MHTT World Champs Buildup Diary: Two Weeks to Go!

Just two weeks left till I leave to New Zealand before heading for the World Champs in Malaysia. Still enough time to make some last minute improvements. Overall things have been going reasonably well. I've played 11 matches in the last 3 weeks of the league and won 10, losing the 11th match 3-2 (against a player I beat 3-2 the previous week). My footwork for playing forehands has been much better in matches and I am committing to playing it more so than my backhand which had become my default response.

Table Tennis World Team Championships 2016 Kuala Lumpur

8 Tips on Expanding Your Table Tennis Tactics Against Choppers

Playing defensive players is often a thorn in the side of many players, even if they have well developed skills and perform well against offensive players. Most players don't have as many opportunities to practice with defensive players or play matches with them and as a result lack the experience to form good tactics in matches. I always find with my students, particularly younger kids that even if their game is improving a lot they can have trouble with different rubbers or slower styles. Here are 8 simple tips on different tactics which can be useful against defensive players, more specifically choppers. See more from my Coaching Blog.

What are the Goals of Defensive Players?

Defensive players are looking to develop ways of playing less orthodox balls or achieve a lot of variation and consistency. Why? Forcing errors is the most probable outcome which results in them winning a point. They want you to misread the spin, make timing errors, rush or be indecisive and they have weapons to achieve the cause. They are also able to take a long period of time to setup for attacking balls by waiting for the opportune moment where they can get into position.

Tips for Beating Choppers