Newgy’s Blog

Sometimes table tennis players will work really hard over the summer, training for many hours each day. At the end of the summer, they play a table tennis tournament and are very disappointed with their results. They might have spent thousands of dollars traveling to China, hiring professional table tennis coaches, and giving great effort, but still they didn’t have the expected results.

Yet other times, players will take a break from table tennis for a few weeks and practice very little. Without expecting much from their first tournament of the season, these players are sometimes surprised with amazing results!

So, why does this happen to so many players?

Actually, I think that there are several possible reasons.

1. Sometimes players who aren’t expecting much are able to play worry-free, relaxed without effort. While others who have trained hard, put too many unnecessary expectations on themselves and the pressure hurts their performance.

2. Sometimes players who are training hard every day are making positive changes to their games – new strokes, new serves, and new strategies. Before these players can properly implement their new weapons, they first must play several practice matches and tournaments before perfecting these new elements. On the other hand, players who haven’t been practicing much might not be so worried about the exact technique used.

3. Sometimes game styles have a huge impact into the performance of many players. If these players are matched up against ideal styles, they can play well. However, if they are matched up against difficult styles, these players may play poorly. For example, if a group of players practice speed work for six hours per day in China, they might have difficulty playing slow blockers or choppers.

Regardless of the outcome, these players must remember that practice is a necessary element to long-term major improvement. Just because they had one great performance after a four-week vacation, does NOT mean they will continue to have great tournaments without practice. Consistent practice, while making positive changes, with the help from a table tennis coach is the best way to improve long term.

Samson Dubina

The SMC Woodbury Table Tennis Club is the premier place to play and train on Long Island, New York. It features 8 new ping-pong tables in a 7500 square feet air conditioned facility.

Table tennis coaching is available with the club’s coach Sameh Awadallah. Sameh was a top ranked professional table tennis player and national team member in Egypt before moving to the USA five years ago. He coaches all levels from beginner to advanced. He is known for having “the best backhand in America.”

The club is open for League Night on Tuesdays and for Open Play on Fridays.

SMC Woodbury is hosting a table tennis clinic on August 29-30 with pro table tennis players/coaches Samson Dubina and Sameh Awadallah. The clinic will be geared toward intermediate and advanced level players.

To learn more about this table tennis club, visit www.woodburytabletennis.com.

Most club table tennis players can’t train 40 hours per week due to work, school, family commitments and just life in general. However, most players can dedicate around 10 hours per week to improve their table tennis skills. For my training students, I ask them to work hard to produce the best possible 10 hours that they can do. I ask them to do 4 hours of table tennis matches, 1 hour of serving practice, 1 hour of physical training, 1 hour of video analysis, and 3 hours of training with the Newgy Robo-Pong 2050 table tennis robot.

Playing matches against various playing styles is an important part of a weekly training program because it “tests” your table tennis skills. You should be able to properly regulate WHAT to practice based on how you perform in practice matches.

Serving practice is one of the fastest ways to improve. If you can score 2-3 more points each game, that is a major improvement. Even if you can’t win the point outright, a good serve should set you up for the next ball. When serving, focus on keeping the ball low, with good spin variation, and good placement variation. Try to develop a very similar motion while giving slight changes in the spin – heavy sidespin, sidespin backspin, no spin, and sidespin topspin.

Physical training is a vital aspect that every table tennis player needs to work on to move to the elite level. At your current level, physical training might not seem very important. However, at the elite level, it is critical. I would recommend focusing mainly on speed and flexibility exercises for the legs and core. Top table tennis players say that 70-80% of their looping power comes from the legs and core (not the arm).

Video analysis is the most neglected aspect of table tennis training in the US. Without visualization of your strengths and weaknesses on a weekly basis, you are probably training incorrectly. Record at least one session per week and take some time to watch it slowly while taking notes. Ask a friend or coach to watch it with your and take a somewhat critical approach to analyzing your game.

Table tennis robot training has helped me tremendously and I’m sure that it will help you too. Instead of thinking about the score, you can focus on the areas of your game that really need to improve. You can focus on making changes to your footwork, short game, blocking, looping, smashing, chopping, and serve return. Start the drill very slowly with +50% wait adjust so that you can perform them correctly. As you become more consistent at that speed, slowly decrease the time between balls by 10%.

Here is a sample weekly table tennis training program from one of my students:

Monday: Robot (1 hour) and Physical Training (30 min)

Tuesday: Club (2 hours)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Club (2 hours) and video analysis (1 hour)

Friday: Robot (1 hour) and serving (1 hour)

Saturday: Robot (1 hour) and Physical Training (30 min)

Sunday: Rest

Samson Dubina

Every table tennis player should strive for dexterity. This is a skill that some players are naturally more gifted with and some players are not. The good news is that it can be trained as well. So what is dexterity?

Dictionary Definition of “Dexterity”

dex·ter·i·ty

noun \dek-ˈster-ə-tē, -ˈste-rə-\

: the ability to use your hands skillfully

: the ability to easily move in a way that is graceful

: clever skill : the ability to think and act quickly and cleverly

In regards to table tennis, dexterity can mean several different things. It can mean…

1. Having the ability to learn a new stroke

2. Having the ability to relax even while swinging hard

3. Having the ability to be extremely precise and accurate

4. Having the ability to put impart speed and spin on the ball with very little effort

5. Having the ability to adjust the stroke for various types of balls

I will focus on the fifth type of dexterity in table tennis.

Dexterity is the ability to adjust to various aspects of the ping pong ball – adjust to the speed of the ball, adjust to the placement of the ball, adjust to the depth of the ball, adjust to the height of the ball and adjust to the spin on the ball. I will use the forehand loop as my example.

In order to develop more dexterity in your forehand loop, you must be able to adjust your swing based on the different speeds of the incoming balls. Ask your table tennis training partner to block to your forehand and vary the speed of the block – sometimes slightly harder and sometimes slightly slower. Keep your racket in front and backswing once you see the approaching ball. If the ball is blocked quickly, then shorten your loop while still generating a lot of spin. Always keep your weight leaning forward and contact the ball in front of your body.

In order to develop more dexterity in your forehand loop, you must be able to adjust your swing based on the placement of the incoming balls. Ask your training partner to move the ball around in the forehand 50% of the ping pong table. Watch your opponent’s racket and adjust your feet into position before swinging. Once your feet are set, then take a swing. If you are in good position, loop slightly harder with a longer swing. If you are off-balance and forced to reach or lean for the ball, shorten your swing, focus on control, brush the ball with spin, then get in better position for the next loop.

In order to develop more dexterity in your forehand loop, you must be able to adjust your swing based on the depth of the incoming balls. For this exercise, I would recommend starting very slowly. Set up your Newgy Robo-Pong table tennis robot to throw the ball once every 3 seconds or have your training partner feed multiball. If the ball is slow and lands near the net, move both feet forward and loop near the table. If the ball is deep near the end line, then move back slightly and loop the deep ball. When moving forward (for right-handed table tennis players), step with your right foot then the left foot. When moving backward, step with the left foot then the right foot. Both feet actually move simultaneously, however, the outside foot always initiates the movement. When moving in-and-out, make sure to stay with your weight leaning forward. Focus on moving your feet very fast while looping with control.

In order to develop more dexterity in your forehand loop, you must be able to adjust your swing based on the height of the incoming balls. Ask your training partner to adjust his block sometimes higher and sometimes lower. Keep your racket in front of your body and take your backswing once you see the height of the incoming ball. For the forehand loop against topspin, try to start your swing directly behind the ball and loop forward with spin. If the ball is higher, then start your racket higher. If your racket is lower, then start your racket lower.

In order to develop more dexterity in your forehand loop, you must be able to adjust your swing based on the various spins of the incoming balls. Ask your training partner to vary the spin on his block, sometimes he should block normal with slight topspin, sometimes he should spin over the ball with more topspin and sometimes he should chop-block. If he adds topspin, the ball will jump up as it contacts your side of the table. If he performs a chop-block, the ball with slow down as it contacts your side of the table. Adjust your racket height and body position to the incoming ball. This is the most challenging of all the exercises. Don’t be discouraged if it takes several months to perfect this aspect of dexterity.

Every table tennis player should strive for dexterity. I am convinced that dexterity should be trained. In your training sessions, you should make it just as challenging as or more challenging than an actual game. Be ready to adjust for various speeds, placements, depths, heights, and spins and you will be on your way to success!

Samson Dubina