All About Table Tennis

[timtamfan]

elishatan:

I found this class that charges $100 for 4 lessons (each lesson 2 hours long, 8 hours total). It is taught by a certified table tennis coach. He teaches at schools too.


Don't seem to be too expensive?

https://secure.learnemy.com/groups/table-tennis-children-singapore-jurong

This is about the same rate as STTA's Learn-to-Play ($250 for 10 lessons). Having sent my 2 kids to the Toa Payoh centre before, I have decided to continue with private lessons after that. It is important that you gauge the coach's quality (love and dedication to the sport, stress on fundamentals, getting along with kids etc). A group class may be more fun and coachees have people to play with; private lessons may be more intensive and likely to lead to faster improvement. Personally I would not want the group size to exceed 3 or 4.

I believe there is one centre around Pioneer (if that's convenient for you). If you feel you and your children are likely to play TT for some time, do invest in good bats (and balls). Makes a difference when you get more advanced

[Shan]

Hi,

Anyone know of a coach who teaches in the east area for leisure only? Please share.
Thanks

[gerberadaisy]

Hi parents,


Somebody mentioned a coach, Yu Jiaonian (coaching in Clementi), in one of the posts. Does anyone has his contacts? I’m looking for a private coach around Clementi . Thanks!

[timtamfan]

Anyone knows a good coach for midweek evenings (5pm-7pm) for Bedok area ? For kids training for competition. Please PM if you know of a suitable coach. Thank you.

[7cube]

Hi everyone, if you know of a great table tennis coach to recommend for my son who is in Primary 2 this year (he is already in the school table tennis cca since Primary 1), please email me at Cynthia.yew@gmail.com or pm me if it is more convenient for you.


Thank you very much

[iRabbit]

Can some experts share knowledge about tt bats?


My son (9 yrs old), is currently crazy over tt, playing it almost daily. He’s just a beginner but have been at it for mths. He complains that his bat is sub-standard.

a) He tells me there’re bats rated with 4, 5, 6 … all the way to 10 stars. What are those?

b) It is nec. to get those bats and rubber separately? Or those all-in-one will do?

c) The rubber has grades for attributes like hardness, speed, spin. Speed and spin are self-explanatory, but what’s hardness?

d) I noticed there’re the black and red sides to a bat? Does the colour represent something?

e) On the red side, some are smooth while others have polka dots. What’s the diff?

f) Lastly, anyone can recommend a good beginner bat and where to get it? Since ds is so keen, I don’t mind spending up to $200/300 I guess.

Sorry for the noobs questions, used to think that tt is a simple sports but not now.

Thanks.

[fanren]

Anyone who can give me contact who can coach a 12 year boy for leisure play in table tennis? Bedok area.

[timtamfan]

Hi FQW, sorry I don’t consider myself an expert, but I can share what have learned a bit about TT in the past year as my two kids became serious in the sport. I think age 9 is a wonderful age to start proper coaching (though I think the STTA zones may not accept kids at that age unless they already have some foundation).


As for bats, I’ve bought those cheeeep ones (carefour-type I think $10 for 2 or 4), those all in one (Butterfly / Donic - $25-$50) and separate (Yakasa / Donic - $200+). Having played with these I can vouch that there is a big difference, perhaps a 5-fold improvement followed by a 3-fold improvement. It’s how the bat feels in the hand when you swing and how easy to manipulate the ball . At my kids current playing level, they’re spinning and slicing the balls mostly , instead of straightforward hitting. So if your child is serious (as in want to improve and will be playing for the next few years) then a separate bat will evolve better with them. The bat can last a long time, but the rubber will need changing perhaps once a year depending on the quality and frequency of play.

I think the red and black side is part of the rules of competition. As for hardness/dimpled etc, it depends on personal preference (like the amount of tension you put on a badminton string). A coach will be able to help you as I think it also depends on the player’s ability. I bought my intermediate (all-in-one) bats from World of Sports Toa Payoh and Queensway top floor. I saw the separate ones at Bras Basah book shop level 1 and Sin Ten (Braddell MRT and a regular haunt for serious players). But my bats were purchased by my coach overseas. You can pm me for more details. Good luck and worth investing.

[iRabbit]

timtamfan:

Hi FQW, sorry I don't consider myself an expert, but I can share what have learned a bit about TT in the past year as my two kids became serious in the sport. I think age 9 is a wonderful age to start proper coaching (though I think the STTA zones may not accept kids at that age unless they already have some foundation).


As for bats, I've bought those cheeeep ones (carefour-type I think $10 for 2 or 4), those all in one (Butterfly / Donic - $25-$50) and separate (Yakasa / Donic - $200+). Having played with these I can vouch that there is a big difference, perhaps a 5-fold improvement followed by a 3-fold improvement. It's how the bat feels in the hand when you swing and how easy to manipulate the ball . At my kids current playing level, they're spinning and slicing the balls mostly , instead of straightforward hitting. So if your child is serious (as in want to improve and will be playing for the next few years) then a separate bat will evolve better with them. The bat can last a long time, but the rubber will need changing perhaps once a year depending on the quality and frequency of play.

I think the red and black side is part of the rules of competition. As for hardness/dimpled etc, it depends on personal preference (like the amount of tension you put on a badminton string). A coach will be able to help you as I think it also depends on the player's ability. I bought my intermediate (all-in-one) bats from World of Sports Toa Payoh and Queensway top floor. I saw the separate ones at Bras Basah book shop level 1 and Sin Ten (Braddell MRT and a regular haunt for serious players). But my bats were purchased by my coach overseas. You can pm me for more details. Good luck and worth investing.

Thanks for sharing, timtamfan.

As there're tt tables at ds's student care and at my block, he gets to play tt almost daily. When he can't get his friends, I'm the reserve and play with him in the evenings. I'm fully supportive as sports beats him staring at the ipad/computer playing those online games. But he's not into competitive tt, just leisure.

Unfortunately your reply came too late and I've oredi got one at this little shop in Bras Basah called Kingdom. They only sell tt equipment and sounded knowledgeable wrt the sports. Think they've over 100 bats and 200 rubbers for selection. Mind boggling ... (un)fortunately ds goes for branding only and chose one called STIGA which is supposedly renowned for bats (his friend has one). The shop actually filed off some of the handle to suit his hand (sounds very pro hor, hehe).

At home we have one Donic, one Butterfly and then this customised bat. So much easier to control the ball with the customised bat. So it does make a diff for us too.

[will.054365tuition65]

Table Tennis isnt a sport as popular as it used to be. That’s why most of the coaches in Singapore are really hard to find. Know a few though. If interested, can PM me. I can see if they are willing to coach students!