Tips for beginners (from my personal notes )

Hi there, after playing for a couple of years I have compiled a list of notes that I've taken from my lessons, from things that I have realized when playing and tips I've read on the Internet. Many are related to particular weaknesses of mine (e.g I tend to play too close from the table after I serve), so they won't apply to everybody, but many of these are the typical issues new players find, so they might be helpful to some.

I recommend doing the same and taking notes after each class or each session, so you can accelerate your learning process. It REALLY helps! Also, just do 1 or 2 tips at the same time until the repetitions stay on your muscle memory. Then, when you don't have to think about it, go ahead and practice other things. Try also visualizing and shadow practicing some of these tips.

I'm an intermediate player and I'm sure that more advanced players will find things they disagree on. I encourage them on giving me their opinion/comments.

I've gotten a lot of good tips from people around here, so I want to give something back. Hopefully some things will be useful and if not, at least I can encourage you writing your personal list of notes:

When warming up:
-Begin with forehand blocks
-Try feeling the ball. This way you can "feel" better your opponent spin and stroke
-Use your body rotation hit the ball, don't relay too much in your arm at first
-Hit before the ball on the rise (don't let it drop)
-After getting the "feel" of the ball try concentrating on the forearm stroke:

Forehand:
-Backswing your wrist a bit to be able to snap better and to add more power
-Relax the arm and hand
-Remember to follow thru
-Reset fast and in circles
-Rotate body!

Backhand:
-Hit the ball on the rise (even more so than with FH)
-Remember the "frisbee" feeling with the wrist
-Backswing the hand and follow thru/snap to you right
-Hold your racket an instant right where you finish the swing. This way you can be sure you are doing the correct stroke and you can keep the rhythm without rushing. Then reset
-Also try doing the whole motion in circles (top of the circle is the swing, button is coming back to ready position)

Chops/Push:
-Keep arm in front for FH pushes
-Try to keep a constant distance with your forearm to obtain a consistent stroke
-It helps to be very low when pushing close to the table. This way you can see much better the arch of the ball

Forehand Loop against backspin:
-Spring back and down, then finish the rotation and be sure the right foot is on it's toes. This ensures you are using your body to push the ball up
-Turn to your right with enough space for a comfortable stroke: don't block hips! they need to rotate
-Arm straight down and relaxed
-Your right shoulder down: the lower the ball the lower the body goes down
-Timing: move fast to position, go down quickly, but then don't rush: let the ball pass the highest point before hitting. The higher/slower you want the loop the more you let it drop. For a fast/less spiny loop hit it right on the top of the arch, but I would recommend beginners to start with slow loops. BTW I don't mean the motion is slow, but the arch of the ball. The motion should be always very fast!
-Put tension on your right tight when loping underspin and then release it. This helps you to add energy
-Move enough to have a big and confortable loop, particularly when the ball is going to your left corner. I tend to get locked there and miss-hit the ball because I don't move enough to my left
-Forearm as fast as possible: Imagine you are throwing something as hard and far as you can and not striking the ball, but just brushing it
-Keep arm close to your body
-Try aiming at the corners (turn more your hip for your left corner)
-Keep strokes short when the ball is too close to the table, if you follow thru forward too much the ball will hit the net. Keep it very spiny, though!
-Backswing your hand a bit back to help with the snap/spin
-Try to focus on forearm and hips when you are learning to loop
-Hit he ball under if it's too heavy (do this by extending arm more down)
-When looping, "pull" the ball, don't just try to rub it or smash it. Pull it over to a target spot
-Use the stomach to add power
-Feel the legs and the body pulling the energy up
-Shift weight back after the stroke. Shoulder bounces back for speed and to recover quickly. Nothing worse that being out of position after someone blocks your loop
-After forehand motion use elbow to lift the ball.
-Be carefull of how feets are on the floor. The more parallel to the table the more you have to wind back the racket/arm
-Turn the forearm inside ("your dark meat") at the end of the shot to give it more speed and direction= snap!!!
-The body weigh goes left or diagonally, but does't conflict with the arm which is doing a different motion
-When returning serve using a FH loop try approaching the ball from the inside and then turn to the outside (left to right). You need to keep the arm close to do this!
-Don't turn too much when at the left side of the table or the ball will go too far left

Forehand Loop against topspin:
-Relax and extended the arm for looping
-Turn weist *independently* from arm which actually goes more forward
-Concentrate on the forearm (snap!)
-Follow the arch with the racket to brush the ball <-Very important!Always follow the trajectory, so you can match it and direct the ball better
-Use your stomach for more power
-Keep arm close to body
-Turn, turn, turn! Use your body to rotate
-Arm loose and relax!

Backhand Loop:
-Remember to keep the paddle close
-Approach from very low with forearm and then snap to the far right
-Follow thru very fast against top spin, but don't backswing too much
-Backswing a lot for underspin, but snap quickly
-Just like throwing a freesby very hard!
-Remember the typical example where the body and arm goes straight and then the hand goes to your deep right at contact

Rallying:
-Footwork is the most important. Don't stop moving!
-Remember to drive the blocks (hit over the ball and push forward), so you can be offensive when blocking
-Move to your ready position, think on your next stroke and THEN hit the ball. Don't just go after it without knowing what to do. You usually have more time than you think
-Keep speeding up on each shot until 5-6th shot
-Finish your strokes, don't block unless you really have to
-Keep doing hops/little jumps and move as soon as the ball touches the other player's paddle. Keep moving! The hops are also very useful when defending with your BH
-Keep aiming at the corners when driving, don't just return the ball. You can also go for your opponent elbow on fast shots, but this is harder for begginers.
-After looping/attacking the 3rd ball, drive the topspin a bit shorter -not too much backswing-, especially close to the table. Remember, the ball now has a lot of top spin
-In the 5th shot remember to drive the ball even faster and stay low!!!
-Hit the ball on highest point when relooping/driving!

Blocking:
-Remember to feel the ball as though you were catching it and then push the racket forward. This gives more control and feel
-When blocking loops the first one usually has a big arch so it tends to be short, so come in and don't let it bounce long. The next loop will have a lower arch that will probably land closer to your edge, so be careful

Flips:
-Try flipping with the tip of the racket to get more torque
-BH flip approach the ball from right to left
-FH flip approach from left to right
-Approach first and then stroke. Use the elbow for approaching. Don't rush!

Strategy for Matches:
-Use the 1st game to find weaknesses
-Use serves to get free points! (obvious, but important). Aim better your serves and vary them. Keep your opponent on his/hers toes. However, if something works keep doing it to death!
-Play to win! Don't have compassion of that little kid. He might give you problems later and end up winning the match. If he is screaming "Cha!", go ahead and you scream louder when you get a point to intimidate him!!! :) You know what I mean...
-Congratulate yourself in good points. This helps to give you an extra edge. Most people only complain about their bad shots, but their good plays go unnoticed
-Remember to get farther from the table after serving. Don't just stay there and be ready to loop
-Play HARD and keep moving and jumping, but DON'T rush!
-Think! Try to focus on your opponent weakness. Sometimes we just put the autopilot on and don't even think what to do next
-Push more, you don't have to attack every single ball unless you are playing against a superior opponent. In that case, go hard and hope your shots will go in. That's probably your only chance. Against worse opponents play with more control and let them make the mistakes. However, keep playing fast and hard, don't lower your level.

Returning Serve:
-From the BH approach with the elbow and then loop from right to left of the ball (quickly), but safely
-From the FH loop from the inside of the ball and turn to the outside. You need to keep the arm close to do this
-When pushing serves try to absorb the energy of the ball (like the catch the ball with the racket exercise). This is very important when you are trying to perform a drop shot
-Check how the ball bounces first (arch). If it bounces high it's top spin, low is back spin
-Try aiming for hard spots (corners, drop shots, long chops, etc)
-Treat sidespin like topspin not like backspin

Footwork:
-Move both feet like in the footwork drills, don't just walk
-Stay low when moving. This way you can reach longer distances
-Return to the middle after your stroke
-Think before hitting, you have more time than you think!!!

The grip:
-Hold rackett with fingers first and THEN use hand for neutral grip
-Hold it soft and relaxed
-Index finger bent a litte bit. Also bend tip down to keep the hand loose
-The more neutral the grip, the easier will be to switch FH and BH during rallies

Serving:
-Use your stomach to add spin and power
-Hold racket tight for fast serves and loose for spiny serves
-Think on placement first
-Think what your opponent will do and be ready (e.g for a topspin serve be ready to receive a fast topspin ball)
-Grab the racket so you can move it faster with your wrist (e.g by the rubber)
-When serving underspin let the hand fall a bit to absorbe the energy and convert it to spin (like the excercice when you "catch" the ball falling up")
-Dont forget about no spin serves
-Stand further after serving
-Practice serves. Your serve is probably not as good as you think

Killing Chops:
-Hit below ball
-Hit as fast as possible!
-Upwards and then down (push up at contact)

General:
-Stand further after serving! (yes, I said it before, but it's important)
-If you are not looping be careful and hit the ball on the rise when topspin/driving. If you wait for the ball to drop you have to loop it
-Keep the right distances from table (e.g arm+hand for loops)
-Play competitive and aggressively even when practicing. You shouldn't have to "switch" the way you play when playing tournament
-Keep doing hops and move as soon as the ball touches the other player's paddle. Keep moving!!!
-Keep playing fast and hard but without rushing
-Approach the table and *snap* your forearm on short easy balls, don't be lazy and just wait for them. These are opportunities to end the point right away. Move!
-Always snap at the end all topspin strokes!
-Remember to hit only wide or at your opponent elbow

thanks alot man! ur fh tips r a big help!

"STAND FURTHER after serving" was a really really well pointed out factor.

i stand so close after service, when ppl push long, i usually push back in surprise instead of looping it. thanks for reminding me, ill always try and apply it in my game!

Then I mov my right lg to the middle of the FH box so I am ready

neat, i learned a lot of things to remind myself during matches =P thanks Imzadim!!

IceDefence wrote: Then I mov my right lg to the middle of the FH box so I am ready

recently i am trying to move a lot like RSM, the stance after service as u mentioned and it has def helped a lot, i just have to keep reminding myself after every shot, get back into position, of course would have helped to have agility like his

Who's coaching you?

I am! (on the internet at least)

nah.. it's more like 1% training, 19% feeling and 80% equipment

Schlager wrote: I am! (on the internet at least)   I have always tried to copy schlagers serves. They are mostly the same, but there is one difference... Mine suck

man how does he do that wind up REVERSE! man lol! cant even do it in the first place.

Glad you guys enjoy these tips.

@Jim: I agree 100% with you. Repeating each exercise 100s of times is the only way they will become part of you. You have to focus on a couple of things at the time until your muscle memory perform the movements for you. It helps having 1 or 2 goals each session and focus all you attention to that. I did mention this at the "disclaimer", but I should've put more emphasis on this, which is key! Thanks for your comment.

@Bull Harrier: yes, relaxing the hand is very important when flipping. I should write that on my personal list, since this is something my coach has also mentioned.

@varghesep: My coach is Wei Wang. Great teacher and great person. You can look her up on the web, she has quite a resume.

thats a good point

Definitively! Most of what I've learned has been from her classes. I should add a "�" sign next to the "dark meat" comment

If you add that to all the information that you can find online you can get an excellent education.