3 pro secrets you can use in YOUR table tennis game

In this video I share 3 pro secrets that you can implement into your table tennis game.
Trying to replicate the skills of a professional table tennis player is not easy. They are so fast and aggressive. They train incredibly hard. They are phenomenal athletes. They are completely dedicated to their profession.
But there are always things we can learn from the pros and try to incorporate into our own game.
Over the past few years, I have played with several pro players, including English champions Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford. In this video I share three things Paul and Liam do, which you could use in your game too. Enjoy…
Thank you to Bribar Table Tennis for supporting this video. To buy a wide range of table tennis equipment, go to bribartt.co.uk/?ref=8204
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[@jplanglais]

@Tom: Amazing video production as usual 👍 For beginners, I would suggest perfecting #3 (serves variation) during practice and never during a match/tournament. Always make sure you control the first ball and make sure you know where you're placing the ball (as opposed to just serve and hope). Placement variation is as important as speed/spin variations.

[@ignan1923]

Awesome work as always, hugs from Brazil. Keep going, friend

[@soduno596]

Great video, really helpful :)

[@florinpasca2000]

Very nice, thanks

[@JamesFrankMay]

"Get Balls Deep" ~Tom Lodziak. For real though, thanks for these videos. Making a huge difference at the office. haha

[@wahyudhany]

Hi Tom, what do you suggest to improve reaction in tt? All top players i watch they can react (block or drive) to extremely fast ball. One of the things i still struggling until now

[@pretendexstuff8592]

Good video and great explanation 😀

[@idrivearttabletennis]

Good points. I am fairly good at #1, I try to be good at #2, and I need more work on #3. Thanks for posting this video.

[@RedRanga56]

For me I'm fairly good at 1 good at 2 and 3 I suck at

[@Wugga]

"Get balls deeps!" - Tom Lodziak, 2023

[@TomLodziak]

Behave.

[@jameshamilton6096]

Awesome

[@Chas10691]

Pro secret number 4 you can see in the first video example. Earliest contact while receiving short or long pushes . Less time for the opponent and also hard to read because small adjustments with underarm and wrist.

[@joezephyr]

May I suggest that you do some doubles videos. Doubles is more fun than singles and our I am sure the tactics vary compared to singles.

[@TomLodziak]

Yeah, I've had a few requests for a doubles video. I will try and do this at some point. But interesting you find doubles more fun. It's usually the other way around. Most people prefer singles.

[@Joygulplay]

About Tip 2 I think this is based on the playing style of the person. I have played against professional players who don't play with power but rather a lot of sidespin. And their shots are so much harder to return than the flat powerfull shots. And even if I got to return the shot because of the sidespin the ball was going into the direction they wanted it to go so they could do whatever they wanted. And when the players use flat hits you have more control over the ball and you can change the direction of the ball easier. As if the other person uses more spin it's a lot harder for you to get the ball where you want. I once talked to one professional player in Bulgaria and he told me if I play flat I don't have any control of how the ball is going to return towards me, so I should use more spin when I play my shots, so I can force the other person into giving me the ball where I want it to go.

[@TomLodziak]

I think most pro players, certainly in the top 50 in the world, are playing with a lot of power. It's how the professional game has evolved, for better of worse. I'm sure there are lots of pro standard players, outside the world's top 50 who focus more on spin. But for these players it is hard for them to break into the top 50, because their shots aren't strong enough. I was amazed by how flat Liam's shots were, but he told me this was necessary for him to challenge the top players.

[@AndyK665]

Couldn't have said it any better 3:41

[@blueheart9873]

Thought so too. Best advice ever tbh

[@Philoreason]

Tom about #2 those are power loop and they are definitely not flat. You generate so much speed that they might look flat but they are definitely not. When you get to the next level when you loop you won't be just brushing the ball. If you do that, your attack will lack power and speed and your opponent can easily kill the next shots. You need to have both Speed and Spin. That's what Liam and Paul are doing when they top spin attack.

[@TomLodziak]

Well that is not what I experienced when playing them. Yes, there is some spin on their shots - of course - but plenty of hit too. I could hear from the sound it was lots of hit. I could see from the trajectory of the attack it was very lower and straight. And on the rare occasion I could get my bat to the ball, it would bounce off low, not jump up high. Hey, I was surprised too!

[@blueheart9873]

Tip #2 is something that makes me a bit sad. To me, table tennis has always been about the spin. With the way the top level game changed it's less enjoyable for me both for watching and playing.

[@InnerSyncMusic]

In what way you say that the top level play is changed?

[@blueheart9873]

@@InnerSyncMusic In the 2000-2014 era, it was much more important to learn how to apply maximum spin instead of playing as fast as possible. Many different playstyles also rely on spin more than anything (e.g. penhold=max wrist movement for max spin, defenders use spin to slow down and control the rally and mid distance loopers had slightly more time to create wicked side- topspins)

[@InnerSyncMusic]

@@blueheart9873 Overall is the same now.Every top player will aply as much spin as he can.

[@TomLodziak]

The sport has evolved to be faster and faster and more aggressive. And the 40+ ball has forced played to be even more aggressive as spin has less of an impact as before. I think this is a slight problem with making the pro game appealing to a wider audience. It's just too fast and it is very hard for non table tennis players to really understand what's happening. One of the reasons (supposedly) for the change of ball size was to slow the game down and make it more appealing for people to watch. But the opposite seems to have happened. Players are just crunching the ball harder and harder! Oddly, the semi-pro or high amateur standard is probably more enjoyable to watch, as the game isn't as fast.

[@chigornunnzorputachi8462]

I disagree. The game is more enjoyable watching it because of the fast rallies you see incredible points and wonder how that is possible because of the speed at which they were playing

[@SeanTidmore]

Liam’s backhand is filthy.

[@ttennisdr]

Cloud your opponent's mind with doubt by applying tip #3 🤣tip #1 and #2 might be my biggest flaw in my offense, as i don't put much regard in my placement, and i'm rather a spin oriented player with my forehand topspin and not really playing for speed and flat hit

[@jorgneumeier3027]

A very good point : less top spin, more pressure and greetings from a failed state called Germany.

[@user-hn2yi7mw4q]

#2 I think your conclusion is wrong. There is less spin and power and more speed because against you top players stay closer and attack earlier before the top of the bounce. At this timing point there is less body movement possible to perform really powerful and spiny swing. And similar situation happens even at much lower levels. When you play against slower and weaker player you can stay closer and attack faster and flatter with enough confidence. Weaker player cannot afford this strategy against stronger player.

[@TomLodziak]

Liam and Paul play this aggressive whenever they can at the pro level too. Watch ANY pro game, and the majority of points are played close to the table and the pros use a lot of power and speed to win points.

[@abhisheksajwan8877]

Sir please make video on drill for children repeat for you from india

[@hotelthecanopy8257]

Hiw much it cost for robot?

[@TomLodziak]

Here's some more information about the Power Pong Omega robot... www.tabletenniscoach.me.uk/review-power-pong-omega-robot/

[@antomv]

Cemesan manteb banget

[@MrTomsk84]

I really wish there was standardised or clearer terminology across the game where coaching is concerned. Not until the end of the video summary could I be certain that 'flattening of shots' was referring to bat contact being perpendicular to trajectory of the ball, RATHER THAN the bat being parallel to surface of the table. Not a direct moan at the video by any means. Thanks, Tom

[@blueheart9873]

3:42 excuse me?!

[@TomLodziak]

Ha! It didn't occur to me until I watched it back. I have a very innocent mind.

[@djfunkychicken]

Maybe it's just me or it's an optical illusion but the table you play on never seems level.. is that done on purpose??

[@hblack2004]

Tilt your head bit to the left and problem solved

[@djfunkychicken]

@@hblack2004 🤣

[@yunghanhuang8188]

to be honest, the higher the level, the spinner the serves are, my experiences are still making me feel that way, you need to brush harder or they will go to net

[@TomLodziak]

Up to a certain level, heavy spin serves will dominate. But at the pro level there is no real advantage in getting more and more spin, because the receiver is equally skilled at retuning any spin. So their is more focus on disguise to force and error or weak return. Or players serve to set up a third ball attack or a particular type of rally.

[@TomLodziak]

@@CMCMTTTV This hasn't been my experience with the pro players I have played with. The level of spin they generate is not extraordinary. And I have played amateur players who can generate just as much spin. But the pro players are way better at keeping serves tight, ball placement, making subtle variations, disguising the spin they use and taking advantage of any return which is slightly loose.

[@TomLodziak]

@@CMCMTTTV In all these situations, I suspect the real damage is caused by the players mis-reading the level of spin. Craig Bryant has amazing serves. They seem like they are really spinny - balls jumping up, shooting down. The spin must be incredible right? Well no, not really. All the damage is caused by players (including me), misreading the spin he is putting on the ball. So the missed return of serve seems really dramatic, making it seem as though the spin was incredible. But if Craig tells me what the spin is, then the spin is easy to control. This will be the same with any pro player. Because spin is spin, and no matter how much spin is being generated, there is a way to counter any spin. I reckon you could take any decent amateur player (top division local league) and get them to receive the spinniest serve of any top 10 player in the world. The pro keeps doing the same serve every time. The amateur player may miss the first one or two, but would soon adjust and be able to return the spin every time. The point being is that almost all the damage caused by pro players is service variation, spin variation, disguise, deception, placement, rather than the just spin on its own.

[@Mini-rp4vw]

Now these aren’t really anymore secrets 😂

[@rottingbrain0]

3:38 - 3:48 without context sounds kind of sus

[@InnerSyncMusic]

Their atack is not flat at all.Its obvious with top spin..dunno why Tom tell us nonsense...

[@TomLodziak]

There are different degrees of topspin and of a scale of 1-10 (10 being very spinny), I would rathe their hard attacks about a 3. This means there is some topspin, but there is a lot of hit as well. As I said in the video, it's a bit like a topspin-drive.

[@daus8866]

Tom is right, when train with Chinese coaches, they will teach to pinch the racket and hit the ball, Chinese styles more to hit & Europe styles more to rubbing/brush the ball,

[@InnerSyncMusic]

@@daus8866 Chinese are the most into spinning the ball.Look at Ma Long for example.Overall,are only few (europeans or not)who are more into hiting than spinning.

[@phildurre9492]

what nonsense, an average level player doest aim for the corner because he would miss 50% so we just play the center of the table many times. thats not because we don’t think about hitting the corner but just because we dont have the accuracy.

[@TomLodziak]

Aiming for the corners is something quite easy to practise. The more you practise this, the more accurate you will become. And then your standard will improve beyond 'average'.

[@noormotani9719]

This video looks like fake. This is not how you play. You are just defending while the opponent is attacking. Why are you not attacking just like your opponent?

[@TomLodziak]

Hmm... maybe because Liam and Paul are miles better than me? I'm just a mere local league player. These guys are world class.

[@kokonizamba970]

Много приказваш,нищо не показваш! Повече видео на забавен кадър. Наистина много говориш. Тенис на маса се учи с гледане. Първо гледаш после играеш и се учиш да го правиш.

[@MrDongiang]

Your secrets was talk too much and nothing for demo !