Strategies for playing Table tennis doubles

This entry is on the appropriate footwork movement of double partners. IMHO, i believe a right hand/left hand partnership is much more easier as compared to a RH/RH combination. The footwork is much more simple. However, it is just my personal opinion. In my training days, my coach has taught us the basic footwork required in a doubles match. For a RH/LH combination, it is usually something like the diagram below. It is just a straight forward in and out footwork.

For a RH/RH combination, usually, players are required to run in circles as they tend to impede one another's movements. (shown below)

Strategies for a penholder player

I think many will not disagree that people who adopt the shakehand method will have more advantages compared to those using the penholder method. Being a penholder myself, i have to adapt my game to suit my own style of play. As i'm usually impeded by my backhand, i tend to take more risks and be more aggressive in my play.

The way i position myself when receiving services are also slightly different from most people. As i am a more aggressive kind of player, i tend to stand slightly away from the table with about 70% of my body outside the table. I call it the 70/30 position. This is a very offensive strategy as you have to be prepared to attack the ball at all times. It works for me as i am a more aggressive player by nature and i love to attack the ball. In addition, i seem to have more "ball sense" when it comes to my forehand.

However, the game has evolved a lot in recent years. Many penholders like Wang hao of China have taken to using the backhand backflip. The slight advantage that shakehand holders have enjoyed over the years have narrowed significantly. However for those penholders who are not that comfortable with using this technique might consider trying my 70/30 method. If it works for me, it could very well work for you as well!

Table tennis round-up

Burnham & District Table Tennis League The handicap knockout cup final played last week at Maldon table tennis club proved to be a cracking match.

Division three side West Maldon C (Rob Sach +9, Tim Stubbings +11 and Bradley Smith +15) met Woodham A (Jean Chasmer -6, Peter Chasmer -5 and Stefan Oliverio +9) which was a mix of players from divisions one and three, unfortunately for Woodham Ev Lucas who had played in every round until the final was unavailable. West Maldon got off to a good start when Rob Sach and Bradley Smith took the first doubles two sets to one despite only winning three points in the first set against Peter Chasmer and Stefan Oliverio. Jean Chasmer then levelled things up as she just edged out Tim Stubbings 21-17,10-21,22-20, Peter and Stefan then both won their singles and when Peter and Jean beat Rob and Tim 21-19,22-20 in the next doubles things looked bleak for West Maldon at 1-4 down and Woodham just needing one more success for the win. The match looked to be all over when in the next singles Stefan Oliverio was ahead 15-8 in the deciding set against Tim Stubbings but then Tim staged a magnificent comeback to win the set 21-19. No doubt encouraged by that win Rob Sach recorded a three set win over Jean Chasmer to bring the match score to 4-3 to Woodham. The last singles saw Peter Chasmer having the daunting task of facing a 20 point deficit against the hard hitting Bradley Smith, in a superb demonstration of patient handicap play Peter returned virtually everything Bradley threw at him and played as close to an error free game as you are ever likely to see making just two unforced errors in three sets of table tennis to win 21-19, 10-21, 22-20 to seal the cup for Woodham.

The final major issue in the league was settled when Fambridge A made sure of the runners-up spot in division one by beating Stow Maries A 10-0 in their final fixture to just edge out Maldon A whose challenge suffered from an inability to consistently put out a strong side.

Table Tennis - Record setter in book bind

02.05.2008
By Tim Eves Kevin Schick

Kevin Schick has now spent 20 years waiting for the payback. Payback in the form of international recognition.

After hitting a table tennis ball for 10 hours, two minutes and 18 seconds non-stop he had already proved he was a patient man. But the 20-year wait to be acknowledged for that effort in that ultimate record reference bible, The Guinness Book of Records, has finally worn thin.
Thanks to a confusing series of miscommunications, Schick and his marathon table tennis partner, Barry Griffiths, are still waiting for Guinness Book of Records acknowledgement of their feat.

"All I want is some sort of response or reply, some sort of recognition for this record," Schick said.

Schick's frustrations began in 1988, when he and playing partner Griffiths took part in a "ping-pong-a-thon" as a fundraiser on Auckland's North Shore.

Watched by an audience Schick says was 200-strong, they continued the same table tennis rally for just over 10 hours.

They then sent evidence of their impressive feat to the Guinness Book of Records publishers for confirmation.

They received a reply saying that "due to financial difficulties Guinness Book of Records had decided not the publish some world records which they had done in the past.

"Unfortunately, the longest rally in table tennis was one of those".
Schick grudgingly accepted the reply.

That was until he picked up the latest version of the book of records and saw an old record for a continuous table tennis rally acknowledged in the book.
Even worse, the record was nowhere near as long as his.

"I saw it and thought `what's going on, where did our record go. Now, in 2006 they are publishing the longest rally in table tennis again. What is the story'," he said.
Schick wrote a letter asking for some explanation, telling the publishers that both the 2006 and 2007 editions were incorrect.

But his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

"I am not sure what to do, or how to contact these people," he said.
Schick had set two former world records for table tennis rallies, both of those set in Whangarei with John Dufty in 1976 and 1977.

That has only added to his frustration.

"You can't just get records, or have records set, and publish some and not others - surely," Schick said.

Officials from the book of records had yet to reply to queries.

Enrique Iglesias - Ping Pong song

Who says ping pong and girls cannot mix are damn wrong.....

The history of table tennis

Like many other sports, table tennis began as a mild social diversion. Descending, along with lawn tennis and badminton, from the ancient medieval game of tennis. It was popular in England in the second half of the nineteenth century under its present name and various trade names such as Gossima and Whiff-Whaff. After the name Ping-Pong (an imitation of the sound made by the ball striking the table and the vellum bats that were used) was introduced by J. Jaques & Son, the game became a fashionable craze. There are many contemporary references to it and illustrations of it being played, usually in domestic surroundings.

By the early years of this century, Ping-Pong had already acquired some of its present day complexities, though it was still seen by many as an after -dinner amusement rather than a sport. An account published in 1903 found it necessary to warn against wearing a dress suit and stiff shirt-or, for ladies, a white satin gown-but went on to give detailed technical advice about pimpled rubber, the penholder grip and tactics.

The game was popular in Central Europe in 1905-10, and even before this is a modified version had been introduced to Japan , where it later spread to China and Korea.
After a period when it had dropped out of favor in Europe, the game was revived in England and Wales in the early twenties. by that time 'Ping-Pong' had been registered as a trademark, so the earlier name of table tennis was re-introduced. National associations were formed and standardization of the rules began, both in Europe and the Far East.

Then, over the next sixty years, table tennis developed into a major worldwide sport, played by perhaps thirty million competitive players and by uncountable millions who play less seriously. However, the game itself has not changed in essence since its earliest days, though it is faster, more subtle and more demanding than it was even only twenty years ago. a constant concern of the ITTF has always been to insure that table tennis remains a contest of human skills and that technological developments which add a new factor to the game do not give too great an advantage to the players who have the first opportunity of making use of them. Thus, equipment specifications are carefully laid down, and rigorously enforced.

Other changes-a lowering of the net, a rule to avoid protracted games between defensive players, and rules preventing excessive advantage being gained by the server-were introduced in the thirties and further minor changes are made from time to time. Changes to the rules of the sport can only be made only at the ITTF's Biennial General Meeting, and are never made without the agreement of a substantial majority of the hundred or so member Associations represented at the BGM, all of whom have an equal vote.

Modern table tennis at national and international level is a rigorous as any sport in its demands for the highest degree of physical fitness and mental concentration, attained only by arduous training to develop natural skill. Fred Perry, World Men's Singles Table Tennis Champion in 1928-29, later achieved even greater fame at Wimbledon; perhaps it would not be quite true to say that he moved to the larger court when his play became too slow for the table, but it is certainly true that no sport requires faster reactions and more delicate muscular co-ordination than table tennis.

Table tennis is a Losers game

Why do i say that table tennis is a loser's game? I have actually seen and learned it through experience. Ever since i started playing at the age of 7, i have learned that in order to win, you don't necessary need to conjure beautiful shots; you just need to make less mistakes than your opponents.

I am not saying that it applies at international level. However, if you are representing your school or playing recreational sports, chances are this loser's game will apply to you. Back in my secondary school days, my coach used to organise internal competitions for us and he made us sit through each individual match to analyse our individual weaknesses and strength. Some of us will be appointed to record down and tabulate the mistakes that we've made during the match. After which, we would have our AAR (after action review) and individual evaluation.

From these experiences, we can clearly see that the main cause of failure is more often than not unforced errors and mistakes. Even in tennis, unforced errors are computed during each competitive match. This clearly shows that in order to consistently win matches, it is imperative to keep your game as simple as possible to avoid blatant errors. Making a beautiful and risky shot is good for the ego but bad for the game. Winning matches are the ultimate goal, not making spectacular shots. A champion is measured by his achievements.

In order to improve your game, you might want to appoint a friend to pinpoint your most common mistakes that plagued your game. By rectifying this error, you will most definitely come out of it a much better and mature table tennis player. Try it and see for yourself the positives of such training!!!