Practicing Against Weaker Opponents
The other day, I was teaching a class of twelve year olds at the boys club in my area.
While showing them the proper way to use footwork, the athletic director walked in and took a seat. The whole time he was there, he seemed fascinated about the action that took place.
When the class was over, he pulled me to the side and asked me, “How can be you be so excited about teaching these young men the finer points on table tennis?”
I replied, “To me it’s not teaching, I’m really practicing.” The athletic director looked shocked that I answered the question the way that I did.
“How can you practice with a bunch of kids when you obviously are very good at what you do?” he asked.
Many times, players disregard others who play the lovely sport of table tennis simply because they feel they are better than them. I personally feel that every match is different.
Whether you have superior skills or not, practice is practice. There’s never a moment where you can’t learn anything from playing against weaker opponents. The key is to practice on something!
Now I’m not saying you should go out there and crush the weaker opponent into oblivion. This won’t do nothing but help make enemies and make you look like a mean-spirited player. Instead, be creative and find ways to improve your game!
You can practice on one or two specific things that can help your game become stronger.
For instance, if the weaker player has a really good forehand, then practice ways to return the shot. You can work on using good footwork to return every shot with your backhand.
Not only will this be a workout for you but also your opponent can practice their forehand as well and learn from you. That’s what being a good sportsman is all about.
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