Methods of Practicing - Marco Essomba

There are several commonly used table-tennis practice methods. They each have their strengths and benefits to you as a player.

This article discusses the numerous methods that exist for improving your game. This article was written to raise the awareness of the different ways that young players can make best use of their time at the club. Instead of waiting for a partner to arrive or become available there are many exercises that can be performed.

Rather than not practicing at all this is a useful method when you are without a robot or a partner. Practicing serves with a bucket of balls pays real dividends over time.  All types of players should use this method to help improve their game.

A benefit of this method is that it allows players to please themselves when they are short of a practice partner. You can do a variety of practices beyond serves though. Exercises involving footwork is one such good example. Shadow play is another but practicing serves is by far the most common use for this method. (Shadow play is a form of practice without balls or equipment where you practice AS IF you were playing for real)


[Author's Note: I used to practise at least 4 hours of serves a week; very boring but it pays in the long run]

In the absence of a coach (or finance for a coach) you might be lucky to find someone that is willing to take it in turn to block or hit for you. This person might not be in a position to offer technical advice in the same way that a coach might but nonetheless can help with consistency over time. This method can work even if the partners are of different standards. One player might be happy to act solely in a way that is helpful to the other player.

The disadvantage of this method is that if you become regular practice partners you will become used to each others strengths and weaknesses when playing games. The advantage of this method is that the familiarity with each other's game might offer freedom to try new techniques during the game.  You should always be trying to fix those areas of you game that you feel most uncomfortable with.

[Author's Note: One can minimise the disadvantages by setting different exercises and being tough on the practise partner. Instead of just feeding at a convenient place during the exercise, one should push the partner by making the placement much more difficult.]

Mechanical robots never tire. They are not perfect but they offer opportunity to increase your muscular memory for particular strokes. Robots allows static strokes, and strokes that require footwork because many can be configured to swing the ball across the width of the table, with varying degrees of speed and spin. You can set a robot to swing over the forehand area only or backhand area only or generally across the width of the table.

A good drill will always require footwork but some players make the mistake or remaining static when hitting.  A key robot disadvantage is that they cannot execute, for example, two backspin pushes to say the backhand area of the table, followed by a topspin ball to the forehand in the same way that a player could. Also robots can have settings that are appear impossible to play.

Another thing to remember is that, a robot an generate more spin than can normally be generated by any human. This is simply because of their mechanical nature.

[Author's Note: Robots are most effective for beginners.]

This method is likely to be the most rewarding practice method and is also likely to be the most common kind of practice. If you are travelling to other venues this is the most likely practice scenario. It is also the simplest. This works well when both players are around the same game standard even though that is not a requirement.

It is hoped that younger players will consider the options available to them when waiting for practice partners. There is always something useful that can be done at a table to improve your game.

Marco Essomba