Table Tennis tactics can win or lose you a match, even though you may or may not have the better technical shots. Growing up, I was unaware of how mentally tough I was and I had a craving desire towards winning which drove me through many hurdles.
The desire to win comes first:
My personal desire to win as a player faded due to many reasons, which means no matter what tactics i employ it’s very hard to win. (that’s another story). I believe its vital for each and every one of us to have or build a burning desire towards winning. Once we have that we can then implement tactics towards becoming a winner. I want to share 3 key elements which I believe can help you win more matches.
1. Talking to yourself:
We all have that voice that pops up saying “you’re going to lose this match” “don’t bottle it” that’s the voice that likes to say negative things and find excuses and reasons for us to lose.
STOP!
As soon as you hear that voice, override it and speak to yourself, internally or externally, repeating positive words and phrases such as; “this is my point” I’m capable of winning this match” etc.
2. Facing the challenge head-on:
I often hear and see players given excuses prior and after a match. “I haven’t trained this week” “my rubbers are dead” “I’ve been unwell”.
The fact of the matter is you have a match regardless, so why not face it head on? If you lose you lost with your specific circumstances and on that occasion, it wasn’t meant to be! You give yourself a greater chance of accepting your so-called issues and going into the match with what you have. if you manage to win you did it despite your issues…
Fight or lose
It’s like being thrown into three different cages with a lion.
Cage 1: You have a gun
Cage 2: You have a knife
Cage 3: Only you stand before the lion
In all three circumstances, you have no choice but to fight for survival. If you choose not to fight regardless of cage number, you will lose your life! If you choose to fight in all three cages your chances of survival are increased.
3. Tempo:
I’ll never forget watching one of the all-time greats Wang Liqin and he had a special formula which he used to control the tempo of a match.
If he won a point on his serve he would bounce the ball twice on his bat and then serve. If he lost a point he would bounce the ball 4 times!
On the return of serve, he would wipe his hand once on the side of the table and twice if he lost the point.
Now you have some insight secrets to perform regardless of the situation, go out there and perform your magic…
Written By Eli Baraty
Twitter: @elibaraty
instagram: _elibaraty
Facebook: @coachmetabletennis by Eli Baraty
W: ebattsport.com
4 Responses
excellent blog Eli.love the cage analogy. the mental and tactical side is so overlooked by players yet probably the most important.
Thank you Steve,
You’re always so kind with your words. I’ve learnt a lot from you and many other top coaches and as you say ‘Mental Apspect’ generally over looked…
Hopefully I’ll see you soon ??
I think the active positive selftalk is a crucial step to success .Braking the spiral of negative Events affecting your confidence is key to dragging you out of situations when a match tips over and everything starts to work against you.
I also thinks those rituals of Wang Liqin is fascinating .I´m always amazed to see how different the Quality of Caros Play is when MuHao demands her to not to rush her serves but breath in and out and concentrate before starting the Point.It´s two worlds really .
Learning to play a new game always seems to be a mixture of fun and frustration. When you are learning how to play ping pong, you are probably excited about the potential when it comes to playing the game itself, yet you may experience a great degree of frustration if you are trying to learn the rules.