Show #304 - Chloe's Birthday

6 years ago


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It seems that last week there was a big omission from the "on this week" section! We rectify that this week by letting you know that it was Chloe's birthday on the 13th Feb. As always, Jeff tells a really funny joke, Alois gives the tip and drill of the week, and we answer your table tennis questions from the ask the coach page of the website.

Joke of the Week - 0:42

Did I tell you the joke about the pizza? They laughed at me when I said I was going to be a stand up comedian.

On This Week - 1:15

Chloe and Ma Lin's Birthdays

Tournament Wrap - 04:50

Team World Cup

Tip and Drill (Trill) of the Week - 10:35

The forgotten art of the short push

Forehand Placement - 14:31

Aaron: When doing the forehand topspin what is the best way to control where the ball goes? I've heard of 3 ways to do this: 

 1) is changing the angle of the wrist to change this, but i've also heard some say that changing wrist is actually not good, and it affects the technique.

 2) I've heard is the direction your torso is facing, is the direction the ball will go, assuming proper technique. So change the direction you face

 3) is that if i contact the ball earlier on it will go cross court, and if contacted a bit later, will go down the line.

Now are these correct and what is the best way in regards to placement of the ball?

Training Relaxed Focus - 19:48

Andy: How important is it to practise training a state of relaxed focus in Table Tennis and what do you consider are the critical areas to pay attention to? For example, in tennis we train tracking the ball, balance, solid contact, etc. What do you consider are the critical variables to train in TT?

Training Tools - 23:55

Warwick: In your teaching video you used plastic discs to place on the table so that you can practice serving to different parts of the table. Where can I get those plastic discs from. They are not included in your 'store' list.

Topspin Against Backspin - 26:43

Sa : I've been playing table tennis for a total of 4-5 years now. I also watch olympic matches and club videos to watch how strokes are played. I position myself correctly.  I've seen all your videos.... and YET the backspin or chop troubles me. I cannot confidently return a backspin ball. Maybe it is because lifting a ball is counter-intuitive. I bring my arm straight up and I keep returning the ball into the net or lifting it so much that it goes over the table. Is there a specific point on the ball that i should hit? or is there a specific area on the table that I should try to aim at? or any specific area in the air that the ball must go through so that it returns safely on the table on the other side of the net? what should i concentrate on when returning backspin?

Links in this Episode

Sports Psychology Tutorials

Ma Lin Ghost Serve Tutorial

Bat Angle for Ghost Serve

Forehand Topspin Against Backspin Tutorial

Changing Direction with the Forehand Tutorial

Backhand Slow Spinny Topspin with High Arc

Charlie and Chloe Instagram Account