Training stretegies

[kotokod89]

Hi all,
I wanted to see how everyone else structures their training routines. Clearly there are many different elements/techniques to table tennis and the harmonious blending of all these individual techniques is what creates a well rounded/strong player.

My question is, do you all train/focus on a single technique in a session in an effort to perfect it?

Or is it more of a spread of techniques to learn all a little and improve on all the elements slightly, but at the same time?

 

[SleepyMaster]

There is too much of an differences in training program that depending on your level and training goals. My goal is to became 2100-2200 player even that I started playing table tennis seriously at age of 32

I do three hours training sessions almost every day, sometimes two times a day. Half of the training (or sometimes two hours) is exercise with coach or multiball - another half is sparring matches. Besides that I do serving practice at home up to three-four times a week. I also do strength training up to 3-4 times a week.

Then I play a tourney at Sunday and the next training week would be accorded to the problems that I had (it can be pips player) or some serve receive errors during the tourney that I need to focus on. Sometimes it’s only coach decides what part we will work on this week - sometimes we thinking about it together.

 

[turbozed]

There is too much of an differences in training program that depending on your level and training goals. My goal is to became 2100-2200 player even that I started playing table tennis seriously at age of 32

I do three hours training sessions almost every day, sometimes two times a day. Half of the training (or sometimes two hours) is exercise with coach or multiball - another half is sparring matches. Besides that I do serving practice at home up to three-four times a week. I also do strength training up to 3-4 times a week.

Then I play a tourney at Sunday and the next training week would be accorded to the problems that I had (it can be pips player) or some serve receive errors during the tourney that I need to focus on. Sometimes it’s only coach decides what part we will work on this week - sometimes we thinking about it together.

That's a helluva training program. Is your body capable of all that training volume or are you implementing some sort of recovery protocols to offset the fatigue?

 

[SleepyMaster]

That's a helluva training program. Is your body capable of all that training volume or are you implementing some sort of recovery protocols to offset the fatigue?

I used to train like that most part of my life but it was boxing/wrestling/mma/hardcore gym. Due to the injuries that I gain from all of those decades of training I can’t do it anymore because injuries just get worsen - I’m getting older and recovery time from them became much longer then it was in my 20s.

Table tennis is the sport were I still can do a respectable amount of work, but without worsening my injured body.

I didn’t do some kind of specific stuff for recovery like ice baths/cryotherapy sauna or things like that. But I do full body massage sessions (two times a week), eating like a pro athlete for 15+ years and also I do a lot of stretching always before and after training sessions.

But the most important thing is to listening to my body - if I starting to feeling fatigued or parts of my body that are injured are starting to hurt more I usually do a rest day or a two.

 

[dingyibvs]

Hi all,
I wanted to see how everyone else structures their training routines. Clearly there are many different elements/techniques to table tennis and the harmonious blending of all these individual techniques is what creates a well rounded/strong player.

My question is, do you all train/focus on a single technique in a session in an effort to perfect it?

Or is it more of a spread of techniques to learn all a little and improve on all the elements slightly, but at the same time?

You should train multiple techniques as they often use different body parts. Training just one technique will cause you to fatigue quickly. TT requires a lot of precision, and if the muscles you're using are tired then you'll lose your precision and more training will not result in any improvement as you lose form and your timing is thrown off.

IMO, if you're a lower level player, your training should have service, receive, FH, and BH built in for every session. You can probably mix in something specific to your session, but it's fine if that's all you do in a session. If you have ready access to a table (e.g. at home) then you can work on services yourself or in addition to your regular sessions.

 

[ricsco]

Hi all,
I wanted to see how everyone else structures their training routines. Clearly there are many different elements/techniques to table tennis and the harmonious blending of all these individual techniques is what creates a well rounded/strong player.

My question is, do you all train/focus on a single technique in a session in an effort to perfect it?

Or is it more of a spread of techniques to learn all a little and improve on all the elements slightly, but at the same time?

Hello kotokod89:
It is difficult to answer in general, because training methods is depending on playing level, age, health condition they are all different factors that depend on the player to player.

So it could be better to specify. Here my two cents answer:
I am 61, I play in local regional tournament 5th category D serie (in italy beginner athletes start from 6th category, best italian pro are first category and play A1 series so you understand). In my club players range from D series to A2 series (semipro of second and first category). Obviously D series and A2 series train different, even if the coaches are almost the same.
What I do and What I would do:
What I do:
2 hours session for week in the club with athlets of the same level.
there’s a coach or trainer supervising the training in a big hall, plenty of players gathered all together, and I start straight to fight into forehand and backhand drills at full speed: FH to FH, BH to BH, 2BH, FH to the center and FH wide, and other stuff like these. Every 20 minutes I shift training partner.

Probably great scenario for younger players, not so much for the older ones (everything is useful, don’t get me wrong, but at a certain age, the intervals, timing, and breaks between exercises become crucial!).

Short or long serves (paying little attention to important details like spin amount and placement, “Come on, quick, time is running out!”, “But I’m old, let me breathe a bit”, “Then change sport!”), long push, forehand and backhand open-ups.

BUM, BUM, BUM, BUM....!

Seldom I am involved to practise a multiball of flicks or topspin openup on backspin push.

After making you jump around the table like a grasshopper in the first 20 minutes, my knee starts complaining, and I haven’t even started doing a proper half-long serve or a good topspin openup. We’ve got two hours of training, with the last 20 minutes dedicated to a match, but at that time I am exhausted and everything hurts, so I don’t perform at my best in the match.

Result: frustration. You might develop a good attack and defense, “Wow, I run great drills, but in matches I make so many mistakes.”

What I would like to do and actually do in two/four hours of dedicated training along with a small group of athletes of my level in a different private session in another club:
Phase zero) 5 minutes of body warm-up, a short jog, side steps all the essential stuff in a nut to avoid possible injures
Phase 1) Service and service return, Specific drills for 20 minutes
Phase 2) Pushes (short- long pushes spin and no-spin) 10 minutes
Phase 3) Open ups drills or multiball, transition from push to attack: MOST IMPORTANT FOR ME: (30 minutes)
Phase 4) Attack-Counter Attack- Defense drills, 30 minutes, also very important
Phase 5) Smash against lob and push 5 minutes, short but effective!
Match: just the time left, about half an hour, with matches sometimes dedicated and focused on specific goals
For example: forehand attack (topspin/smash) against backhand defense (block)
Stretching: very important (I try to do it every day at home for at least half an hour in the morning or evening)
Of course we are used to shift roles and sometime we invite other athlets to train and play with us from other clubs in the area.

Are you asking me why I cannot do what I would like to do in my club? Answer: Coaches prefer to invest their precious time to train better younger athlets. Coaches are not sensible to take into account age differences and propose different training strategies according to specific, personal training needs.

Don't misunderstand me. I don' want to blame my coaches, it is a sort of natural selection: only stronger and youngers go ahead and are selected for better training.
This is life in 99% of the clubs. I accept this rule two hours a week, but in the other two I train as I wish!
The evidence is that for me it is better to train myself my way instead of the other way.

I am also a basic coach tabletennis, and when I train singles or group of amateurs I try to put practice my training methods.
Guess what amateurs, or low level category athlets say it is better? This shows that paying attention to personal needs and customizing workouts and training is highly appreciated.

I am a new member of this forum and I also started a similar thread here:
The five phases of a match and how do you train?

If you are interested on this topic, please answer here and there.
Thank you for your attention.
Riccardo, Italy