Arts, Music, and Recreation Sports Beginner/Intermediate 1 Hour Table Tennis Training Program Training for the Time Poor... Share Flipboard Email Print Geri Lavrov / Photographer's Choice RF / Getty Images Sports Table Tennis Basics How to Play Gear Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Climbing Cricket Diving Extreme Sports Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Skiing Snowboarding Soccer Surfing Swimming Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Sports & Activities View More by Greg Letts Greg Letts is a world-ranked table tennis player and an Australian Level 1 table tennis coach. He wrote the eBook, "How to Win at Table Tennis." Updated May 19, 2018 For those of you out there who can only sneak in an hour of training here and there, I've put together a sample table tennis training session, outlining a number of drills, and how long to perform each drill. I'll explain in more detail later in the article the reasoning behind the drills selected and the times chosen. As for any advice given, feel free to modify the outline to suit your own individual needs and preferences. Sample One Hour Table Tennis Training Session Outline Pre-Session Warm up 0 Minute Mark Forehand to Forehand Counterhit - 2½ minBackhand to Backhand Counterhit - 2½ min 5 Minute Mark Forehand Loop to Block - 5 minSwap roles 5 min 15 Minute Mark Backhand Loop to Block - 5 minSwap roles - 5 min 25 Minute Mark Falkenberg Drill - 5 minSwap roles - 5 min 35 Minute Mark Loop to Loop - 5 minORSmash to Lob - 2½ minSwap roles - 2½ min 40 Minute Mark Push to Push - 5 min 50 Minute Mark Serve, Return, Open - 5 minSwap roles 1 Hour Mark Cool down Explanation of the Training Outline Pre-Session Warm upEven though this training session is only an hour long, that doesn't mean that you should ignore getting an adequate warm up. You'll be doing some drills that are going to require a lot of your body, so make sure you are warmed up and fully stretched before beginning to avoid getting injured. 0 Minute Mark Forehand to Forehand Counterhit - 2½ minBackhand to Backhand Counterhit - 2½ minThis counterhitting drill is just a quick way of making sure that you get adjusted to the conditions. Forget about hitting the ball hard and concentrate on consistency. You should be aiming to hit as many balls in a row as you can, so that you you get your eye in and are ready to hit the ground running in the next exercise. 5 Minute Mark Forehand Loop to Block - 5 minSwap roles - 5 minThis is the first real drill of the session. The idea is for one player to be using his forehand attack (loop or drive, whichever is preferred), while the other player provides a steady block to make sure the first player is working hard. Beginners should focus on keeping the drill simple so that their success ratio is at least 70-80. I'd also recommend that beginners use a simple topspin serve, to make it easier to get straight into working the forehand attack. Intermediate players can add other variations to the drill, such as the blocker varying the placement of the ball, or using a proper serve and serve return, then a forehand open. I've got a number of suggested forehand drill variations for intermediate players. 15 Minute Mark Backhand Loop to Block - 5 minSwap roles - 5 minThis is similar to the previous exercise but from the backhand side. I have a number of more advanced backhand drill variations for intermediate players. 25 Minute Mark Falkenberg Drill - 5 minSwap roles - 5 minNow that the forehand and backhand attacks have been drilled, you can move onto a footwork drill which combines both elements. The Falkenberg drill is a classic example, but any drill that combines forehand, backhands, and footwork will do the job. Most players find 5 minutes of concentrated footwork practice is more than enough before needing a rest. Again, the emphasis is on footwork practice - if you are not getting through at least 2-3 cycles of the drill, slow down. 35 Minute Mark Loop to Loop - 5 minORSmash to Lob - 2½ minSwap roles - 2½ minHaving done a few intense drills, now it's time for a fun drill for 5 minutes or so for a change of pace. Both the loop to loop or smash to lob drills are unlikely to last more than a few strokes if done properly, but it's a nice change to be able to go all out on your strokes for a while, after spending the first 35 minutes training your consistency. 40 Minute Mark Push to Push - 5 minThe push is not a glamorous stroke and tends to get ignored by new players. This is not a good idea, as many players find out the first time they play an opponent with a consistent push and good spin variation. Spend 5 minutes pushing the ball to all locations of the table, varying spin and speed. Don't forget to use proper footwork as well. A steady and consistent push is needed at all levels of the game, so do not skip this drill. 50 Minute Mark Serve, Return, Open - 5 minSwap rolesAfter concentrating on stroke play for the first 50 minutes, spend the last 10 minutes practicing your serve and serve return. I'd personally recommend dropping the 5 minutes of loop to loop in the middle of the session to spend an extra 2½ minutes each on serving practice, which will probably be more useful to you. One player should serve, using his full repertoire of serves, and his playing partner should return the serve, trying to make the return hard to attack. The server should then try to initiate his third ball attack, while the receiver is trying to prevent the server from attacking so that he can start his own fourth ball attack. If you are looking for a bit more variety in your serve practice, I have a number of suggested serve and serve return drills to choose from. Again, keep things simple to start with, and when you are achieving a high rate of success, move to more complicated drills. Depending on your training partner, you may or may not wish to have the server repeat serves that are giving the receiver trouble. Repeating the serve until the receiver learns to return it can make it harder to beat your training partner, but it should also improve your training and allow you both to get better faster. You need to decide whether it's more important to beat your training partner or everybody else! 1 Hour Mark Cool downA cool down period is needed after any training session, so make sure you at least spend a few minutes walking around to get your heart rate down gradually and do another round of stretches to help prevent developing any muscle soreness. Continue Reading