How to Win at Table Tennis - eBook

Written by Greg

Published on 27 June 2012

How To Win at Table Tennis is Ready to Go!

Hi all - the final draft of my eBook called How to Win at Table Tennis is now finished!

How to Win at Table Tennis is a guide for newish players, to help them get up and winning faster. It's not really aimed at intermediates and above, or for combination bat players - I'll be expanding Greg's Table Tennis Pages for those guys. It's more or less a crash course for beginners to help more new players make it to the intermediate level of play, without overwhelming them with detail. Although I think more advanced players will still enjoy the eBook, and might learn a trick or two!

The link below is the completed first draft - I've done a couple of proof-reads and some basic testing of the links to make sure that they should work - but I'd appreciate it if you could let me know about any typos or other mistakes you find that I've missed.

How to Win at Table Tennis - 16 MB (PDF version, you'll need Adobe Reader to view it).

How to Win at Table Tennis - 16 MB (EPUB version, the formatting is not quite as nice but may be more convenient for people with e-readers)

For those of you who would rather download the videos to your computer so you can watch them offline, you can find them on the Video Downloads Page .

Cheers,

Greg

Comments

-1 #1 CEO — Richard Unanue 2012-08-10 17:23

Greg: Excellent book at all levels. Have passed it along to our members in Asheville, NC. Many thanks, Richard

Quote

0 #2 CREATING AND HANDLING SPIN - RISK VS REWARD — Bob Howard 2012-08-11 00:33

"Not spinning the ball at all makes it less likely you will miss the ball,
and all you need is a decent read of opponents spin, but you aren't
likely to put much pressure on opponent, unless you hit the ball hard"
page 54
It seems to me that it should be "put much pressure on your opponent" or maybe "put much pressure on opponents"

Thanks for the great PDF. I'm sure it will help my game.

Quote

0 #3 Backhand push — Bob Howard 2012-08-11 01:07

I will start by saying that I will never be as good a player as you no matter how long I live so this is a question/comment.
I find the backhand push video completely counter intuitive. The type of shots that are being pushed hardly seem the type that would be pushed, more likely smashed or looped. I would see a push as being used to return a short short by an opponent. If that shot is on your backhand, keeping the right foot back and reaching over the table is really an awkward movement. I was always sure that it was right foot forward (right hand player), even under the table a bit to play the push shot.
I guess I am learning more every page of this e-book.
Thanks
Bob

Quote

+1 #4 forehand push — Bob Howard 2012-08-11 01:24

Once again I find the video is showing shots that should be attacked. The video and text say keep the right foot back (for right hand player) yet the picture in the e-book clearly shows the left foot forward for a left hand player.
Also, something that would be helpful to us beginners is demonstrating a push with an angled bat to counter an opponents side spin. It is mentioned in the text, just would be nice to see.
Thanks
Bob

Quote

-1 #5 RE: How to Win at Table Tennis - eBook — Greg Letts 2012-08-11 05:21

Quoting Bob Howard:

"Not spinning the ball at all makes it less likely you will miss the ball,
and all you need is a decent read of opponents spin, but you aren't
likely to put much pressure on opponent, unless you hit the ball hard"
page 54
It seems to me that it should be "put much pressure on your opponent" or maybe "put much pressure on opponents"

Thanks for the great PDF. I'm sure it will help my game.

Thanks Bob - yep, that's a typo, I'll get it fixed.

Quote

+4 #6 RE: How to Win at Table Tennis - eBook — Greg Letts 2012-08-11 05:26

Quoting Bob Howard:

I will start by saying that I will never be as good a player as you no matter how long I live so this is a question/comment.
I find the backhand push video completely counter intuitive. The type of shots that are being pushed hardly seem the type that would be pushed, more likely smashed or looped. I would see a push as being used to return a short short by an opponent. If that shot is on your backhand, keeping the right foot back and reaching over the table is really an awkward movement. I was always sure that it was right foot forward (right hand player), even under the table a bit to play the push shot.
I guess I am learning more every page of this e-book.
Thanks
Bob

Hi Bob - you aren't wrong, but it depends on the level of the player. I'm not recommending that truly new players start smashing or looping backspin balls with their backhand - I find that they tend to make more mistakes than good shots. I'd rather they push it back and work towards getting the forehand loop. Intermediate players and upwards can use a backhand loop of course.

As to the left foot forward or right foot forward, it's not wrong to backhand push with the right foot forward - I do it too quite a lot, especially when returning serve. But for a push, you don't really need to step forward with the right foot unless the ball is extremely short.

It's a good point though, I'll probably add a paragraph or two about it to the eBook.

Quote

-1 #7 RE: How to Win at Table Tennis - eBook — Greg Letts 2012-08-11 05:29

Quoting Bob Howard:

Once again I find the video is showing shots that should be attacked. The video and text say keep the right foot back (for right hand player) yet the picture in the e-book clearly shows the left foot forward for a left hand player.
Also, something that would be helpful to us beginners is demonstrating a push with an angled bat to counter an opponents side spin. It is mentioned in the text, just would be nice to see.
Thanks
Bob

You are correct, and later in the eBook, I do mention that as the player improves his forehand loop, he should attack more of the long backspin balls to his forehand with his forehand loop.

I can add a video showing how to handle a sidespin ball using a push with an angled bat - my local centre is busy this week with our State championships, but could probably do it the week after.

Quote

0 #8 Thank you — D Tang 2013-01-12 23:01

Thanks for sharing.

Quote

0 #9 Mr. — Le Quang Duc 2013-02-06 01:26

Dear Greg,
I have posted the link to your "How to win at Table tennis" at bongban.org, the most popular table tennis forum in Vietnam.
bongban.org/.../...
Thanks so much for great book and sharing.

Quote