Ask Paul Drinkhall a question!

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

Dan said:
Hi Paul! Thanks for joining here, it's greatly appreciated by all of us Your answers are stunning! It is great go see yiu bounce back from injury!

I want to ask, you had a lot of multi ball when you was younger with a Chinese coach. How important do you think multi ball was to the development of your game?

Hi Dan - thanks, great to be back from injury now fully recovered and thanks for having me on TTD, the No.1 table tennis forum on the internet! Yes I was lucky enough to have multi ball lots as a youngster, my coach Jia Yi Liu was an absolute master of the technique and we used it daily. In China all the players use it in the daily regime too, and the players learn the technique also so they can give each other multi ball. It's brilliant for reinforcing technique and musclle memory, the speed really makes you very sharp and the pressure on you means you can improve things like movement very quickly. It's also an amazing tool for developing table fitness, you can start with one minute bursts then increase gradually. I would say it's a really important and useful tool that helps you to improve a lot of aspects very quickly, but it needs to be used in conjunction with normal practice so your brain learns to anticipate balls played from an opponent at the end of the table - after all, in matches that's what will be happening!

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

raazzz said:
Do you remember any specific advice you have been given by some coach or trainer that really have made a big impact in your carrier?

Hi Raazzz, when I was younger I was told that the way you behave in practice (the way you apply yourself, the style you choose to play, the conduct you choose to display in matches, the attitude to table and physical training, the tactics you use) become habit and will eventually end up displayed in matches if you like it or not, so better to develop good things in training as they will then serve you well in competitions! This was something that I was told and I think is very accurate.

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

izra said:
hi paul, thank you so much for answering our questions so quickly. i'd like to expand on raazzz's question, which coach influenced your game the most and in what way?

Hi Izra, my pleasure! I was lucky enough to have very positive coaching from the start of playing, the coach who was with me the longest and all the way from being 11 years old to quite recently was Jia Yi Liu. From the age of 12 till about 19 I was with him almost every day, and these were critical years in learning techniques, winning Junior competitions and my development. Jia taught me to play aggressively, a lot of people compare me to Chinese players in terms of style, this is because of the way he taught me to play! He also worked a lot with us on physical fitness training and instilled the right type of physical fitness into me and the other players around at that time. I have so much to thank him for and he remains the biggest influence on my career to date, along side my family who have always been so supportive.

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

Wannes said:
Hi Paul,

What glue do you use?

Hi Wannes, what do you mean by glue? You need to explain the question, if you mean speed glue it has obviously been banned now for a very long time!

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

TTHopeful said:
Hi Paul, thanks for the reply! I saw a picture on your facebook where you was with Samsonov in Germany with Tibhar looked great!

Are there differences between a pro players Evolution MX-P and a commercial evolution rubber sold in the stores? Are you allowed to customise your own rubbers?

Hi tthopeful, thank you yes I had a great couple of days in Germany with Vladi, Chen and the TIBHAR team! I do not customise my rubbers, and anything that changes the playing characteristics of the rubber is not allowed anyway. The racket testing at the competitions is really intense to make sure that everything is fair!

The MX-P that I play with is the exact same rubber you would buy in the store, some professional players like to sometimes change the sponge behind a certain top sheet, combining different sponge types (harder, softer) with different top rubber surface sheets. The difference is very slight however.

exort04 · Mar 11, 2015

Paul Drinkhall is interesting to see that in your photos blade is a Timo Boll SPirit and not Samsonov stratus why ?
any reason?

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 11, 2015

exort04 said:
Paul Drinkhall is interesting to see that in your photos blade is a Timo Boll SPirit and not Samsonov stratus why ?
any reason?

Hi Exort, the blade is different only with the handle, I use a handle that is wider and flatter, it's the same handle shape I have used since being very young and I'm really used to it. The composition is that of the Samsonov Stratus, I'm a big fan of the blade.

Wannes · Mar 12, 2015

Paul Drinkhall said:
Hi Wannes, what do you mean by glue? You need to explain the question, if you mean speed glue it has obviously been banned now for a very long time!

Hi Paul,

I mean is there a difference between the legal glue's. So you have waterbased glue, that's the one i know, but is there maybe another kind of legal glue? Or which one do you use?

Thanks for your answer!

And good luck tonight in Nodo, if you are playing!

greetz Wannes

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 12, 2015

ttstuff said:
so you are playing with a samsonov stratus carbon with a timo boll spirit handle?

Hi ttstuff - It's the Samsonov Stratus but with a flatter handle, it's actually not from a boll spirit but it is a similar colour, and it is the same shape as that handle, I played with the blade some years ago and have always felt comfortable with that handle shape. Hope that answers your question, if you are an attacking player or even a controlled allrounder who likes to attack I'd recommend you give that blade a try, it's really great!

JackFH · Mar 12, 2015

Thanks for replying. But if I want to play mid distance, how do I get them to hit a ball so its not dropping by the time it gets to me? Does it involve playing either a spinny or fast shot to get that return closer to the table and then stepping back to play mid distance? Plus can this be applied against pips or choppers since you often need to lift ball more? But thanks for the advice so far

raazzz · Mar 12, 2015

Paul Drinkhall said:
Hi Raazzz, when I was younger I was told that the way you behave in practice (the way you apply yourself, the style you choose to play, the conduct you choose to display in matches, the attitude to table and physical training, the tactics you use) become habit and will eventually end up displayed in matches if you like it or not, so better to develop good things in training as they will then serve you well in competitions! This was something that I was told and I think is very accurate.

Thanks!! That is a really helpful advice!

Jorleviach · Mar 12, 2015

at what age did u start playing tabletennis?

MJB999 · Mar 13, 2015

Hey Paul

You've reached a level where tournament conditions are (I would imagine) excellent. But what about when you were starting off in your local league? Tell us a horror story about bad lighting/cold room etc.

Also, Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan is 11 years old and has recently started beating professionals - are you slightly worried?

Thanks for your time.

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 14, 2015

JackFH said:
Thanks for replying. But if I want to play mid distance, how do I get them to hit a ball so its not dropping by the time it gets to me? Does it involve playing either a spinny or fast shot to get that return closer to the table and then stepping back to play mid distance? Plus can this be applied against pips or choppers since you often need to lift ball more? But thanks for the advice so far

Hi JackFH - You can't play mid distance all the time, when I talk about mid distance I mean anything from 1ft to 4ft back from the table (normally about 2ft or 3ft in reality). After you serve you might play a slightly earlier third ball shot, then step back to give yourself time to play a powerful top of the bounce winner(stepping back gives you time to open your shoulders and prepare to hit the ball hard!) same as if you receive serve your fourth ball might be taken from mid distance, but you do need to watch for your opponent soft balling you as this is a tactic against mid distance players!

Against chpppers and pimple players you need to stay closer, unless it's a player hitting with short pimples then you can still play your topsin shots from a couple of feet back. Against defeners though this won't be an issue as they don't hit the ball very hard or in alot of cases not hard at all, so you have time to stay up to the table anyway.

Hope this helps!

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 14, 2015

Jorleviach said:
at what age did u start playing tabletennis?

Hi Jorleviach - I was 7 years old when I first went to a table tennis club and hit the ball! I was lucky to be coached from the very beginning so that really helped!

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 14, 2015

MJB999 said:
Hey Paul

You've reached a level where tournament conditions are (I would imagine) excellent. But what about when you were starting off in your local league? Tell us a horror story about bad lighting/cold room etc.

Also, Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan is 11 years old and has recently started beating professionals - are you slightly worried?

Thanks for your time.

Hi MJB999, the conditions are obviously much better when playing at this level but still sometimes you have to deal with lots of different tables, balls, flooring and things, even the size of the hall can really change things! I played in the local league as a very young player when I was about 8 or 9 years old and the club that we played in was actually a converted chicken hut with four tables in, but lots of fantastic players came from the club! The room would get so damp sweat in the summer that the ball would always be falling off the bat, it was almost impossible to play a topspin stroke, and the only way to dry it out would be by putting on the age old heater in the corner which blasted hot dry air out all along the room, but then that made the temperature unbearable - we were stuck really! Very typical local league venue for the UK I guess.

I'm not worried about Harimoto, he is obviously a really brilliant young player but now people know all about him they will be a little more prepared, but he had some fantastic wins and it's all credit to him. In this sport and in every sport you can't be worried about anyone, you must just play hard and try to win, whoever is at the end of the table!

MJB999 · Mar 15, 2015

Paul, thanks for the interesting anecdote. (That subject matter deserves its own thread on TTD.)

Regarding Harimoto, it's difficult to tell what level he can achieve in the future. But I would say he's destined for great things.

Thanks again for your comments and good luck with the WC in China.

tabletennisuk · Mar 15, 2015

Hi Paul, how do you manage to sort out your playing schedule? Do you often miss pro tour events due to league commitments, or do pro tour events come first when organising your schedule?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paul Drinkhall · Mar 17, 2015

tabletennisuk said:
Hi Paul, how do you manage to sort out your playing schedule? Do you often miss pro tour events due to league commitments, or do pro tour events come first when organising your schedule?

Sent from my using Tapatalk

Hi tabletennisuk - it's difficult, as I am contracted to play for my club and also it's my income at stake, as a professional table tennis player I have to commit to my club and also I want to play for my club in the games to help them win and to be there with my team mates! If you look at it like this then that has to be number 1. The Pro Tour's do not clash too much with league matches but there are some occasional clashes. They are very important to of course, you play for world ranking points, cash prize finishes and of course you want to win the title or represent yourself as well as possible. It's hard to get the balance and it means lots of travelling, lots of timezones and lots of airports. If you add on European League matches, and playing for England which is very important you can start to see how time consuming it is (but brilliant!)

ivelin888 · May 19, 2015

Hi Paul,

I need a help about choosing my playstyle! I practice close to the table, but when i'm in a match my style isn't aggressive. I do chops, blocks and forehand topspin, smash. I usually don't use backhand topspin. So, my teammates and my coach thinks about changing my style to a modern defense. But people tell that the new polly ball is disadvantage for a defenders and i'm worried if I do a mistake (the change of my style). I think I have that "natural feeling", which really helps defenders and I can chop really good. So, do I have to change my style to modern defender (which is in my blood I guess) or I have to keep practicing as an attacker, because with the new polly ball aggressive topspin players will beat me? Please help me with this decide

... I will change my rubbers and I must choose from inverted and long pimple rubber on the backhand side (FH rubber will be inverted for attacks) .

Greetings, Ivelin

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