Well-Known Member
Me being a total table tennis beginner I can only point out that random or match like practice is detrimental for beginners.
This is basically how i started table tennis. Whatching a few guys playing and joining them. After 5 weeks I developed a technique that build on hitting the ball late and getting it somehow on the table. Now after getting proper training it is very hard to get rid of stupid things I taught myself by instantly doing random/match like drills. The skill ceiling is pretty low, if you don't know the proper technique in the first place. You will find a way to play the ball but it probably will not be good enough to improve above a park paddler without completely changing and relearning proper technique.
If you are not able to execute the proper technique in a controlled environment consistently you won't improve on it by having random drills. If you think learning to read a game early as a beginner and thereby never learning a proper technique is worth it then this might be your best personal opinion. I have experienced this scenario personally in the last 5 month and in hindsight I would have liked to start with a proper technique before getting used to bad habits that are hard to get rid off.
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The skill of a good coach to move a player from developing the strokes to slowly, incrementally adding small degrees of random into the training and stroke production practice so the player develops the ability to adjust to the incoming ball and maintain good form on strokes would be helpful.
You don't start out with total random drills, you need to work up to that. But the shift from just making the stroke when the ball is fed to you perfectly every time, and slowly working towards the ability to make those shots when your opponent is trying not to let you make those shots, you have to work towards developing that skill over time.
There are ways to still work on the fundamental stroke while having a small element of random involved in the drill so you have to adjust to the incoming ball. As the developing player gets better at keeping form with small amounts of randomness added, the randomness can be slowly amplified. But, the end goal is to be able to keep making good stroke production while reading where the next ball is going and adjusting to it.