The single most important thing to understand about table tennis training is that you are training your subconscious to automatically perform each technique properly. When you do a shot, you don't consciously move your feet into the exact proper position; decide what shot to do and where and how hard; calculate the racket angle; guide your backswing in just the right way; time exactly when to start the forward swing; and contact the ball just the right way. You may be consciously aware of these things going on, but they are guided by a well-trained subconscious, that part of your brain that does things automatically.

A good example of this is tying your shoe. After doing it for years or decades, do you consciously guide each movement? No - your hands just fly about doing what they've done so many times that you no longer need to pay attention. You just watch and are aware of it as it is taking place. As an exercise, try tying your shoes except don't make any move until you've consciously chosen exactly what needs to be done, and do this each step of the way. See what happens?

Similarly, a properly trained table tennis player doesn't consciously guide his shots; he just watches as the subconscious does what it's done so many times before. Of course it's more complicated in table tennis since the ball is moving and spinning, unlike a stationary shoe, which is why it takes a lot of training to get right.

So what should your conscious mind be doing in a rally when training and playing a match? Here are five things it should be doing.

First, the conscious mind guides the training process. You have to decide what type of training the subconscious needs, and then train those skills. It should be analyzing what's going on and figuring out what changes are needed and what type of training needs to be done. But it should only be doing this between points.

Second, the conscious mind should be watching what happens. The subconscious can't see what's going on unless you are watching as well. So focus on what's going on. This primarily means watching the ball, but it also means watching the opponent to see what he does. The key is that you only watch, and let the trained subconscious react. This is the primary - and perhaps only - purpose of the conscious mind during a point. (You should also be listening to the sound of the ball as it hits the rackets and table, which helps with timing and reading the shot.)

Third, the conscious mind should remember the feel of a properly hit shot. (This might be the most important and least applied.) If you know the feel of a good smash or loop, you can essentially ask your subconscious to repeat that feel - and it'll usually oblige, assuming you've trained it well. When you miss a shot or the technique is wrong, the feel should be wrong, and you should focus on remembering what that proper feel should be - and your subconscious will get the message, and try to repeat it. Never focus on the shots that miss or that are wrong or your subconscious will begin to emulate those. (The only exception is if you absolutely cannot get it right, and have to consciously analyze what you are doing wrong - but there the goal is to get it right, and then focus on what is right, i.e. that right "feel.")

Fourth, the conscious mind chooses the basic tactics in a game situation. This should happen between points, never during a rally. This is easy when simply choosing what serve to do. It gets trickier when choosing tactics based on possible situations. For example, if you decide to attack the opponent's wide forehand, you have to wait for the right opportunity to do so. If you decide you need to attack the opponent's forehand, your subconscious will get the message, and when it sees a chance to attack, it'll attack the wide forehand. (Some believe they consciously make these decisions in a rally, but often it is the subconsciously doing what the conscious mind has asked it to do, with the conscious mind simply being aware of it as it happens.) If you regularly think about tactics between points, the subconsciously will get the message and will soon reflexively do these tactics at the proper times. At the advanced levels most tactics are reflexive. When a top player suddenly, say, tactically drops the ball short, he didn't consciously decide to do so; his trained subconscious saw the tactical opportunity and did so.

Five, the conscious minds needs to simply let go, both emotionally and in shot execution. An emotional mind will tend to interfere with shots, which is why professional athletes often look so bland just before and during rallies. A conscious mind that tries to take control will only interfere with the trained subconscious. So during a rally clear the mind and let go, and let the subconscious do what it's been trained to do.

So learn to work with your subconscious. Train it and let it go. In the end, it'll learn to execute, while you, the conscious part that's in charge, mostly just watches during actual play. You should almost feel guilty about this - you just stand around watching while the subconscious pulls off the shots, and guess who gets the credit?

To improve you need both good technique and match experience. You can get match experience at a club, but you get a lot more in tournaments, where you play new players and find out where your game really stands - feedback that helps you pinpoint what you need to work on. The question is what to do when you are working on new techniques. If you play tournaments - or matches, for that matter - you'll likely fall back into your old habits, and re-enforce them. So sometimes it's better to skip tournaments and matches for a time while you work on the new techniques.

But how long should you skip them? There's an easy measure. When you are changing techniques, it's best not to play matches - practice or tournaments - until you've mastered the new technique to the point where you'll reflexively use it in matches. This doesn't mean you should skip playing matches until the technique is perfect and you never get it wrong, but it means waiting until you can do it in a match situation most of the time. Otherwise you'll just be re-enforcing bad habits.

By playing matches when the technique is almost perfected, but not quite, you'll re-enforce your ability to do it under pressure - and that's half the problem with developing a new technique. In fact, the best measure of whether you have learned the new technique is to see if you use it not only under match pressure, but under the intense pressure of a close match. If you can do it at deuce, you can do it anytime.

A famous example of skipping tournaments and matches in general was Hungary's Istvan Jonyer. He made the Hungarian National Team in the early 1970s mostly by blocking. While on the team he developed his powerful forehand loop and became Hungarian National Champion. But he had a weak backhand, and couldn't really compete with the best players in the world. Then he spent six months up in a mountain training, where he did essentially nothing but backhand loop. He didn't play matches as he worked on this. When he finished, he had a great backhand loop - though other aspects of his game had deteriorated, and he had to practice them to get them back. About two years later he became the 1975 Men's World Champion, and was #1 in the world for two year and a dominant top ten (usually top five) player for over a decade.

So take a look at your game, and decide what techniques you need to fix. Then decide if it's worth spending a lot of time fixing it while skipping matches. In the short run it can be frustrating, as you are just dying to play matches. In the long run it'll pay off. 

Many players improve by using practice drills that mimic something they need to improve on in matches. But why not turn that around, and play matches that mimic something you need to improve on in matches? It's not redundant - it's a matter of playing Improvised Games instead of regular ones.

For example, play a game or match where you always serve short backspin to the opponent's backhand, he pushes deep to your backhand, you backhand loop, and then you play out the point. Keep score like a regular game, and do your best to win in the improvised rules.

Here are ten Improvised Games you might try out. But don't restrict yourself to these. Look at your own game, figure out what you need to work on, and design Improvised Games that allow you to work on those techniques. (POP = Play Out Point.)

1. Serve short backspin to opponent's backhand; he pushes to your backhand; you backhand loop; POP. Alternate versions: Your first backhand loop goes to a specified location, then POP. Or take it one step further, and opponent's first block goes to a specified location. For example, you backhand loop to his backhand, he blocks to your forehand, and then POP. You can also vary the short serve with no-spin serves.
2. Same as #1, except opponent pushes serve to your forehand, and you loop the forehand, and then POP. Or use alternate versions, as explained in #1. You can also have opponent push to your backhand and you forehand loop, if you have good footwork.
3. Serve short side-top to forehand or backhand. Opponent flips either anywhere, or to pre-arranged spot. You attack, POP.
4. Serve varied long serves to opponent's backhand. Opponent soft loops serve back. You attack, POP.
5. Put a box or towel near the middle of the table, cutting of perhaps half the table. Play a backhand-to-backhand game where the server starts the rally be serving topspin. Or do a variation where it's forehand to forehand, or forehand to backhand. Or variations where one player loops, the other blocks. The goal here isn't just to win the point, but to play great rallies that'll carry over into real matches.
6. Need to work on your pushing? Play a pushing game where both players can only push, with rallies starting with a backspin serve. But since most players push better on the backhand, there might be a tendency to push to the forehand in this game, since the opponent isn't allowed to attack. So set a rule where you can never push twice in a row to the forehand. Or set a rule where players can attack, but if they do they have to win the point on one shot.
7. To work on serve and attack, play a game where the server has only two shots to win the point, not including the serve. Or, as long as you don't get into the habit of trying to rip every ball, only one shot after the serve.
8. For very fast forehand-oriented players, play a game where you can only play forehand shots. Or perhaps you can only play one backhand in a row. (This is one of my favorites, but it's gotten harder as I've gotten older.)
9. To work on short pushes, play a game where each player serves short backspin and then both players continue the rally pushing every ball short (i.e. given the chance the ball would bounce twice). If either player thinks the ball is going long he lets it go, and if it goes long he wins the point; if it bounces twice he loses the point. An alternate version is where players can attack, but if they do they must win the point on one shot.
10. Play a lobbing, fishing, or chopping game to work on your defense, where you aren't allowed to attack. Alternate version is where you can attack, but must win the point on one shot if you do. 

Power in Table Tennis

Some players can blast the ball a zillion miles per hour with hyperbolic spin while seemingly barely trying, while others grunt and grimace and can't break a soap bubble. So where does power in table tennis come from? Power comes primarily from eight factors. They are:

1. Equipment. Offensive rackets and sponges add to whatever power you put on the ball.
2. Strength. It makes a difference, though not as much as some would seem.
3. Muscle Elasticity. This is probably more important than sheer strength. It's a primary reason why older players, even if they weight train, lose power as their muscles lose their elasticity. Elastic muscles are like slingshots.
4. Body Mass and Type. If you rotate your body into the shot, you put your mass into the shot, and more mass means more power. You also might get more power potential from longer arms, the type of muscle (fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch), and even the way the muscles are connected.
5. Type of Contact. If you graze the ball too finely you lose the power potential from the sponge as well as speed. If you sink it directly into the sponge you gain speed from hitting directly into the wood, but lose power that might be generated by the sponge if you contact at more of an angle.
6. Proper Technique. This maximizes power generation as well as your ability to control it.
7. Timing of Muscle Contractions. Each muscle gets the next one started, and if it's not timed properly, you lose power.
8. Timing of Contact. If contact is not done at the point of maximum power, you lose power. 

Let's elaborate on the last two - the timing issues. There are two types of timing when stroking the ball, and both lead to power. (Proper technique technically would include the two timing issues below, but I'm separating them here - but without good technique your power potential is severely limited.)

Timing of Muscle Contractions. Each muscle gets the next one started. The proper order for a forehand stroke is legs, hips, waist, shoulder rotation, shoulder, elbow, and wrist. (Wrist is optional on some shots.) If one contracts a muscle too soon or too late you lose power. If you contract any muscle too hard it becomes nearly impossible to control or to time them all together, so you only contract at whatever percent you can consistently and smoothly control - perhaps 70%, perhaps more on easy high balls. 

Timing of Contact. Contact should take place when the racket approaches maximum speed. Technically, you shouldn't contact the ball when the racket is at maximum speed; you want to accelerate through contact, meaning the racket actually speeds up as you contact the ball, and so is slightly faster the split second after contact. (This might be where physicists can chime in, but from a coaching point of view, this is a key issue - far too many players lose power because they stop accelerating before contact, thereby dissipating some of their power. Or is this an illusion, and you get maximum power by reaching maximum velocity right at contact, meaning zero acceleration at that point?)

So how can you increase your power? All of the items above are factors, though I don't recommend gaining weight (other than muscle mass) to increase power. (I'm not sure how much of a factor that really is, but it's greatly offset by the loss of mobility.) Physical training can help with strength and muscle elasticity. But most of power potential comes from items 5-8 above. A coach can greatly help you with these. When I watch players who have trouble generating power - which is most players - I find that the the most common problems are those that a coach can solve - the technique and timing issues. Grunting and grimacing are just indications that the player is having technique and timing problems that keep him from getting that easy power that comes so easily to some players. (See my related Tip on this, Easy Power.) 

This is a common question. It really depends on the incoming shot. There's a general rule - if the ball is moving toward you slowly, watch it all the way into the racket. If it's moving toward you fast, you only need watch it to the point where you can no longer react to it.

Against slow balls, you should see contact. This includes serving, pushing, flipping a short ball, blocking against a slow loop, or smashing or looping against a push or other softly hit ball. (Of course, on some backhand shots actual contact is hidden by the racket.) It's also more important to see contact on more finely hit balls where you spin the ball by grazing it. You don't need to see contact as much on flatter shots, such as smashes, counter-hits, or blocks.

If the ball is coming at you fast, there's no point in watching it all the way into the racket since you can't react to it at the end anyway. So you only need to watch it until it is perhaps a few feet in front of you, depending on the speed of the ball. Against a medium-fast ball, you might watch it almost until contact.

Some players do appear to watch the ball all the way into the racket. This is probably just habit - rather than stop moving their head as they follow the ball toward their racket they simply get in the habit of following the ball all the way to contact. That's fine for some, and perhaps it helps with their timing. But there's no real need to watch the ball right until contact except against a slow-moving ball. One advantage of not watching the ball until contact is that you can look up more quickly and see what your opponent is doing, and so begin to prepare for your next shot more quickly. Some players even fool their opponent by sometimes looking up early in their stroke toward one spot on the table and then hitting it to another.

Here's a picture of Jan-Ove Waldner (considered by many the greatest player of all time) hitting a forehand where at contact he's already looking toward his opponent or where his ball is going.