Improve Your Table

Tennis In 7 Days

www.planettabletennis.com
CONTENTS

Introduction

Section 1 ......Technique

Section 2 .......Generate More Spin

Section 3 .......Areas To Focus On

Section 4 .......Easiest Ways To Win More Points

Section 5........Reading Spin Serves

Section 6....... Dealing With Long Pimples

How To Get The Best Out Of This Guide

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Introduction
Hi and welcome to Improve Your Table Tennis In 7 Days

My name is Phil Cox and below is a bit about me and my table tennis journey.

I started playing table tennis at the age of 13, which is quite late to start.
I have now been playing for over 40 years.
I have played at county (state)level in the UK at U17, Senior Men's and currently now in the
Over 40’s competitions.

I have competed in hundreds of tournaments and competitions including national

championships and just in my local league have played in over 700 matches.
I have competed in 2 World Veterans Championships in Alicante and Las Vegas and 1 European
Veterans Championships in Budapest.

I am a qualified level 2 coach in the UK and now mainly do one to one coaching and junior
coaching at my local club.
I have done hundreds of one to one and group coaching sessions covering all ages from 10 year
olds to over 70 year olds covering all levels from beginner to advanced national players.

I have also run training camps with former world class players and Olympians.

I have built up a great deal of table tennis knowledge over these 40 plus years and am
passionate about helping others enjoy and improve their table tennis whether you are a
beginner, intermediate or advanced level player.

This guide includes techniques and tips I have learned over the years that have proven to get
the best results. They simply work!

This information will be short and to the point, no long theories just direct,actionable
information.

I hope you enjoy the guide and are able to take action to implement the coaching which will
lead to an improvement in your game.

All the very best

Phil Cox

www.planettabletennis.com
Technique
Having a good technique is vital if you are to improve your standard of table tennis

If you have already learnt the 4 basic strokes of FH Drive , FH Push , BH Drive , BH Push
then you can look to develop more speed and spin plus move onto the techniques of
topspin loops , flicks , blocking , counter topspins plus others.

If you are a beginner concentrate on a having consistent strokes and work on that until
you have good control of what you are doing with your shoulder, forearm and wrist. This
will improve your control of the ball hugely.

Many players who I coach who have not had coaching before do not have the basic stroke
techniques consistent enough, they have lots of different movements with their shoulder,
forearm and wrist. This makes consistently getting the ball to hit the table much more
difficult.
You should also focus on hitting the ball at the peak of its bounce after it has landed on
your side of the table.

Repetition is key and the more you can practice this the quicker you will improve.

You will know you are making progress when you are able to direct the ball consistently to
where you want it to go on the opponent's side of the table.

For more advanced players the key to developing how hard you can hit the ball under
control is refining your technique.
All players have a level that their technique will break down and errors will occur once
they try to hit the ball with more speed.

To raise your level, do this in stages, a small amount at a time and make sure you can
consistently control the ball with each increase in speed before stepping it up further.
This will ensure your technique will help you and if you need to make any further
adjustments to your technique you can as you go.

Small regular increases will build your confidence as well.

Remember as you increase the speed of your strokes you need to ensure that you also
need to increase the speed of your recovery ready for the next stroke.

I so often see players increasing the pace of the ball and then not recovering quickly
enough.
Simple rule : the faster you hit the ball the faster it could come back from your opponent –
be ready!

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Generate More Spin
There are 3 types of spin - topspin , backspin and sidespin

Today the modern rackets with reversed (pimples in) rubber and sponge which are by far
the most popular type of rubbers to use are designed by the manufacturers to help players
more easily generate spin on the ball.

The red ( or black) rubber is what generates the spin by the friction caused when making
contact with the ball.

Generating more topspin - this is done by adjusting the bat angle you use when making
contact with the ball.
To get more topspin use a more closed bat angle and brush up the back and slightly over
the top of the ball.
This will make the ball jump up or “kick” off the table when it lands on your opponent's side
of the table.

Often when I am coaching this I allow the ball to bounce without it being returned so the
player can see the “kick” for themselves and get a good visual idea of when they have
generated more topspin

In addition the faster you can do this brushing motion the more spin you will generate.
Start slowly and get a feel for making the right contact with the ball, then try to increase
the speed gradually

Generating more backspin – to generate more backspin you need to make contact with the
ball on its bottom edge with an open bat angle and brush underneath the ball using your
wrist as much as possible.

Generating sidespin – this is achieved by making contact with the side of the ball and
coming round the side of the ball on contact as much as possible.
Key to this is good contact and brushing action when making contact.
This is more commonly used on the FH to create a variation on the FH topspin stroke

Something to remember is when you get a really good brushing action contact with the ball
there is not much sound from your racket when this happens. It is a good way to get an
idea of how much spin you are generating.

The quality of the contact you make with the ball is the most important aspect of
generating more spin so make sure you focus on that.

One obvious thing to remember is that the quality of the rubber on your racket will have a
significant impact on how much spin you can get on the ball. The older more worn out your
rubber is the less spin you will be able to generate.

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Areas To Focus On
Every player has their own style that develops over time and despite the techniques for the
basic stokes being the same for everyone,different styles of players develop based on how
they enjoy and want to play the game.

Three areas to focus on to improve your results :

Your Serves

This is such an important part of the game that the more time you spend developing your
serves will really help you improve your results fast.

Practice your serves regularly on your own if you can. Develop a range of serves you are
confident with but not too many.

Key is variation of spin (disguise ), speed variation and variation of placement.

I often see players serve with the same spin , same pace and same direction too often.
Learn to vary your serves. Keep your opponent unsure of what serve is coming next.

What gets lost sometimes is the aim of your serves – its simple – to win the point!
If it's not possible to win the point outright then it is to create a weak return so you have a
much easier follow up on your next stroke.

Your Footwork

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of good footwork in table tennis.

This is something that should be continually worked on when training at all levels.
I see so many players able to play great shots doing FH to FH for example and they look really
good players but so often when they have to move, they cannot play the strokes to
anywhere near the same standard and consistency after moving.

Table tennis is a fast-moving sport.

This is one of the major skills that higher level players always develop.

Do lots of random training ( ie you do not know where the ball will be going)

When moving always be on the balls of your feet so you can use your legs to move yourself
around the table.
Pay attention to where the weight of your body is and center of gravity is to help you be
more mobile.
Make sure you are in a good stance with your knees bent so you can use your leg muscles to
move around. The more straight legged you are the more difficult it is to move.

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Areas To Focus On Continued
Repetition

If you want to improve your skills in anything you need to continue to repeat the good
habits/techniques until they become automatic and you don’t need to consciously think
about doing them. They happen without thinking.

As Table Tennis is such a fast moving game you simply don't have time to consciously tell
yourself what to do and then do it. If you did the ball would have gone past you.

You need to be able to react in the right way and this is something that can be practiced and
learned with repetition exercises.

Unfortunately there are no real shortcuts , there are things you can do such as multi ball
training if you can, which is proven to speed up the process of learning and absorbing the
coaching being given more quickly.

Keep a track of how many hours you are playing. Especially training/practicing exercises.

If you are only doing 2 hours per week try to move to 4 hours and you’ve doubled your
training time which will have a big impact on the speed of your improvement.

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Easiest Way To Win More Points
Some simple things you can use to win more points

Improve the variations of your serves

This is the quickest way to win points and is the only time you have complete control of what
happens. Vary the spin/deception/speed/placement to make sure you opponent never gets
comfortable with what to expect when you are serving.

Play off the side of the table.

Many players find it difficult to deal with shots that go at an angle off the side of the table.

Learn to play down the line better

Having the ability to play a stroke either across the table or down the line is a great weapon
to have.
Playing a strong stroke down the line often can catch the opponent by surprise and they
may find it more difficult to return the ball

Use a long fast heavy backspin push

With the type of balls now being used this can be a very effective tactic.
The key here is to get a good amount of backspin, make sure the ball lands deep on the
opponent's side of the table and do this as fast as possible.

Play strongly to the opponents cross over

Everyone has a crossover point – where they have to make a decision to play a FH of BH . This
is usually under the opponents playing arm elbow.
Target this area and some players will struggle to make the adjustment.

Change of pace
If you change the speed of the ball you are hitting to your opponent this can often result in
disrupting your opponents rhythm and them making errors.
Good example is playing fast topspins then putting in a slower topspin with a lot more spin
on it.

Change tactics
If the tactics you are using are not winning you the game/match - change them.
I so often see players continue to play the same losing tactics and then afterwards wonder
why they lost.

Pay attention to what tactics are winning you the points, and do more of that until the
opponent appears to be getting used to your tactics ( they may not) then if necessary change
your tactics for a short while then go back to your previous winning tactics.

This can work very well in keeping your opponent unsure about what you are going to do
next and often can result in errors from your opponent.

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Reading Spin Serves
This is one of the most difficult skills in table tennis to master and can take some time.

Here are some tips to help you to be able to spot what/how much spin is on the ball when an
opponent is serving to you.

Look at the contact on the ball - where they make contact with the ball. If at the bottom of
their racket then most likely will be quite a bit of backspin. If at the top of the racket not
much spin.

Watch for the angle of the bat on contact and which way the bat moves – downwards or
underneath the ball will mean backspin . Upwards or over the top of the ball will mean
topspin. Sideways will be sidespin and usually a combination with backspin or topspin.

See if you can see the markings on the ball - if you can there will not be much spin on the ball
, if you can't see the markings then more spin will be on the ball.

Watch the trajectory of the ball as it comes over the net - backspin serves will keep lower,
topspin serves will have more of an a arc to their trajectory.
Topspin serves will also “kick” or bounce up more after they hit the table on your side.

If you can listen for the sound on the racket when it makes contact with the ball. Less sound
more spin.
This can be difficult in noisy playing conditions. Also this is one of the reasons some players
stamp their foot when serving – to hide the sound of the contact on the ball.

One tip is when you are playing practice games play games where one person serves the
whole game. This can really get you focused on reading the spin on the serves and making a
good return.

Lastly on this – be positive , make sure you decide what spin you think is on the ball and play
your stoke accordingly with conviction. Will you get everyone correct – at first no but you will
get more correct over time.

I see so many players being hesitant on return of serve and this gives the advantage to your
opponent.

Trust your judgement - the more you practice your receive the better your judgement will
become and the easier you will find it reading and returning the serves more often.

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Dealing With Long Pimples
Some players play with long pimples to make it much more difficult to play against them as
the spin variations can be hard to adjust to when playing against someone who uses this
type of rubber on their racket.

There are different types of long pimpled rubber on the market but the basis of many is that
whatever spin is on the ball when the ball makes contact with the long pimpled rubber the
spin will be reversed.

So if you play a backspin stroke no matter what the opponent does the ball will be returned
to you with topspin.

In addition, long pimpled rubber cannot generate much spin itself , it relies on spin already
on the ball to create the awkward effects.

Tactics to use
Long fast flat ( as little spin as possible ) serves to the players long pimples , this makes it
difficult for the player to return and there will not be much spin on ball if it comes back.

Do not do use heavy spin serves especially sidespin serves.

Keep your serves simple - if you want topspin coming back to you - do a backspin serve.
If you want backspin coming back to you - do a topspin serve.

If they are a defensive player then the amount of backspin on the ball will be increased if
you keep playing topspins to the pimples.

A lot of these players have normal reversed rubber on the other side of their racket.

It can be a good tactic to play mainly to this (if they don’t twiddle their racket) as the reason
many players get these types of rubbers is so they can use them as much as possible during
a game to disrupt their opponent's game.

The less they use the pimples in the game can be to your advantage.

A good tactic is to use a heavy backspin push - so you get a ball with topspin on it coming
back - then play a strong stroke with no spin – a flat hit to the pimples - this quite often
makes it difficult for them to lift the next stroke over the net.

Find a player to practice with regularly that has long pimples so you can try out different
tactics and get used to playing against them. This will help you enormously.

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How To Get The Best Out Of This
Guide
Whatever level you are at hopefully the information in this guide will help you improve your
table tennis game.

If you want to make improvements in the quickest time,this will be determined by how often
and for how many hours you are playing and practicing.

Pick one area, stick to it and concentrate on that for 7 days and you will see improvements.

What I mean by this is focus on this area for 7 practice sessions for a minimum of 1 hour
each session.

If that is once per day great, you will improve more quickly.

If this is once per week then it will be 7 weeks to see major improvements.

Consistency of practice is the key.

It’s a simple formula that is proven to work!

All the very best with your table tennis journey

Phil Cox

www.planettabletennis.com