Welcome to Ben Larcombe’s table tennis blog. The Expert Table Tennis Blog features regular articles on table tennis coaching and table tennis equipment to help you improve your performance.
The Falkenberg drill is one of the most popular exercises in table tennis. It’s a regular movement drill, which means you know where the ball is going to be placed, and can concentrate on your technique, speed and accuracy. The…
Kenta Matsudaira (aged just 21 and currently ranked 39th in the world) has a very effective tomahawk serve. If you’ve ever watched him play you will have seen him confuse opponents with his ability to serve it forehand or backhand, long or…
Table Tennis is not a sport that is general considered to include a high risk of injury. It’s non-contact, indoors and doesn’t involve anywhere near as much movement as other sports such as tennis, badminton or squash. However, injuries are…
As you begin to improve as a table tennis player and master the fundamentals, you’ll almost certainly need to think about increasing your power. As a beginner consistency and accuracy are key. If you are missing half of your shots…
In table tennis, as in most sports, it’s paramount to get the technical basics correct. These basic strokes are the foundations that can be built upon as a player improves. It is possible to correct major technical issues at a…
Ten years ago it would have been virtually impossible to watch table tennis online. I doubt any websites were actually uploading matches and live streaming certainly wasn’t available. Even if they were, chances are your internet connection wouldn’t have been…
As a player I’ve come across my fair share of left-handed table tennis opponents. Personally I don’t think it effects me that much. I don’t seem to struggle against left-handers anymore than right-handers. However, I have heard players say similar…
In some sports sponsorship deals are worth millions of pounds. Unfortunately, this is not the case in table tennis. Table tennis sponsorship, in the UK at least, is quite uncommon. Few table tennis players or clubs manage to obtain sponsorship…
The forehand drive is always the first of the four basic strokes that I teach. It is also Day 4 of my How to Play Table Tennis in 10 Days course (following grip, stance and footwork). Once mastered, the forehand…
