Table tennis training

Set out

A marked path · cones for the slalom · one bat and one ball each

What it trains

Balance or juggle the ball on the bat while walking the marked path, then around the cones. Soft knees, eyes up, relaxed grip, bat flat.

Players balance or juggle the ball on the bat while walking a marked path, then around cones.

Coaching points: Soft knees, eyes up, relaxed grip, bat flat.

Set out

One table · hoops or targets set on the far half · balls

What it trains

Roll or push balls off the bat to hit the hoops and targets on the far half. Contact under the ball, aim with the whole arm, follow the target with the eyes.

Player rolls or pushes balls off the bat to hit hoops and targets on the far half.

Coaching points: Contact under the ball, aim with the whole arm, follow the target with the eyes.

Set out

A midi-table, or a table with a low barrier instead of the net · two players · one ball

What it trains

A cooperative rally: the pair keeps the ball going and counts consecutive hits. Return to the ready position, watch the ball onto the bat, control before power.

Pair keeps a cooperative rally over a low barrier or midi-table, counting consecutive hits.

Coaching points: Return to the ready position, watch the ball to the bat, control not power.

Set out

One table or several · a waiting queue · winner stays on

What it trains

Rotating winner-stays-on points game. Serve legally, keep it on the table, play the open space.

Rotating winner-stays-on points game around one or more tables.

Coaching points: Serve legally, keep it on the table, play the open space.

Set out

One table · two players on one diagonal · one ball

What it trains

Both players push on the diagonal with backspin, keeping the ball short and low. Early contact just after the bounce, open bat, brush under the ball, quiet feet.

Both players push diagonally with backspin, keeping the ball short and low.

Coaching points: Contact early just off the bounce, open bat, brush under, quiet feet.

Set out

One table · a coach with a basket of balls · a fixed target on the coach’s half

What it trains

The coach feeds a rapid stream of balls from the basket to the forehand; the player drives or topspins to a fixed target. Hip rotation, contact at the top in front of the body, brush for topspin, recover.

Coach feeds a rapid stream of balls to the forehand; the player drives or topspins to a fixed target.

Coaching points: Rotate from the hips, contact at the peak out front, brush for topspin, recover.

Set out

One table · two players · one ball · the server picks the target before serving

What it trains

The server serves short backspin, the partner pushes, the server plays the opening topspin on the third ball. Pre-plan the third-ball target, recover after serving, brush to open.

Server serves short backspin; partner pushes; server plays the opening topspin on the third ball.

Coaching points: Pre-plan the third-ball target, recover after serving, brush to open.

Set out

One table · a partner who returns the ball · one ball in play

What it trains

The pattern: one backhand from the backhand corner, then two forehands, the pivot then the wide one. Shuffle steps, never crossed legs, low centre of gravity, recover between balls.

Pattern: one backhand from the backhand corner, then two forehands (pivot + wide forehand); repeat with shuffle steps.

Coaching points: Shuffle steps, never crossed legs; low centre of gravity; recover between balls.

Set out

One table · a partner who returns the ball · three-ball loop, repeated

What it trains

Three balls on a loop: backhand from the backhand corner, pivot forehand from the backhand corner, forehand from the wide forehand corner, then repeat. Pivot fully, cross-steps for the wide forehand, balance and fast recovery.

Three-ball loop: backhand from the backhand corner, pivot forehand from the backhand corner, forehand from the wide forehand corner; repeat.

Coaching points: Pivot fully, use cross-steps for the wide forehand, balance, fast recovery.

Set out

One table · two players on the forehand diagonal · one ball

What it trains

A topspins, first opening against backspin, then in the rally: brush contact, leg drive, recover. B blocks, passive first, then an active punch-block: early contact, absorb with the core.

Player A topspins (opens against backspin then rallies); player B blocks, passive then active punch-block.

Coaching points: Looper: brush contact, leg drive, recover. Blocker: early contact, absorb with the core.

Set out

One table · two players · one ball · the partner serves or pushes short

What it trains

The partner serves or pushes short; the player flicks (banana) to open, then plays out the point. Relaxed grip, wrist whip, elbow high, contact at the top of the bounce.

Partner serves or pushes short; the player flicks (banana) to open, then plays out the point.

Coaching points: Loose grip, wrist snap, elbow up, contact at the top of the bounce.

Set out

One table · two players · one ball · a constraint announced before the game

What it trains

Match play with a constraint, for example serve short and attack the third ball, or count only the points won by attacking the middle. Hold the players to the pattern; debrief between games on what worked.

Match play with a constraint: for example, must serve short and attack the third ball, or points only count when attacking the middle.

Coaching points: Enforce the pattern; reflect on what worked between games.

Set out

One table · a coach with a basket of balls · random placement, high tempo

What it trains

High-tempo multiball with random placement, mixing a short serve, topspin openings and wide balls under fatigue. Read early, decision speed, full recovery, keep the quality when tired.

High-tempo random-placement multiball mixing a short serve, topspin openings and wide balls under fatigue.

Coaching points: Read early, decision speed, full recovery, maintain quality when tired.

Match where the player scouts the opponent's serve and receive tendencies and adjusts each game.

Coaching points: Use the opening game as reconnaissance; adjust serves and placement; manage momentum, timeouts and towel breaks.

Set out

One table · a feeder with a ball supply · a short circuit alongside: slalom markers, a jump zone

What it trains

The child takes five forehand balls from the feeder, immediately runs the circuit, then rejoins the queue. Forehand counter-attack: the racket finishes touching the opposite shoulder; stance slightly open to the table; weight transfer and upper-body rotation through the hit.

One table, a feeder with a ball supply, a short circuit alongside (slalom markers, a jump zone). The child takes five forehand balls from the feeder, immediately runs the circuit, then rejoins the queue.

Coaching points: Forehand counter-attack: the racket finishes touching the opposite shoulder; stance slightly open to the table; weight transfer and upper-body rotation through the hit. Take the ball in the descending phase, about 1.5 m from the table.

Set out

One table · two players: A attacks, B blocks · one ball

What it trains

A attacks into B’s elbow. If B blocks on the forehand, A’s next ball goes to the forehand corner; if B blocks on the backhand, it goes to the backhand corner. B trains the forehand-or-backhand decision at the elbow; A cannot prepare anything: he reads B’s block.

Two players: A attacks, B blocks. A attacks into B's elbow. If B blocks forehand, A's next ball goes to the forehand corner; if B blocks backhand, the next goes to the backhand corner. The cycle repeats while returns succeed.

Coaching points: B trains the forehand/backhand decision at the elbow, the zone the DTTB repeatedly names as the structural weakness of two-winged systems. A cannot pre-plan: A must read B's block.

10-15 repetitions per set at 50-70% of maximum, 3-6 sets, with 2-5 minutes of recovery between sets. Machines or free weights, chosen to keep spinal loading low.

Coaching points: Prerequisites stated by the federation: thoroughly warmed musculature and technically faultless execution. Table tennis is asymmetric: watch for left/right imbalance and train agonists, antagonists AND synergists.

Set out

Free space beside the table · one ball per child · a feeder at the table

What it trains

Three stages. With no ball and no table, rehearse the stroke path from back-low to front-high, racket in the plane of the stroke. Then the same movement onto a hand-held or tossed ball. Then at the table, on a topspin or no-spin ball from the feeder, never backspin at this stage.

Three stages. Stage 1, no ball and no table: rehearse the stroke path from back-low to front-high, the racket staying in the plane of the stroke. Stage 2, with a ball beside the table: the same movement onto a hand-held or tossed ball. Stage 3, at the table: the feeder plays a topspin or a no-spin ball, never backspin at this stage, because the federation states the forehand topspin is easier to learn against an incoming topspin ball.

Coaching points: Where this comes from, and what it is not. Only the German federation teaches topspin at this age: the DTTB framework opens the stroke at stage FS 2 = 8-9 and leaves it out of FS 1 = 4-7. Swiss Table Tennis places topspin two years later, at U13 = 10-12, though its curriculum tables carry the running header "Nachwuchsförderungskonzept 2008", so treat the Swiss gate as directionally sound rather than as today's confirmed Swiss position. The J+S-Kids series never mentions topspin across its ten lessons; the FFTT's Baby Ping has no stroke curriculum at all before 7. So run this as the German route, not as settled practice, and only with the 8-9 end of the group. The DTTB's own fault list: keep the racket in the plane of the stroke, a straying elbow or wrist being the usual cause; brush the ball, never lift it by opening the blade; the feet must not be parallel to the end line or the hips and shoulders cannot rotate; the playing arm is nearly extended at the end of the backswing, otherwise the forearm contributes nothing; the free arm points at the ball on the backswing and rotates back with the hips and shoulders on the hit, keeping the torso forward and the legs low; the weight transfers, and early; contact is never behind or beside the body; the finish is neither behind nor above the head, nor at chest height.

Set out

One table · five colour-coded cones on the table · no ball

What it trains

The coach calls a colour; the child moves to that cone, mimes the stroke that belongs there, a block at the two short cones, then returns to the ready position. On the backhand block the contact point is in front of the body; on the forehand block the body is not square to the table and the weight transfers.

Five colour-coded cones on the table: forehand short, backhand short, forehand deep, centre, backhand deep. No ball. The coach calls a colour; the child moves to that cone, mimes the stroke that belongs there (a block at the two short cones) and returns to the ready position.

Coaching points: Where this comes from. The drill is Swiss-published (mobilesport.ch, 2024) and carries no age of its own, and the federations disagree about when the block is taught. The German DTTB opens it at stage FS 2 = 8-9; Swiss Table Tennis places it at U11 = 8-10, which overlaps the top of this band, though its curriculum tables are headed "Nachwuchsförderungskonzept 2008"; J+S-Kids has no block exercise in its ten lessons and the FFTT's Baby Ping no stroke curriculum. Read it as the German placement with Swiss corroboration, not as consensus, and use it with the 8-9 end of the group. Because there is no ball, the two DTTB block essentials can be corrected without any timing pressure: on the backhand block the contact point is in front of the midline of the body, and on the forehand block the body is not square to the table and the weight transfers. Without that, the federation says, an active block is not possible. The source's own coaching question: how do you get into position fastest while staying stable enough to play the stroke?

Set out

One station of the circuit: a table, two players, balls · two or three minutes per station, then rotate

What it trains

The tomahawk serve: bat held like a hammer, head pointing up, the ball brushed on the forehand side; the contact arc decides the spin, backspin, topspin or sidespin. Learn the spins first, disguise them later.

Serve played with the bat held like a hammer, head pointing up, brushing the ball on the forehand side: backspin, topspin or sidespin depending on the contact. Run it as the federation’s station circuit, whose frame is printed verbatim: « Chacun des enfants et des jeunes effectue pendant deux ou trois minutes l’exercice demandé à chaque poste, puis change de poste. »

Coaching points: Bat held like a hammer, head pointing up. Brush the ball on the forehand side; the contact arc decides the effect. Learn the effects first and hide them second, the federation’s own line: « Entraînez-vous d’abord à imprimer les différents effets, et quand vous les maîtrisez, essayez de les masquer pour feinter votre adversaire. » DO NOT CONFLATE the hammer serve with the shovel serve (pioche / Schaufelaufschlag): the official Swiss French and German lists both carry them as SEPARATE items (service pendulaire, service marteau, service pioche, service rentrant, service revers, service court, service long). The FR/DE-to-EN mapping onto « tomahawk » is graded SECONDARY: no source writes the equivalence out, the evidence is a shared publisher URL slug. This is the ONE gesture in this group whose age the source itself states: « enfants et jeunes ».

Set out

One table · two players · one ball · the federation’s rally chain

What it trains

The flick as a serve return, played over the table to take the initiative on the second ball, inside the published chain: B serves short, A flicks to B’s backhand, B blocks on the diagonal, A pivots and attacks with the forehand. Elbow high, the wrist gives the sidespin; plan the fourth ball.

Short backhand serve-return with topspin and sidespin, played over the table to seize the initiative on the second ball. Trained inside the federation’s rally chain rather than in isolation: « B sert court, A retourne en effectuant un flip de façon que la balle aille sur le revers de l’adversaire, B bloque en diagonale, A pivote pour jouer en coup droit et tente d’effectuer une attaque décisive. »

Coaching points: Serve-receive only: this is a second-ball stroke against short or half-long serves. The job is to turn a defensive situation into an attack, not to win the point outright. High elbow; the wrist supplies the sidespin. It sets up the fourth ball, so plan that before playing it. NAMING, AND IT MATTERS FOR BOTH SEARCH AND EXPORTS: the official Swiss French stroke vocabulary is Topspin, Flip, Bloc, Poussette, Poussette courte, Frappe, Contre-topspin, Contre-attaque; « banane » appears in NO official French source, though chiquita is a confirmed synonym of banana flick. A curriculum export must print « Flip »; a coach searching « banane » must land here. No eponym in the copy: the ITTF credits « the FIRST USE of the shot to Petr Corbel » (first use, not invention, and it misspells Korbel), while the only source asserting « inventé par Korbel » is an unattributed glossary.

Set out

One table · one ball · players in single file at both ends · three lives each

What it trains

Serve diagonally, then each player runs counter-clockwise to the other end after their stroke. A mistake costs a life; eliminated players do a side task; the last two play the final with their remaining lives. Play with intent, run to the queue.

One table, one ball, players in single file at both ends. Serve diagonally, then each player runs counter-clockwise to the other end after their stroke. Three lives each; a mistake costs one; eliminated players do a side task (e.g. juggling). The last two play a head-to-head final with their remaining lives.

Coaching points: Play with intention: a random return gets you eliminated. Watch the ball straight after your own stroke; recover into the queue at speed. Keep the side task physical at this age: nobody stands around.

Set out

One table · two players · two A4 sheets each, placed anywhere on their own half

What it trains

A placement-reading game: each player puts two sheets on their own half, and landing on one of the opponent’s sheets loses the point. Spot the opponent’s sheets and aim elsewhere, use your own as decoys; look at the other half before serving or receiving.

One table, two players. Each places two A4 sheets anywhere on their OWN half. Normal match rules, but landing the ball on one of the opponent's sheets LOSES you the point. Win the set while steering clear of the paper.

Coaching points: A placement-reading game: notice where the opponent's sheets are and aim away, while using your own sheets as decoys. Build the read-then-decide habit: look at the opponent's table before serving or returning.

One table, two players, a normal set to 11, but the score STARTS at 6:8 against the server, who must reverse the trend. Normal rules from there, two clear points to win.

Coaching points: The server is under immediate pressure: thoughtless serving hands over the set, so every point needs a plan. The returner practises protecting a lead, a different tactical mindset from building one. Between sets, ask what changed when they were behind.

Set out

One table · three children: two players, one referee · one ball

What it trains

Two children play a short set, service alternating every point, the third referees. The winner stays, the loser becomes the referee, the referee steps in as challenger; after four wins in a row the champion gives up the table. The hidden lesson: from the chair the child learns the service rules, the scoring and fair play.

One table, three children: two play a 5-point set (service alternates every point), one referees. The winner stays, the loser becomes the referee, the referee steps in as challenger. Four consecutive wins and the champion must cede the table regardless.

Coaching points: The referee role is the hidden lesson: the child learns the service rules, the scoring and fair play from the adjudicator's seat. Brief it clearly: where to stand, how to call the score, what a let is. The 4-win cap keeps one dominant child from monopolising the table.