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The crucial thing on your list is number 2 - reading service spin. If you can't read the service spin, you have no chance of returning well. This will make you nervous for your matches, as you probably feel you have a lack of control. Receiving is difficult and it does take a lot of practice...

And related... here's one of my blog posts with tips on preparing for a new league season: www.tabletenniscoach.me.uk/are-you-ready-for-new-table-tennis-league-season/

Hi all In the UK, our local league winter season will be starting soon. Last year, I played in the Cambridge League (Div 1) and finished just under 50% win percentage. This year, I obviously want to get a higher win percentage (50%-60% and I’ll be happy), but I’d also like to play a more...

Hi Pawel I have this robot at home and I have used it quite a lot over the past 3-4 years, so can give you some good advice. Firstly, have realistic expectations about what you can do with a robot. Training with a robot isn't going to make you a world beater, but it can help you improve if you...

Other websites I enjoy reading are: http://www.experttabletennis.com/ http://www.mhtabletennis.com/ http://www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog http://t3atl.com/blog/ http://www.samsondubina.com/news http://epictabletennisjourney.blogspot.co.uk/...

I have a heap of stuff on my website: http://www.tabletenniscoach.me.uk/blog/ Lots of table tennis tips and articles on tactics, training drills, equipment. I also have opinion pieces and some light-hearted stuff too.

You could also try some rallying drills where you switch between backhand and forehand. These sort of drills are good for developing your rallying foundations, good for footwork, good for recovery position, good for switching between strokes. For examples, take a look at this page on my...

Even with a 40 year lay off, you can still get back playing to a decent standard. Yes, some things will have changed, but there are some universals which will always apply - tactics, placement, consistency etc. We have players in my local league (Cambridge) who are still going strong in their...

I get what you’re saying. You’re not going to learn a huge amount by playing endless defence against a low level defensive player. It’s not a great tactic, as you’ll end up playing down to their level. It will be dull and not very satisfying. Against these low level defenders, you should be...

I'm going to go slightly off-topic, but I found this part of your post quite interesting... If I was coaching you, I wouldn't be looking to solve the problem you have by changing rubbers. There are some more fundamental questions you should ask yourself first. Why can your opponent return your...

At this stage, I wouldn't stress too much about it. I have coached beginner/improver players who use the Palio Master bat. It's a decent bat for their standard of play. But here's the thing. If you keep playing table tennis, you will end up changing rubbers and blades several times in the first...

Ha! This is how I used to play my backhand when I was 8 years old! I always knew it was a great shot.

A good tactic to try (to begin with) is to push, topspin, push, topspin. The logic is this... You push. The long pimples player pushes back. The ball comes back as float. You topspin. The long pimples player chops back. The ball comes back with heavy backspin. At this point, you could topspin...

I agree with Jaffer. There is no right or wrong, it depends on the style of the player. Personally, I find higher throw much easier to play with. But that is because I have played with high throw for such a long time. All of my strokes are adapted to high throw, so it really is no problem to...

For multi-ball I don't think it makes a huge amount of difference. You can get some decent training balls which are much cheaper than 3 star balls, but you won't tell that much difference in quality when doing multi-ball. Personally, I go for cheaper training balls when I do multi-ball for...

Hi Fabien I recognise what you describe. In fact I wrote about it on my website here. From my experience, I think other players are receptive to doing some purposeful practice. Instead of just playing forward to forehand, I ask the other player if I can spend a few minutes practising...

To celebrate this year’s National Table Tennis Day in UK (on 13 July), I thought I’d share a bit of table tennis love. We table tennis players, coaches and fans all know that table tennis is the best sport in the world. But there are some unbelievers out there who need converting. So I’ve...

How good is your table tennis knowledge? I have 20 questions about table tennis during 2016. Each question has four possible answers for you to choose from. If you don’t know the answer, just have a guess. You have 1 in 4 chance of getting it right! At the end of the quiz you can see how you...

Ovtcharov is so fast. He makes Samsonov look very average. I wonder if Ovtachov will be the player to break the Chinese dominance.

Ovtcharov is so fast. He makes Samsonov look very average. I wonder if Ovtachov will be the player to break the Chinese dominance.