I am about to take over an after-school table tennis club and was hoping that anyone who has experience with teaching large groups of high-school kids table could share some tips.

Does anyone know of any helpful material on how to keep large mixed ability groups interested and also on how to potentially help some of the kids become more serious about the sport?

I would suggest 3 things:

1. Multi-ball games  -  Each player hits a certain number of balls (5-10 so wait in line is low).  But unlike plain multi-ball there is some competition to win such as: knocking cups over, hitting a target, getting all their shots to land, most balls landed in 3 tries, etc.  Google "Larry Hodges worm juice game" for one coaches unique approach.

2. Group shadow practice of strokes and footwork.

3. A  "keep busy" activity to reduce wait time for multi-ball.  So before they go to the end of the line for multi-ball they do some activity.  These might include things like bouncing ball 10 times on each side of racket,  doing some shadow strokes, doing a footwork pattern around an adjacent table, serving 10 balls, etc.  So they stay more involved and do not get bored and start acting up.

Truth in advertising -  I have not really done this myself, but it iswhat I have seen in numerous videos and read in various articles.  

Good luck

Mark - Once the world's greatest coach, but now just a pretentious internet poster

Also, teach them how to feed balls early on. It helps to have everyone be a proficient ball feeder, so you can have more training going on at once, with less people waiting.

Try to keep them under control as well. My experience is mainly with younger children (ages 5-12), and they are hard to teach. The lose focus very easily, and often don't listen. You are working with high-schoolers, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I watched other ppl playing doubles and since they looked like they were having a blast I decided to join in.

Got hooked into playing TT right then and there.

If somehow you can incorporate doubles play in your class I think it might do the trick!!

FdT

Larry Hodges is definitely a good resource, that guy has a lot to say about teaching table tennis!

My main problem will be with keeping the kids on task and busy whilst also enjoying themselves but I'm sure it will all just come together once I get started.

I generally go with a 2-1 ration - 2/3 practice, 1/3 games. (More like 50-50 for kids 8 and under.) For new players, you'll be doing a lot of multiball. At the high school level, they should have the coordination to hit among themselves after some multiball practice. 

For games, have them play king of the table, up-down tables, or Brazilian Teams. However, it's also good to have a large supply of paper cups and a bottle of Gatorade. Kids like to build large pyramids and walls out of the cups, and then they line up, taking turns knocking them down while you feed multiball. (Perhaps three shots each, though only one on first round.) Or you put the Gatorade bottle on the table and feed multiball, and they line up, taking turns trying to hit it, two shots per turn - and if they hit it, you have to drink it. But since these are high school kids, you'll want to focus more on the real games mentioned above. But let them try different games and see which they like. 

As to getting them serious about the sport, first teach the basics; then let them see real table tennis by good players, and they'll want to be like that; and then let them know about other opportunities (private coaching, more advanced group sessions, leagues, tournaments). Many will continue and become serious players. 

A key is finding the balance between serious and fun. If you are too serious, it's not fun, and you lose them. If you make it just fun, it's like playing Parcheesi, and they don't take it seriously and you lose them. Find that balance. 

-Larry Hodges

http://www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog" rel="nofollow - www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog

I had actually already invested in a copy of your handbook, lots of good stuff in there. 

Looking forward to starting the programme soon.