Table tennis training equipment
The table tennis - training is facilitated by different devices or enriched by new aspects.
Ball machine
The most well-known table tennis training device is the ball machine - also known as the ball robot. It stands either on the table or on a separate stand. Systems with safety nets are attached directly to the table and then stretched over one half of the table. The safety net is mounted in such a way that the incoming balls are collected on the sides and at the end of the table . All the balls that were not completely missed land in a large bowl under the safety net. The balls are sucked in from a container under the safety net with a hose or, in older models, poured by hand into an overhead bowl. The machine usually has a rigid ball head, which can be rotated 180 degrees in the more expensive models and which ejects the balls with two rotating foam rubber drums with variable rotation and speed. The speed of the balls, their frequency, their direction (possibly also with a change of direction between two hits) and the spin of the balls can be adjusted. The spin results from the difference in speed and roll direction of the rollers, the speed from the resulting component of both. So you can train one or more specific setbacks against the constantly playing machine or do endurance training. The general problem with these ball robots is that the player has to react to the opponent's punching movement. In addition, the machine can only realistically display topspin and strong undercut in the relationship between spin and speed, since the rubber rollers rotate constantly at high speed. Due to the variety of balls, a machine cannot replace the human opponent, but with various adjustment options (rotatable ball head), it can eliminate certain weaknesses (sidespin serve acceptance, topspin and undercut ball acceptance) and improve endurance.
For several years there have also been machines with 2 ball heads that are fed by programmable control electronics and can then produce a sequence of strokes - e.g. B. 3 × topspin / 1 × shot. Because of their comparatively high price, these machines are rarely used.
Target fields
As a supplement to robot training, target fields are available that are placed on the TT table and whose hits are shown on an electronically controlled display. Alternatively, target objects can also be cut out of paper, dispensing with electronic displays.
Ball bucket
A training method for competitive athletes is training with the ball bucket. Here, a coach passes the balls to the player and does not accept his setbacks, but watches them. The advantage over ball machines lies in the unexpected placement, which is more like the real game. The disadvantage is the low spin possibilities. The coach has a ball bucket on or near the table, continuously picks up balls and plays them in. He lets it drip onto his own half first (indirect play-in) or before jumping on his own half of the table (direct play-in) and then, unlike a serve, hits it immediately on the opposite half of the table. When the ball bin is empty, the balls are collected again, which can also be done by another player who takes turns with the other. Various stands and devices are available to place or hang the ball bucket to the side of the table within reach and height of the trainer.
The coach and player perform normal rallies, but the coach can bring a new ball into play immediately after every mistake, which significantly increases the training intensity. Because of the possible variations, which allow the trainer to tailor the feed to the individual's learning objective, ball bucket training is much more than just a replacement for a ball robot.
Special training balls
- To make it easier for inexperienced players to assess the rotation of the ball, three-colored training balls are used .
- In beginner training, enlarged balls are occasionally used (44 mm ∅), which make it easier to learn the basic strokes due to their slower flight. These balls are - because of the small number of copies and therefore the lack of or only a very rough selection - of very mixed quality in terms of rounding and jumping behavior.
- In Japan, beginners' training occasionally uses soft balls, which are made of thinner celluloid and are therefore softer and about 1 gram lighter than competition balls. Because of the thinner walls, these balls jump off more slowly and because of the lower specific weight they are more strongly decelerated in flight. The quality of these balls also suffers from the low circulation and therefore insufficient selection.
- In the mid-1980s, attempts were made to slow down the game for beginners by using foam balls. Because of the completely atypical flight and jumping behavior, especially with hits with spin, these balls disappeared very quickly from the training halls of the clubs. Occasionally you can still find them today in the hobby area - e.g. B. In health resorts and holiday resorts or next to mini golf courses in connection with outdoor concrete table tennis tables.
TT training ball for spin detection (38 mm ∅)
Size comparison training ball "Big and Easy" (44 mm) and competition ball (40 mm ∅)
Table tennis ball made of foam (39 mm) next to competition ball (40 mm ∅)
Return boards
Return boards are mounted at the end of the table with an adjustable slope, are covered with table tennis rubbers or other rubber-like materials and allow individual training without a ball machine to a certain extent. Depending on the setting of the slope, only one stroke of a certain length, speed and certain twist is actually returned to the player in such a way that it is possible to continue playing. However, the procedure works satisfactorily for certain basic techniques such as safe counterballs. For the training of z. B. light topspin strokes, return boards are also suitable with the appropriate setting. Return boards are often made by skilled trainers themselves. They can also be purchased under the name Returnboard. Their biggest drawback is that fast strokes or those with strong forward spin (topspin) jump from the board over the table. This shortcoming has now been remedied by positioning the return board 10 to 30 cm behind the baseline on a topspin frame. Due to the 20 to 60 cm longer path of the ball from the baseline to the return board and back, the player has more time to carry out his backward movement. This means that more time is available to perform technique and footwork for faster balls. The fast top spin ball is now safely returned to your own half of the table by the “late block”.
Weight racket
Weight clubs can be used to specifically train the speed of the hitting arm. These consist of normal coverings and a "stick wood" in which one or more veneers are replaced by metal plates. So you can do realistic strength training. However, it must be ensured that the racket is not made too heavy, because otherwise the maximum strength, but not the speed strength , which is mainly important, is trained. If the dosed weight is too high - especially when training without instruction from a trainer - injuries due to overload can occur. If the weight is extremely too high, the stroke dynamics can even decline. With a low dose of weight and the use of a ball robot, strength endurance can also be trained with the weight racket . The use of a weight racket should definitely take place after the competition, because fine coordination initially suffers and the player's technique loses security. Alternatively, weight cuffs can be used for the forearm. These have the advantage that they put less strain on the wrist than a weight racket and also interfere less with fine coordination. Because of the shorter lever compared to the weight racket, the weight has to be dosed a little higher. The muscles of the wrist are also not strengthened when using the weight cuff.
Topspin wheel
You can use a wheel to learn how to hit the tangential topspin (see table tennis ). Either you use a commercially available bike (about the size of the balloon tire on a children's scooter) that is attached to the table with a screw clamp, or you put a normal bike upside down on the handlebars and saddle and then train on the front tire without a table. The exercising player must try to drive the wheel by striking it tangentially with his racket. Both solutions - but especially the second one - are associated with considerable wear of the base and should better be carried out with a discarded table tennis racket, possibly without a base. In order to be able to determine the degree of success, one should also attach a speedometer (bicycle speedometer).
Wrist exercise
A so-called articulated gyro or GyroTwister is available for training the wrist . A flywheel, mounted in a plastic case about the size of a tennis ball, is held between the fingers and rotated by skillful wrist movements. When the flywheel rotates at greater speed, it takes considerable force to hold it in place. This training device is not without controversy - but there are many players and coaches who favor this method. Alternatively, a tennis ball can be kneaded with one hand. Nobuhiko Hasegawa (TT world champion from 1967) and tennis player and multiple Wimbledon winner Rod Laver are said to have trained forearms and wrists in this way.
Other devices
There are many other ways to incorporate everyday objects or exercise equipment into table tennis training in an improvised way. Table tennis players and coaches are often very creative here.
In order to check the movement sequence during topspin as a makeshift check, you can also use an inclined gymnastics bench, for example - the player must then try to give the ball so much spin or momentum only by tangential hitting without hitting it that the ball reached the end of the bench.
To improve footwork, weight cuffs up to approx. 2 kg can also be attached above the ankles. Under no circumstances should these weights be carried on the hitting arm - the speed would then suffer (see weight racket!).
In order to practice hitting the ball with the sweet spot of the table tennis racket, rackets can be used in which only this optimal hit zone is covered with covering.
The topspinning net can be used to train the “soft topspin”; The balloon net is used to practice balloon defense, and the impact net enables targeted training.