Learning a new skill in table tennis takes time. Some skills take about a month to develop, but most take about 2-3 years to fully master. In this blog, I’m going to talk about the steps to perfection. It is vitally important to go step-by-step, even if it takes a long time. You can apply this theory to ANY stroke; however, I’m going to use the backhand loop against block as an ILLUSTRATION.
There are some short-cuts that you can do for a quick improvement in your game right now, some elements that you can improve this year, then some aspects that take 5-10 years to fully develop. In this article, I’m going to talk about mid-range improvements that you can make during the next 12 months.
After a poor performance at a tournament, many players go back to the local club and justify their play by saying, “Well, it was a learnin’ experience.” Often, when questioned what they learned, these players use very general terms like – my backhand needs work.
In order to truly turn a bad tournament into a good thing, you must learn to be specific. I know that it is painful, but do the following 4 things:
Unless you can find the root of the problem – your problem with persist and you will continue losing. I often ask players why they lost a specific match. They often respond with…
“It was a bad match.”
“I was just off.”
“I didn’t practice enough.”
“My opponent was on fire.”