Table Tennis 8-Week Curriculum
Course 1 - Beginner Level
Purpose
This course curriculum is designed as a standardized guideline for an 8-week course (1-hr classes) to teach the basic concepts of Table Tennis to beginner/intermediate level students. It may be necessary to evaluate the student’s level of Table Tennis knowledge and advance these students to a more intermediate level curriculum. It will be at the instructor’s discretion to modify the curriculum for these students. However, it is also recommended that the instructor teach the same weekly topic/concept as being taught for the rest of the class for course consistency.
Note: Since this curriculum is a general instructor’s guideline, specific styles or methods of teaching techniques will not be included in this curriculum and it will be up to the discretion and experience of the training instructor as to the style/method they wish to teach. The goal is that the students receive the same class topic being taught to them regardless of whom the instructor is for that week’s class.
Results
At the end of the 8-week course, students should have a basic understanding of Table Tennis and should be competent in the following areas of the sport.
Basic
Rules and proper playing etiquette
Basic
serves for competitive play
Primary
strokes
Proper
footwork and body action
Training
drills for improved game play
Stretching
and general conditioning exercises required for competitive play
Resources
The following files are provided to you in a printable MS Word 97 format. These files will print out with the necessary page breaks to give you the option to print out only the necessary pages for the current week's class. A course outline will also be provided for the students of topics to be covered in the class. Click on the titles below to view or download these files. Note: You must have MS Office 97 or newer in order to view these files. You can also go to the tucows to download the MS Word 97/2000 document viewer.
Course
Outline
Course
Curriculum (with graphics)
Course
Curriculum (without graphics)
Week 1. Introduction/Forehand
Note: All classes should start with brief stretching exercises.
a. Evaluate student’s level of Table Tennis knowledge.
Warm-up
Hit
a few forehand/backhand shots to the student to determine
consistency of hitting the ball back to you at the same spot on the table.
Hit
a few cross court shots, one ball to the student’s right side,
then the next ball to the student’s left side, and notice the
student’s level of body movement and footwork.
Evaluation
If
student has good consistency, control, and footwork and is
knowledgeable about Table Tennis, then use an intermediate curriculum
for this student.
Also,
if student has never played table tennis before, determine which
style of play best fits this student – Shake-hand, Pin-hold,
blocking, etc&ldots;
b. Forehand Stroke
Holding
the TT Racquet.
Explain
the style the student wishes to play with or the correct method for
various styles of play if the student is not sure which style is best
for him/her.
Forehand
stroke.
Demonstrate
correct forehand stance and body action.
Explain/demonstrate
forehand ball mechanics of how the ball bounces/reacts before and
after hitting the table. Also explain when to hit the ball at the
correct timing and height.
Drill
forehand stoke (Flat Hit only). Focus should be on hitting the ball
at the correct Height and follow-through, and hitting the same spot
on your side (your corner of the table depending on whether right or
left handed).
c. Forehand Serve
Explain
rules of serving.
Explain
correct method of serving the ball based on USATT/ITTF serving rules.
Open
palm.
Ball
toss must be at least 6" high.
No
spin prior to ball contact.
Ball
must be served behind the table end-line.
Low-toss
serve.
Demonstrate
basic low-toss forehand serve.
Drill
forehand serve with student.
Week 2. Backhand
a. Review Week 1
Forehand
Warm-up
Focus
of review should be forehand
Forehand
flat-hitting
Forehand
serves.
Check
for correct ball height when hitting.
Good
eye contact.
b. Backhand Stroke
Explain/demonstrate
correct backhand stroke.
Demonstrate
correct backhand stance and body action.
Explain/demonstrate
backhand ball mechanics of how the ball bounces/reacts before and
after hitting the table. Also explain when to hit the ball at the
correct timing and height.
Drill
backhand stoke (Flat Hit only). Focus should be on hitting the ball
at the correct Height and follow-through, and hitting the same spot
on your side (your corner of the table depending on whether right or
left handed).
Explain/demonstrate
proper footwork for backhand stroke.
c. Backhand Serve
Low-toss
serve.
Demonstrate
basic low-toss backhand serve.
Drill
backhand serve with student.
Have
student focus on correct eye contact on the ball.
Week 3. Serving
a. Review Week 2
Backhand
Warm-up
Focus
is on backhand stroke
Backhand
flat-hits
Backhand
Serves
Be
sure that the racquet is not brought too far back on the back swing
on the above two items.
b. Types of Serves
Low-toss
– Explain/Demonstrate
Dead-ball
serve (flat-hit)
Side-spin
serve
Back-spin
serve
Top-spin
serve
High-toss
– Explain/Demonstrate
Dead-ball
serve (flat-hit)
Side-spin
serve
Back-spin
serve
Top-spin
serve
c. Ball Reactions on Serve
Ball
effect when serving
Explain/demonstrate
effects of serving the various types of serves.
Ball
effect after leaving paddle.
Ball
effect after the ball hits the opponent’s side of the table.
Ball
effect when opponent hits the ball.
Serve
Drills
Have
student serve dead-ball and backspin serves via high-toss and
low-toss methods – varying placement.
Serve
these same serves to the student so that he/she can see the results
of the different serves when he/she tries to return them.
Week 4. Footwork
a. Review Week 3
Serving
Warm-up
Focus
should be on basic low-toss serves
Flat/dead-ball
serves
Backspin
serves
Do
not hit ball back to student when they are serving - just toss the
ball back to them, as they need more balls.
b. Stances
Explain
various Stances used in table tennis play
Ready
position
Focus
on relaxed stance.
Feet
1 shoulder width apart.
Knees
slightly bent.
Knees
being bent may vary in degree depending on how tall the student is
in relation to the stroking height of the table.
Forehand
stances
Straddle-leg
stance.
Feet
2 shoulder widths apart.
Knees
bent with outward tension on knees.
Forward
stance.
Feet
1 shoulder width apart and 2 shoulder widths in length.
Front
knee bent.
Backhand
stances
Primarily
straddle-leg stance.
Feet
2 shoulder widths apart.
Knees
bent with outward tension on knees.
c. Footwork
Explain
various Footwork
Stepping
techniques
One
foot crossing over the other foot.
Stepping
side-ways
Stepping
front to rear
Shifting
techniques
Feet
not crossing, feet width remains same as stance, and shifting as far
as possible by slightly lifting the foot of the direction you wish to
move to.
Shifting
side-to-side
Shifting
fore and aft
Drills
Using
Stepping/Shifting techniques, have student stand on one side of the
table (e.g., left side), while serving to the other side of the table
(e.g., right side).
Have
student notice which technique requires less energy and which
technique covers great distances.
Hit
balls to one side (student’s side) of student and having
student make "small" corrections by using shifting technique.
Hit
balls cross court (alternating from right and left side of table),
having student use stepping technique in order to cover great
distances in order to return ball.
Use
multi-ball technique if student is not capable of returning ball
consistently back across the table. Multi-ball technique is when you
have several balls in your hand and immediately serving another ball
to the student as soon as he miss-hits a ball or the ball goes out of play.
Week 5. Smashing
a. Review Week 4
Footwork
Warm-up
Straddle-leg
stance – shifting with small corrections to the ball.
Focus
on forehand/backhand shots while maintaining straddle-leg stance.
Ensure
outside tension is maintained on the knees
Stepping
Alternate
hitting the ball to the student’s right and left side of the
table, with the focus being stepping from side-to-side of the table.
b. Smashing Mechanics
Explain/demonstrate
smashing
Ball
height for smashing
Ball
must be at least net height when smashing.
Body
action for smashing
Ensure
correct, relaxed body action when smashing.
Timing
required for smashing
Focus
on breathing in order to aid in timing and body control.
c. Drills - Note: Multi-ball drills may be necessary if the student is not consistent enough to return 3 or 5 balls in order to smash them. In this case, have the student smash the 3rd or 5th ball whether it is a multi-ball or not.
1st
Ball smash
Serve
student high balls and have them smash them back.
3rd
Ball Smash
Have
student smash the 3rd ball that he/she hits.
5th
Ball Smash
Have
student smash 5th ball.
Do
this exercise only if student is capable of a 5th ball rally.
Week 6. Loops
a. Review Week 5
Smashing
Focus
should be on 1st and 3rd ball smash/attacks.
b. Loop Mechanics
Explain/demonstrate
Loop techniques
Short
Loop
When
ball is close to net (known as a flip shot).
Spin
Loop
Spin
type of loop with high arc and quick drop to the ball.
Loop
Drive
Low/fast
looping action on ball.
c. Drills
Loop
on side-spin
Serve/loop
side-spin balls to the student and have student return it with side-spin.
Loop
on back-spin
Serve/hit
back-spin balls and have student return with spin type of loop.
Loop
on top-spin
Serve/loop
top-spin balls and have student return with loop drive (fast loop).
Multi-ball
drills
Serve/hit
various types of spins, or no spins, and have student loop them.
Week 7. Chops/Pushes
a. Review Week 6
Loop
Focus
should be on spin type of forehand loop (not fast loop drive).
Serve/hit
heavy under-spin ball to student.
b. Pushes
Short
Stroke Push
Explain
short push with digging type of action with ball landing close to net.
Forehand
Backhand
Long
Stroke Push
Explain
long stroke push with big follow-through on stroke.
Forehand
Backhand
c. Chop
Mid-distance
chop
Explain
mid-distance chop - 1 to 2 steps back from the table’s end line.
Forehand
Backhand
d. Drills
Multi-ball
drill
Continue
to serve backspin serves and have student push back.
Forehand
- Serve/hit chops and have student return with push.
Backhand
- Serve/hit chops and have student return with push.
Week 8. Serve returns
a. Review Week 7
Pushing
Warm-up
Focus
should be on pushing shots with heavy under-spin.
Forehand
Backhand
b. Serve Returns
Techniques
Chop
Returns
How
to return chops.
Side-spin
Returns
How
to return side-spin balls.
Loop
Returns
How
to return loops.
Blocking
How
to return blocked balls.
c. Drills
Multi-ball
Serve
chops
Loop
and push returns.
Serve
side-spin
Loop
returns.
Serve
top-spin
Loop
and flat-hit returns.
Serve
dead-ball
Smash
returns.
Ó Jack Miller 10/20/2000