Tips and advice on starting a school team

[SFF_lib]

Hi I put out registration of interest for table tennis at my school. I am a high school teacher. There's no table tennis player at my school.

To my surprise, 6 kids turned up at our first meeting. One of our regional coaches are visiting us every two weeks to coach the kids.

I am sourcing more tables and bats. Most kids are at level zero. We are starting from scratch which is exciting. I am aiming to prep the kids for inter-school competition in August. I know I am ambitious but I would like to make miracles.

I feel that fortnightly coaching is not quite enough.

• How often do kids train at high school age?
  
• I am the only one who's gone through proper training. Any tips on how to manage training 6 kids (more joining)?
• Any tips and advice on instilling passion in kids?
  

This is one of my passion project for table tennis.

Thanks heaps

 

[JST]

Great effort, I would love having 6 kids eager to have fun with TT (last time I advertised with the banners in nearby school we got zero response

I'm joining my friend as sparing in his local club with youngsters and they typically train 3-4 times a week 2 hours each session. Indeed this is for players 12+ yo who are really into the game and who are already having few year behind the table, you probably want to start with two sessions per week for total beginners. Also for younger kids (7-11) we keep shorter sessions of 60-90 minutes. On the other hand I remember that we were training basically every working day after school (2h) + tournaments in the weekend (typically one day occupied) and still couldn't match the best kids in the class so be ready for that. If the kids really fall in love with TT and want to move forward they will be hunting you to have trainings every day

When it comes to training methods we used to do 5~10 mins of warm up without the ball (running around the gym, stretching arms and legs...), then ~50mins of basic drills and footwork exercises, then ~30 mins of gaming situations and tactical exercises (usually with serve, starting from score like 7:9 or 9:9, with some constrains like server must hit 3rd ball attack or he loses the point etc.) and finally some games/matches in last 30 mins + short stretching with compensation exercises in the end (TT is very demanding on spine and related apparatus, especially if you train often and you are getting tall). For total beginners we used to train 2-3 kids per one trainer where each kid has one or two balls and plays basic FH/BH cross until it loses ball from the reach, runs for it and the other kid plays while the one hunting the ball goes to the end of the queue.

But all that was 25 years ago. From what I see today there are even more effective methods to work with kids and pass this initiation period:
- Robots and multi-ball sessions help a lot with learning basic strokes where trainer can be correcting the movements of the kid without need to stay on the other side or at least being able to focus on that stroke and direct the kid verbally after each of them.
- Kids seems to be less enthusiastic for "military camp" style of training nowadays (it was pretty common back then, kind of similar to what I see on videos from Asian TT schools still today so official courses for trainers in my country have lot of "funny games" as part of curriculum. Unfortunately nothing on-line in English what I could refer to right now but I will try to complement this post in the future. Also for high-school kids this might not be so much relevant (usually kids below 10 get bored easily, older start to understand the need of repetition and drills...)

All the best!
Jan

 

[SFF_lib]

Great effort, I would love having 6 kids eager to have fun with TT (last time I advertised with the banners in nearby school we got zero response

I'm joining my friend as sparing in his local club with youngsters and they typically train 3-4 times a week 2 hours each session. Indeed this is for players 12+ yo who are really into the game and who are already having few year behind the table, you probably want to start with two sessions per week for total beginners. Also for younger kids (7-11) we keep shorter sessions of 60-90 minutes. On the other hand I remember that we were training basically every working day after school (2h) + tournaments in the weekend (typically one day occupied) and still couldn't match the best kids in the class so be ready for that. If the kids really fall in love with TT and want to move forward they will be hunting you to have trainings every day

When it comes to training methods we used to do 5--10 mins of warm up without the ball (running around the gym, stretching arms and legs...), then ~50mins of basic drills and footwork exercises, then ~30 mins of gaming situations and tactical exercises (usually with serve, starting from score like 7:9 or 9:9, with some constrains like server must hit 3rd ball attack or he loses the point etc.) and finally some games/matches in last 30 mins + short stretching with compensation exercises in the end (TT is very demanding on spine and related apparatus, especially if you train often and you are getting tall). For total beginners we used to train 2-3 kids per one trainer where each kid has one or two balls and plays basic FW/BH cross until it loses ball from the reach, runs for it and the other kid plays while the one hunting the ball goes to the end of the queue.

But all that was 25 years ago. From what I see today there are even more effective methods to work with kids and pass this initiation period:
- Robots and multi-ball sessions help a lot with learning basic strokes where trainer can be correcting the movements of the kid without need to stay on the other side or at least being able to focus on that stroke and direct the kid verbally after each of them.
- Kids seems to be less enthusiastic for "military camp" style of training nowadays (it was pretty common back then, kind of similar to what I see on videos from Asian TT schools still today so official courses for trainers in my country have lot of "funny games" as part of curriculum. Unfortunately nothing on-line in English what I could refer to right now but I will try to complement this post in the future. Also for high-school kids this might not be so much relevant (usually kids below 10 get bored easily, older start to understand the need of repetition and drills...)

All the best!
Jan

Thanks for your reply. I grew up with military-type training. I would love to hear from you what kinds of "funny game" training methods we can use at school.

Our kids are aged between 13 and 18.

 

[Lula]

Start with making it fun. In the beginning they become because it is fun. Then if or when they start to like to play it do not need to be as much fun since they enjoy playing.

 

[yogi_bear]

Mix fun with basic stroke training to not make it boring.

 

[PingBirdPong]

6 months ago I trained 2 of my classmates to a “school amateur champion” title. I’d say have fun with them, show that you like learning with them, and make sure they feel good about themselves. IDK if this is helpful, just happy to help!

 

[Haito]

This thread is 3 years old and I think I see op intermittently on the forum. Maybe OP could gives some info how the project went?

 

[SFF_lib]

This thread is 3 years old and I think I see op intermittently on the forum. Maybe OP could gives some info how the project went?

We did start a club in my school. We had approximately 18 kids playing in lunchtime. Wide range between 13-18 years. They loved it. But when it comes to inter-school competition we lacked the interest to enter [emoji29]so that’s a bummer.

I am in a new school. As the year draws to an end. I am finding others to help set up lunchtime TT for staff and kids. We are lucky that we have more tables and already have two teams. But it’s dwarfed by our badminton group of 50+ kids and counting.

But in general Kids don’t have the patience to enter tt. Badminton is way easier and attracts 5x more kids.

 

[soopler]

Hey there! It's awesome to hear about your passion project for table tennis at your school. It's fantastic that you've got 6 kids interested already, especially considering there were no players before.

When it comes to training frequency, it really depends on the availability of the kids and their level of commitment. At the high school age, some kids might have other commitments like homework or extracurricular activities, so finding a balance is key. Maybe you could consider adding an extra session during the week if possible, or even encouraging them to practice on their own outside of coaching sessions.

Since etrailer you're the one with the most experience, your role as a coach is crucial. One tip would be to focus on the basics and gradually introduce more advanced techniques as the kids progress. Keep the training sessions fun and engaging to maintain their interest and enthusiasm.

Instilling passion in kids can be done by showing them your own passion for the sport. Share stories, show them exciting matches or tournaments, and emphasize the benefits of playing table tennis, such as improved coordination and focus. Encourage friendly competition among the kids to keep things exciting and motivate them to improve.

Keep up the great work with your passion project, and best of luck preparing the kids for the inter-school competition in August! It sounds like you're already making a positive impact on their lives through table tennis.

 

[d3nium]

The amount of spam on this forum is crazy lol

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

sorry i'm 5 years late.
Have you heard of the Tops manual? from Australia
it is used in the ITTF level 1 coaching manual.
I have it somewhere, but if you have it, then there is some games and ideas in there.
if you don't have it, I need to go find it!

how is the progress now?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

The amount of spam on this forum is crazy lol

sorry i'm 5 years late.
Have you heard of the Tops manual? from Australia
it is used in the ITTF level 1 coaching manual.
I have it somewhere, but if you have it, then there is some games and ideas in there.
if you don't have it, I need to go find it!

how is the progress now?

I tried to put this thread back to sleep after deleting all the spam. But Tony was replying while I was deleting. Oh well.

This thread attracts the essay writing spam because of the subject having the word "School" in it. Just report any new spam that arises. Thanks.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I tried to put this thread back to sleep after deleting all the spam. But Tony was replying while I was deleting. Oh well.

This thread attracts the essay writing spam because of the subject having the word "School" in it. Just report any new spam that arises. Thanks.

add more o to school, will that help?