Just like any other table tennis skills, developing a tactical mindset takes discipline.  As I work through the various styles over the coming weeks and teach you how to play against various opponents, I want you to understand that you too can think of your own tactics.  I’m not very smart, I’m just an average guy.  However, I do spend quality time thinking.  You too can develop this same discipline.

Learning Stages
 
Today, we want to show you the stages of learning a new skill. For illustrative purposes, we are going to use the backhand loop against backspin as an example for you today. This approach can be used for any stroke, such as pushing, flipping, looping, counter-looping, lobbing, chopping, smashing, and any other skill that you want to develop. Before beginning stage one, take a few minutes and assess your game for strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, and game patterns.
 
Backhand loop against backspin
 

 
 
 
Serve Return Simplified
 
 
There are 2 primary ways to read the spin – watch the racket and watch the bounce.  The pitfall that devastates most beginner/intermediate players is the timing.  When they don’t know the spin, they panic and trap the ball too quickly.  The correct move is to wait.  Wait.  If you couldn’t tell the spin from the contact point when your opponent touched the ball, then wait.  Let the ball rise, then even drop a bit before returning it. 
How does that make the return easier?  There are 5 ways…
 
 

 
The Mystery Man
By Coach Samson Dubina
 
 
In the table tennis world, it is commonly believed that there are 3 types of players – positive, negative, and in-between.
 
Mr. Positive continues to strongly affirm himself throughout the match, even if he is down 8-0 or 10-2 or whatever the score, he has a high level of confidence.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Forgetting & Remembering
 
During a table tennis match, is it beneficial to remember previous points or to just block out the past and play in the moment?
 
The answer is…   BOTH!
To reach your peak potential, you need to forget and remember!  I’m going to illustrate my point by sharing a true story that happened to me.
 
I was playing one of the most important matches of my life. 
I was down 1-2 in games in a best 3/5 match.

 
 
 
The score was 9-9 in the final game, your opponent served a half-long serve to your backhand, you thought that the serve was long enough to loop, but it wasn’t.  With a full backswing, you looped right into the table!  Ouch!  As blood began to gush from the back of your hand, you wondered to yourself how this could have been prevented.  In this article, I’m going to give you ten tips on how to make peace with the edge of the table.
 
1. Move both feet properly into position

 
 
 
 
 
Winning Table Tennis
NEW Coaching Article
By Coach Samson Dubina
 
 
A missing key in table tennis is a proper understanding of between-game analysis and between-point analysis.  In this article, I’m going to mention the three keys – understanding the problem, finding a solution, and encouraging yourself with the benefit of implementing the solution.
 
 
#1 The Problem

 
 
 
 
 
 
Root of the Problem
 
Unless you can find the root of the problem – your problem with persist and you will continue losing. I often ask players why they lost a specific match. They often respond with…
 
“It was a bad match.”
“I was just off.”
“I didn’t practice enough.”
“My opponent was on fire.”
 

 
 
 
Top 10 Ways to Boost Your Level THIS YEAR!
 
There are some short-cuts that you can do for a quick improvement in your game right now, some elements that you can improve this year, then some aspects that take 5-10 years to fully develop.  In this article, I’m going to talk about mid-range improvements that you can make during the next 12 months.
 
#1 Time-Management