Coaching Adult Learners

as a general rule in teaching older people, just assess their limitations and work the best out of what they can do.

Brs said:

Why does it have to be an adult training camp? There are a number of clubs that have summer camps that are all or mostly kids, but adults can join too. MDTTC may be the closest to you. I spent two weeks there in August 2014 and had a great time. One week I was the only grown-up (45 and the next oldest camper was 14). The other week there was another adult who came with his daughter. No big deal.

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TBH, You are one of the adults who has embraced the kind of training regimen directed towards looping juniors and has improved while doing it, partly because you are putting in the hours. Most people need more subtle methods.

Der_Echte said:

Loopadoop,

When I wrote about NL going to Gergely with OX LP on BH to let him hit hard, you have to understand the O40/O50 Korean Achuma OX Punchblocker/Hitter style of play. When they get an underspin to their BH, they punch real hard with the OX to make a fast, light topspin drive.

NL lamented not being able to hit hard on BH with LPs, the Koreans have a system for this and I jokingly recommended that equipment and style.

Carl correctly stated from his personal observations of me playing vs this style that I do very well, easily levels better, but certain LPers who can take it off the bounce to take away time, then place it well, OR who can hit medium fast deep and well placed can drop my level vs them significantly. Anyway, the ones who do that are higher level than one would credit them.

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That's not my point at all, my point is that you are taking away certain things from adults including backhand looping specially vs heavy topspin at mid distance if you give them LP, backhand looping is not about hitting the ball hard but an approach to playing. You are also taking away the banana flick. These are things that can get your rating up fast. And the idea is that LP makes their serve return better, which is true in the sense that it helps the get the ball on the table, but not true in the sense that they still need to get better at reading the spin as the servers they face get better.

It's actually not bad for someone to mess up using inverted for a long time and then switch to LP later once they understand how LP suits their game. There are many players with great forehand loops vs chop who use LP to support their style. But for someone like me who was extremely backhand oriented and whose backhand loop vs backspin and topspin was the highest level part of my game for many years, and whose forehand relatively sucked, I would not trade the purported safety of some serve return for the easy point that my backhand loop brought to my game over the years.

I've played enough pips players to know that they don't have it that much easier than I do unless they mostly face lazy servers.

TableTennisTom said:

Great discussion. I coach a lot of adults here in the UK. And there is lots of good points above, which I won't repeat, but generally agree with.

One thing I will add is this...

With the adults I coach, I put a big emphasis on the player taking ownership of his/her own development. I have some players who come to me for coaching, but do not practise in between coaching sessions. They improve a little bit. I have other players who practise a lot in between coaching sessions - and practise the things we have been working on - and they improve much more. My coaching steers a player in the right direction, but it is the frequency and quality of a player's own practice which determines how much improvement takes place.

I also try and get the player to think for himself. If a shot isn't working, why not? What can he do to fix it? If a tactic isn't working, why not? What other tactics can be used instead? Players who can think for themselves and problem-solve as they play do much better.

Finally, I always try to give praise and encouragement. I believe everyone can improve at table tennis. But they have to enjoy playing. I like to create a positive environment and leave a player feeling good about himself. If the player feels good and motivated, he is more likely to practice. If he practices more, he improves more. And then people think I'm a good coach. But really it is the player doing all the hard work. I'm just pointing him in the right direction.

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Great post!
Really good advise not only for the adult tt topic but with some slight adaptations for coaches, teachers, even professors in several applications. Actually my on record teaching philosophy has a section that contains all your major points. It’s very important not only to teach or coach but to also expose a beneficial mindset for continued growth and retention. A lot can be said on this and of course it depends on people but sometimes it’s hard to know how little people know or understand about this. That’s something I attest to from multiple perspectives. Anyway some really good foundational points.



One thing I will add is this...

With the adults I coach, I put a big emphasis on the player taking ownership of his/her own development. I have some players who come to me for coaching, but do not practise in between coaching sessions. They improve a little bit. I have other players who practise a lot in between coaching sessions - and practise the things we have been working on - and they improve much more. My coaching steers a player in the right direction, but it is the frequency and quality of a player's own practice which determines how much improvement takes place.

I also try and get the player to think for himself. If a shot isn't working, why not? What can he do to fix it? If a tactic isn't working, why not? What other tactics can be used instead? Players who can think for themselves and problem-solve as they play do much better.

Finally, I always try to give praise and encouragement. I believe everyone can improve at table tennis. But they have to enjoy playing. I like to create a positive environment and leave a player feeling good about himself. If the player feels good and motivated, he is more likely to practice. If he practices more, he improves more. And then people think I'm a good coach. But really it is the player doing all the hard work. I'm just pointing him in the right direction.[/QUOTE]

S


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So in your mind, should adults improve quicker than kids? Cause I started when I was 12 and was 1400 after 2 years and now, a year and a half later im about 1750.

Y'know if any of u are in the NY area, the Westchester Table Tennis Center (my club) has a lot of adults who play anywhere from a -35 to 2250 level. My coach, Rawle Alleyne, coaches a combination of high level juniors and senior citizen beginners. He has two somewhat different regimens for kids and adults. At the club the summer and holliday camps are a good mix of kids and adults. This one guy there who's about 30 started 2 years ago and now after zero coaching for those 2 years is like 1950. Another guy in his mid forties started in like 2010 and is now about 2250. On the other hand, there are some other adults there who get 2 lessons a week and play everyday but have stayed at the same low level for like 5 years.

Baal said:

If a player has certain technical limitations that they can never change, in competition they can learn to make what they have work. I am not ssying that no technical problems can be fixed in adults. But the solution that fixes the problem may still look a bit unorthodox and they may discover these fixes by themselves in competition.

I have a practice partner like that and he is not to be underestimated.

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Hello Baal! Do you live in Houston? I am from Houston as well. I would like to meet you.

I am pretty sure we know each other and have hit balls a few times. Are you about 2100 and originally from Kazhakstan ?