Ten Common Table Tennis Mistakes

I have put up here the 10 most common pitfalls made by players. As a coach and player myself you would easily notice these errors to be very common to most beginners and even to some intermediate players.

1. Grip

Getting the correct grip is one of the most common mistakes made by players especially beginners. An incorrect grip impairs your chances of playing the right stroke and use of wrist and bat arm. Master the basic and stick with the conventional Table Tennis Grip.

Sir Philip Uy using his deadly penhold grip

2. Don’t Just Push It – Stroke It

Do you still remember your first competition? This common mistakes tends to happen to new players that just beginning to compete. They try to steer the ball and control it instead of stroking it and hitting opportunity shots. Trying to get the ball over the net instead of winning the point with the stroke he practiced for many hours. This seems to be the default move when a player becomes too nervous to even move. Just relax, think and get the shot. 

3. Whacking Frenzy

This is the exact opposite of  No. 2. The other side of guiding the ball is when players try to win points by whacking the ball like hell and hoping that each shot will win him/her points. The result will be the same though – you will make lots of mistakes! For each stroke, there is maximum amount of speed that you can use or the ball won’t land on the other side of the table on your advantage. Don’t try to hit too hard and vary the speed just right for you to win the point. A combination of accuracy and power is always best.

4. Move It – Don’t Reach It

Most of the beginners get stuck on the same level because of this very common error – trying to reach the ball instead of moving to it. Some players hate moving their feet – so they stretch and lean reaching the ball. This won’t allow full range of motion and often the right swing, and bat angle is sacrificed. And still some move too much that they go to the ball too close cramping their stroke. So, next time try moving your feet so you can hit the ball at your best range. 

 5. The DIY (Do it yourself) Approach

Trying to learn table tennis all by yourself can be very disastrous when you finally realize that you have acquired the wrong habits. Many player coming in to clubs realizing this, spend hundreds of hours trying to get rid of it. If you are thinking of just having fun playing table tennis at home it's always best to get a tip or two from a table tennis coach that will teach you learn the basics. This way if you then decide to get serious you will save a lot of time in the future. 

6. Too Much Help

When you get inside the heart of table tennis you will earn lots of friends and eventually get a lot of tips from players and coaches and fellow enthusiasts. But always remember to use tips and advices sparingly and use a lot of common sense as every insight would still vary based on your playing level and style. Not every morsel of principle you will hear will suit your play. And most of the times you will get confused easily because of conflicting advices. Just remember to listen to the tip and think several times what you have been told, and if you do think it don’t make sense just ignore it. 

7. Buying Too Much Bat

Who could ever forget when your first get a hold of your Butterfly Pan Asia or Double Happiness hobbybat? Now you go to a club and you see a couple of custom made rackets and it seems you are now holding a useless weapon. Fascinated with the craftsmanship of colorful blades and fancy rubber packaging you go out and buy the most expensive and most fastest blade in the market only to find out you can’t use it! Yes, before buying your first serious blade or deciding you racket set up consult a coach or an experienced player on what type of bat you can start up with – an all-round blade with classic rubber should be fine. 

8. Stick with your Racket Set Up

There are so many players I know that buy too many custom made rackets because they keep on blaming the blade for their performance! They try to many rubbers and blade combination that they get stuck to their level because they don’t understand that it’s their attitude that needs adjustment. Once you get your first serious weapon stick with it for at least 4 to 6 months and yes you should be playing with it regularly. Not all good review blade as advised by your fellow player might be suited for you. Learn to understand your strength and your weakness first. By the time you spent some good time with your racket you will just probably need to buy a newer version of rubber.

9. Know the Rules

At home, you can play any rules you like - bouncing the ball off the pot plants and onto the table can count for double points if you want! But once you go to the clubs and competitions, make sure you are familiar with the official rules of ping-pong/ table tennis, so that you avoid any nasty surprises when your killer serve is called a fault by the umpire, because your opponent can't see it!

10. Be Patient

 

Table tennis is a complicated game that incredibly difficult to master. It is quite fascinating how easy the pros play it when you watch it at youtube. Many newbies hope that they can make it on top within a year or two. This is almost impossible - trust me! Table tennis requires full concetration, fitness, skill and a lot of perseverance. And most of the time the amount of patience you put into it equals the speed of your progress. So take time and master the skill one step at a time. Enjoy the sport and everything will fall into place.