Table Tennis Training Drills to Practice for the Beginner
In our previous article: Table Tennis Training – What You Need to Know we covered the different methods you can conduct table tennis training in order to improve your game. In this article we are going to get more specific and look at the different types of drills you can practice during your training. From my own experience, I find that most players have their own personal preference on what type of drills they wish to practice.
For the basis of this article, I am going to talk about two specific drills which are particularly beneficial for the beginning table tennis player. If you feel that these drills are too simplistic or too undemanding then I suggest you read my article on higher level table tennis drills.
Drill 1 – The forehand/backhand counter-hit
The counter-hit is the most common practice drill for table tennis players both beginner and advanced. In this drill you are hitting the ball from the right side of the table to the opponent’s right hand side of the table (diagonally).
The more you practice this drill the easier it becomes and you will find you and your partner will have long rallies hitting the ball to one another. Once you have mastered this forehand technique, the next step is to move onto the back hand counter-hit. This is very similar to the forehand, except that you are hitting the ball from the left side of the table (rather than the right) using your backhand instead of your forehand.
Drill 2 - Forehand and Backhand Looping
Once you have mastered the basic counter-hit it is time to practice one of the fundamental shots in table tennis – the forehand loop. If you’re unsure what the forehand loop is then I would strongly suggest you read this before continuing.
This drill is quite similar to the counterhit (same area of the table), except one partner is now looping the ball while the other proceeds to block. The idea of this exercise is consistency. The maximum benefit from this drill is achieved when the blocker and the looper are consistently getting the ball on the table.
For further practice on your forehand loop you can then move around to the backhand side and use your forehand loop against your partner’s backhand. This is another popular warm up drill.
I would recommend spending at least 2 minutes counter-hitting and 3 minutes looping for each partner (5 minutes each for backhand and forehand).
My final advice is to be courteous to your partner. Don’t spend 10 minutes looping yourself and forget to give your partner a turn. Try to be considerate by allocating a certain time for each player to practice their warm up drills.
Photo Credit: ah_blake
Table Tennis Training – What You Need to Know
Table Tennis training is one of the most important aspects that should be concentrated on by all individuals if they wish to improve their overall game. Training can be conducted either with another individual or partner, with a coach, or in some instances with a table tennis robot.
Training with another individual
The most common form of table tennis training is hitting against another player. Both of you can practice set drills against one another with the intention of improving different shots which you feel you need to work on. Quite often, the best training is with someone who is around the same level as you and can consistently return the ball on the table.
Table Tennis Coach
A coach or mentor is a person who trains and teaches you specific techniques, methods and strategies to improve your game. Usually a good table tennis coach knows specific areas of weakness in your game that needs to be worked on and based on this knowledge prepares a number of set drills and routines for you to practice. This is done in what is referred to as “multiball” in which the coach hits a number of balls in repetitive succession one after another. This repetitive style of training can be tiresome at times, but is extremely beneficial. At first multiball may seem quite tiring, but when it is introduced into the coaching program more frequently it becomes significantly easier.
Table Tennis Robots
One of the new forms of training that has been introduced in recent years is table tennis robots. These robots are trained to fire table tennis balls in a specific sequence on different areas of the table. The main benefit of these robots is that they do not require another player or coach in order for you to train effectively. One of the main features of table tennis robots is the ability to add different spins to the ball. If you wish to practice hitting long backspin balls, then all you need to do is alter the settings on the robot and it will begin to fire balls with backspin. This type of training can be very helpful and advantageous in practicing set shots.