Initial skills for Table Tennis players

Simon Lewis Asked 12 years ago

Hi Pingskills,

When coaching absolute beginners (7 or 8 years old), are there any early tell tale signs you look for that will tell you whether the child has a better chance of getting to grips with the game? We are doing some coaching in schools with the aim of getting more players into our local league. We also want to split the children into ability categories so they are working with the right coach. So we can split them into the right groups early, what do you look when making an initial assessment?

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Simon,

I think one simple one is how many balls they can hit back on the table off a very simple feed (with a coach hitting or with another child bouncing the ball for them).

You can also get them to see how many hits they can do, bouncing the ball up on their own bat in a row before they drop the ball.  then hitting alternately on both sides of their bat.  Especially if you have a few students at the same time this can be an effective way of giving them an initial grading.

Then show them a simple serve (Tap bounce bounce) and see if they can do this.

Anyway there are a few ideas.  Happy to discuss further.