for EVERY ball

Rule #2: If the ball is too far away to reach, see Rule #1

8. Display mental toughness. This mentality in #7 translated to an intensity in competition that was hard to ignore. It demonstrated to Sean’s competitors that they couldn’t beat him by getting into his head. They knew they would have to beat him tactically.

9. Reframe. A mental trick you can use when the game is tight (say 10-10) is to reframe the score in your head as something like 4-4. How would you play a 4-4 point? That’s how you should play a 10-10 point. We often get tighter at 10-10 and play more conservatively. But that is moving away from your game. Always play your game.

10. Body language. Before matches and in between points, be sure to keep your head up. When nervous or self-critical, we tend to gaze down. Keep your head up and try to have a body language that suggests confidence, but not cockiness.

11. Have fun. Table tennis is a blast. I have played since I was a little kid and now I’m teaching my own children. We can sometimes take it way too seriously. Remember, it is a GAME that is fun. Have a small smile on your face as you play. You’ll confuse your opponent (“Why is she smiling?!?). And you’ll put yourself into the right frame of mind. Have fun out there.

Image credit: djimenezhdez

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Coach Gary Fraiman- Forehand Training (Slow Motion)

owner — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:38:11 +0000

Basic forehand counter drive with returning to the ready position after completing the stroke (in slow-motion).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yvOJi9paNP4

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How To Play Table Tennis – Service Basics

owner — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 03:13:35 +0000

How To Play Table Tennis – Service Basics
Marcos Freitas teaches the service basics

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Improving Your Table Tennis Grip

owner — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 20:25:37 +0000

In this video Ben Larcombe talks about what he learned from 10 weeks of experimenting with his grip. Ben Larcombe was trying to move away from having such a firm and rigid grip and instead adopt a more relaxed grip using primarily my thumb and index finger to pinch the racket.

Ben Larcombe is 26 years old, he lives in London and is a table tennis coach.

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How to play the Backhand Flick!

owner — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 02:54:09 +0000

Fan Zhendong has stormed on the international scene with his ferocious backhand. Often Fan will use this weapon from his forehand side which has helped move him into the top 3 world ranked players.

Source: http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?10911-Fan-Zhendong-How-to-play-the-Backhand-Flick

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Three secret steps which may improve your footwork in table tennis

owner — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 19:26:44 +0000

In table tennis, our large muscles do most of the work, but because they’re large, they’re slower than our smaller muscles, which we need to make small, quick, initiating movements, allowing crucial milliseconds for our larger muscles to begin their larger movements.

As with running, table tennis is one of the most rhythmic sports in existence, so why not apply the same principles of rhythm and movement efficiency to our table tennis footwork training?

#1 Stretch to prepare your muscles

This technique, as we’ll see below, aims to keep your heels off the ground at all times. As a result, while it does take stress off your knees, it can be a lot harder on your calves and Achilles tendons if you are not prepared properly. Stretches I’ve read as recommended by FHB for attempting this style of running are:

Hip flexors and quads: This video shows the recommended hip flexor stretch using a couch. These muscle groups are often tight among desk workers, and as a result, can lead to leaning forward too much when running or when in table tennis stance.

Glute flexibility: Place your leg on a table top with your knee bent at 90 degrees as shown. What this picture doesn’t show is that you can lean forward to intensify the stretch, which you should feel in your glute muscle, in the back of the upper leg. You can also rotate your body 45 degrees so your ankle is hanging off the edge of the table if it’s more comfortable for you.