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In the following I'd like to give an overview over error correction techniques in table tennis. The focus is the so called tactile error correction where the player gets an direct feedback if he makes an exact stroke and is sometimes even forced to make a correct movement by using additional restrictions. This is not about verbal correction nor correction by leading the players hand etc..
This post is based on this german article and is more or less a summary of it for our non german table tennis friends. Therefore all credit goes to the original authors Frank Fuerste and Charly Lehmann. If you can't imagine the description take a look at the german original which includes pictures, but I wanted to keep it clean and simple here.
I use this techniques to a great extend and with great success, many players I couldn't "reach" verbal nor by showing / leading the movement could abandon their mistakes after a really short period of time. Some techniques solve many mistakes at once and I didn't add them for another error field if they are already mentioned.
The following exercises primarily focus on the execution of an early forehand and backhand topspin stroke but you can easily adapt the principle of a feedback point at a desired place to other motions e.g. the forehand push where you want the right foot to be infront and slightly under the table.
Pay attention that your players don't use their real bat for this, there's a high probability that they will damage it.
Additionally the coach or an advanced player should feed the balls during this exercises.
I hope you and your players can benefit from them and would appreciate your feedback and would like to hear your methods for the tactile error correction.
PS Sorry in advance for a maybe inaccurate english description or wrong specific vocab e.g. pylons,dumbbells,box but I hope you can still grasp it
.
Legs
Begin of the stroke
Wrist / Contact point
End point
This post is based on this german article and is more or less a summary of it for our non german table tennis friends. Therefore all credit goes to the original authors Frank Fuerste and Charly Lehmann. If you can't imagine the description take a look at the german original which includes pictures, but I wanted to keep it clean and simple here.
I use this techniques to a great extend and with great success, many players I couldn't "reach" verbal nor by showing / leading the movement could abandon their mistakes after a really short period of time. Some techniques solve many mistakes at once and I didn't add them for another error field if they are already mentioned.
The following exercises primarily focus on the execution of an early forehand and backhand topspin stroke but you can easily adapt the principle of a feedback point at a desired place to other motions e.g. the forehand push where you want the right foot to be infront and slightly under the table.
Pay attention that your players don't use their real bat for this, there's a high probability that they will damage it.
Additionally the coach or an advanced player should feed the balls during this exercises.
I hope you and your players can benefit from them and would appreciate your feedback and would like to hear your methods for the tactile error correction.
PS Sorry in advance for a maybe inaccurate english description or wrong specific vocab e.g. pylons,dumbbells,box but I hope you can still grasp it
.Legs
| Error | Correction method |
| not bend | use a little stool and tip it to the table with a 45° angle and the soft side pointing to the player, he has to touch it with his knees (or lean towards it) during the movement and should have a lifted heel to force a bend to the knees |
| wrong foot placement | let the player play inside a box segment used by gymnastics slightly open to the forehand side to force hip and shoulder rotation and prevent forward or backward foot motions (ofc this is for a forhand topspin motion) |
| no weight transfer | use a little stool and let the player play the strokes while having the opposite leg on it (for a righty left leg during a FH topspin) |
| weight no on the ball of the foot | turn around a bench and let the player execute a stroke on it ( away from the table to prevent injuries ) |
Begin of the stroke
| Error | Correction method |
| too much backswing | pylon with pole behind the player at the appropriate position, he must not touch it during the backswing |
| backswing starts too low | obstruct the space you want to avoid by using stools up to table height (ofc not for a late topspin etc.) |
| swing too close to the body | use a table tennis barrier with the proper distance to the player and angular to the table in a way such that the player can make a FH stroke behind it / along it to get a feeling for the right distance |
| errant movements e.g. a wildly swinging wrist ending infront | let the player execute controlled swings with weights e.g. dumbbells or even just the slices |
Wrist / Contact point
| Error | Correction method |
| missing wrist acceleration especially at BH | use frisbees, especially usefull for showing zjk backhand with inward shoulder rotation with following explosive release outwards (see zjk backhand pictures from TTW for further explanation) |
| no tangential contact point | use 2 benches and lean them to a wall so that a ball can roll upwards between them or use a common rotation wheel |
| wrong contact point | construct a table tennis rod by connecting a stick to a string and then connect the ball to the string, enables you to "freeze" the moment of contact and explain it better - simple version: just use your hand |
End point
| Error | Correction method |
| stroke ends at the wrong position | let the player wear a baseball cap and at the end of the stroke he has to touch the front of it with his forearm Important: Let the player swing above the head and don't hit the cap with wrist or bat if he don't want to knock out himself. Might also prevent some upper eye cuts .for a BH version hold something appropriate (e.g. foam) at the wished end point |
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