Table Tennis England The Winning Edge Issue 5 | Page 12

© Exeter City Table Tennis Club

Exeter City FC’s burgeoning table tennis youth group

‘We have an attitude of wanting to improve
youngsters,’ Thompson said. ‘We try to make them
feel part of the club, with various social events, so
they feel comfortable enough to keep coming back.
‘Then it’s about having good quality coaches who are
able to give their time up to do one-on-one sessions
and work with the players at whatever speed they need.
‘We just want the players to get as far as they want
to go. Ultimately, it’s about the time they want to put
in: there’s a big difference between two hours practice
a week and 10 hours. If they want to put in the effort
though, we are here as a club to work with them and
if we can’t, we’ve got contacts around the region to
direct them to.’
Talent Development Centres
It was through Thompson’s, and Fern’s, contacts that
Shayan Siraj went from regional to national camps
and is now at a TDC, a path that Table Tennis England
are keen to highlight. Ackworth School is one of nine
TDCs nationally and forms a core part of the plan to
create a new generation of internationally competitive
players.
‘The big hope is that each TDC will produce such
high-level players that many will come up to the
level of winning medals at the European Youth
Championships,’ said Talent Pathway Manager Marcus
Gustafson.
‘The potential definitely exists but we need to train
more than we do in general, because that’s what other
countries are doing. It needs to be a minimum of 10
hours a week and to come up to medal-winning level,
it needs to be 15-20 hours.’

on the table and saying: “If you hit that three times in a
row you can keep it.” I’ve not had to pay out yet!
‘A lot of it, early on, is about making things competitve,
giving them a reason to keep trying a drill. “He’s hit that
bottle three times, can you make it four?” Then once
they improve, once they look ready for full matches,
make sure you get the right opposition set up,’
Thompson explained.
‘Playing casually is one thing, but having the ability
first to play adults in practice sessions then move onto
league level has a big impact on their development.’
One of Leeds Judean’s promising youth players, Dan
Musgrave, explained that for him, access to a regular
coach there was key to his continued participation
and development.
‘Having Costas (Kyriacou, Judean Head Coach) there all
the time was huge,’ the 16–year–old enthused. ‘I was
able to feel I was always improving and got to attend
things like the Yorkshire regional training camps.
‘The fact it was just one coach made a big difference.
I could get into a routine with him and he knew all my
bad habits and what we were working on. It always
takes a new coach a while to work that stuff out, so you
don’t want to be swapping coaches every few weeks.’

Get the coaching right

Thompson’s tips for training and improving
your club’s junior section:

Thompson made it clear that there is a particular
knack to coaching new, young club members. ‘Kids love
targets, if you don’t start them too high.

• Give juniors the opportunity to practise with
better and better players.

‘Drills like ‘cricket’ – where one kid hits the ball hard
against the table and the others stand opposite ready
to catch – are easy to set targets for and great for
beginners. Another nice one is putting a five pound note

• Give them access to as much good coaching as
they want.
• Have facilities and an atmosphere that they will
enjoy playing in.

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