December 2, 2011
Great "multiball" serve, receive, attack drill.
Here's a great "multiball" drill, where neither player actually feeds multiball. Start with a box of balls near the server's side of the table. The server (using his best serves) only serves and attacks one ball, then lets the next ball go by as he grabs the next ball. Receiver returns serve and plays one shot only. Then they repeat, in rapid-fire fashion. The goal of the server is to set up a strong third-ball attack. The goal of receiver is to stop server's attack. Take turns on the drill, with each doing perhaps 5-10 minutes.
You can do variations of this, where the server uses a specific serve over and over, the receiver a specific receive, etc. I posted variations of this drill in the past. The drill is especially valuable for learning to receive effectively. Most rallies at the intermediate and advanced levels don't go much beyond these four shots, so this drill lets you rapidly practice the most important shots of the game - the first two shots by each player.
Celebrities Playing Table Tennis
I updated the Celebrities Playing Table Tennis page yesterday with 14 new photos of six celebrities. New celebrities are basketball players Chris Mullin and Carmelo Anthony, and German soccer player Gunther Netzer (or as they more correctly call it, football). There are also six new pictures of basketball star Yao Ming, and new pictures of actresses Fay Wray and Joan Davis. There are now 1299 pictures of 751 celebrities.
USA Nationals in Ten Days
I leave for the USA Nationals in ten days, on Monday, Dec. 12; events start the next day. I'll be mostly coaching at the Nationals, as well as playing hardbat. Regarding my coaching, it would be very helpful for me if any readers who are not students of mine would refrain from practicing their serves, receives, and other table tennis techniques until after the Nationals. I mean, practice is so passé; if you know the game, just show up and play, right? And practice is such work. So just have fun, don't practice, and me and my students will have lots of fun at the Nationals. Seriously, do not practice your serves - good serves are such a pain to coach against. I don't want to have to remind you again. Thank you for your attention.
Table Tennis Tactics: A Thinker's Guide
Here is the (current) opening to the chapter on Receiving Tactics (5300 words):
"What is your goal when you receive? That is the primary question you must ask yourself when considering receive tactics. This is no different than thinking about serve tactics, except when you serve, you get to spend time between points deciding which serve to use.
"Receive is the most under-practiced aspect of the game, with serves a close second. Every rally starts with a serve and a receive, and yet players rarely take the time to practice and develop these techniques. Receive is probably the most difficult part of the game to master, and it's doubly hard when players only practice it in actual games. Instead, find a practice partner and take turns practicing your serve and receive.
"Most players are either overly aggressive or too passive when they receive. It's important to find the middle range. However, it is even more important to understand that it is consistency, placement, and variation that are most important."
German soccer players playing table tennis
Here's a video of German soccer players playing table tennis, including Emmanuel Frimpong - yes, "frompong." (1:38). I'll add to Celebrities Playing Table Tennis page next month.
A History of Table Tennis
All told in 4:51 in this hilarious video by Pierre Knows, from why the name of the game changed from Whiff Whaff to Ping Pong to Table Tennis and why the Chinese still call it Ping Pang. (I think I linked to this video once a long time ago, but I searched my archives and couldn't find it - so if I did, enjoy it again!)
Rallying with a grenade
You read that right - here's a video of two top women rallying with a live grenade (3:34), in slo-mo, in front of a high-class, wine-sipping audience. Warning - has a gory finish.
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Re: December 2, 2011
"Most players are either overly aggressive or too passive when they receive. It's important to find the middle range. However, it is even more important to understand that it is consistency, placement, and variation that are most important."
I might argue that the first priority is to return with a high enough quality that the opponent doesn't kill your return. Pushes must be low (and if long, then not right to their power zones), flips and loops must be sufficiently well placed and above a minimum threshold of speed or spin (this minimum probably increasing as the level of play increases) that the opponent doesn't counter attack for a winner. Once that is satisfied, then it would make sense to train to expand the placement and variation capabilities.
"Here's a great 'multiball' drill."
Very good, this is the kind of thing I will definitely make a point to use in my own training from now on. This can be practiced at any time, no multiball-feeding skills or drills required.
Re: December 2, 2011
In reply to Re: December 2, 2011 by vineRipeTomatoes
When I say players are too passive with their returns, I mean they make safe but weak pushes rather than doing something with the push so the opponent doesn't have an easy attack, such as pushing quick off the bounce, angles, changing directions at the last second, heavy backspin, spin variation, depth, and keeping it low. If you do all of these things, the push isn't passive; it's in that middle range. You want to do a little more than return the ball so the opponent doesn't kill the ball; you don't want to give an easy attack either.