Which End of the spectrum are you

[Shuki]

In my eyes there are two extreme ends of the spectrum.

End #1 = The only games player
End #2 = The only Drills player

For a long while I was on the severe side of End #1. I would only play games because i didn't want to waste a higher level players time with me constantly missing the table and wanted to let them get it over with as quickly as possible.

I have a friend about the same level as me with the same coach, who had only done drills for the majority of their time. This caused this player to not have very good touch and struggle reading serves and returning them with a quality ball.


My coaches view on the subject: She says my friend has better fundamentals but this causes him to struggle to put his drills in games since he never played enough of them. She says whenever I learn a stroke, it's almost immediately implemented into my games because I had always gone into games and have a lot more in game experience.

It seems to me that there ends up being a middle point though as we ended up getting to the same levelish area even though we struggled with different parts of the game. For me learning the right stroke was harder but once i got it, it was in my game immediately. For him he learned the right stroke easily but couldn't put it in games. But now we're about even with drills AND games.


Whenever a new player starts playing I always suggest to them to start with just drills until they have their strokes down because I think it's easier to develop the correct stroke right away than to change their stroke after doing it wrong for a while.


What are your thoughts on these comments? What end of the spectrum are you?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Well, I definitely do more drills than games. But, a lot of the drills I do are game simulation drills. So you can also do drills that end up helping you develop actual game skills.

Now I definitely am good at a lot of different kinds of drills. Like, the last time I got to hit with Michael Landers before he went to start training for the Olympic trials for North America, he did a 3 point multi-ball drill with me where he was feeding me backspin to FH, Middle, then BH and I was taking all the balls with my FH. He did three buckets without stopping trying to get me to feel the pain. LOL. But my percentage of balls on the table was extremely high even in a crazy drill like that. And he kept giving me a lot of half long ones that I had do move in and loop over the table. Or, if I have someone who can block solidly, I can loop till the cows come home.

But I don't really do too much of that kind of drill. Game simulation drills are great. So many different versions.

And, here, this is my favorite video for explaining why I like drills that incorporate the random element so much. I know, I have posted this video so many different times. But it really explains why you want to move your drills and training towards incorporating the random element.

Really watch the video. Watch it twice. More. It will help you come up with creative solutions for doing drills while actually also training game skills.

But I would say I do about 80% drills and 40% matches.....uh, wait, that adds up to 120%..... Okay 67% drills and 33% matches. But I am still training the thinking, planning and responding elements of match play in my drills.

Plus, one of my training partners is awesome. He is like an accidental random machine. I am super consistent. He is the exact opposite. The ball goes everywhere. I have no idea where the next shot is going because it usually doesn't go where he intends it to. Funny thing is, he is still about the same level as me. The balls go on the table. They are powerful. He just isn't hitting it where he thought he was. And the spin is always different so I really have to watch his racket for the accidental dead balls when he meant to loop. It has helped me get so much better at adjusting to the random element.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[Inkognito]

Drills all the way (mostly irregular ones), until one week before a competition or a league weekend, where I change over to more games and matches

 

[Ilia Minkin]

I am 90% drills, 10% games. My observation is that the lower the level of a player, the more likely they spend most of the time playing games (though not the other way round, of course). So if you're at a beginner/intermediate level and want to improve, it can be really difficult to find a training partner that wants to play drills.

 

[Pnachtwey]

I am in the middle.
When I am with the coach I must challenge him to handicap games otherwise he tends to screw around and tries to toy with me and isn't serious. He must be serious with the handicap games or he will lose.

I have two favorite drills. One is the third ball attack drill and the other is the random drill where the coach can hit the ball anywhere just like in a game. We have fun with the random drill because I get my licks in too. It is more like a game.
When I play at my business we often do 2 and 2s where we just take turns serving two balls and playing like in a game but not worrying too much about the score. I give us a chance to try things we wouldn't do in a match.

 

[varik]

I’m at the 80% End #1 and 20% End #2.
I have absolute conscience that it should be 40%/60%, and due to my consistency problems at the moment it would be better if it was 90% at End #2 at least for a couple of months, but that is a issue for another thread that its open.

In Portugal, ate least where i live, it’s difficult to get a coach if you are over the 12-14 year old barrier, and the ones you might get are a little overpriced for the economics of the country at the moment.

For me, as a corporate team player, it’s hard to get a partner that allows me to evolve a practice some more advanced drills. FH – FH | BH –BH | FH-BH drills are doable with the partners that I have, but most of the time are 10-12 ball rallies what is kind of short.
The only 1 or 2 guys that might endure more advance drills, have schedule problems, the lunch time hours are the ones they can afford, but that means we have to choose eat vs training.

The points above make me a 80% End #1 player .

 

[ajtatosmano2]

My training looks like this: 10-15 minute regular drill (push-push ,FH-FH, BH-BH, then loops)
30-45 minute complex drills (eg: bh-middle-bh-fh-bh-middle-),
45-60 minute fast drills with some random element (e.g: you do falkenberg drill, but sometimes you get a ball to the FH, or you do the drill 3x times and then play like it would be a match situation)
30 minute match play
physical training

 

[darnner123]

What are your thoughts on these comments? What end of the spectrum are you?

uhm idk, u always do both in the first place?
find a training buddy