FOUR CLASSES

Massimo Costantini – ITTF High Performance Elite Coach

HPD 2020 CLASSES
q Beginners
q Hopes
q Nationals
q Professionals

Classes will feature different

aspects of coaching
addressed to coaches
 Basic Skill:
Communication
What is the best way to communicate?

TO BE CLEAR
TO BE DIRECT
TO BE SIMPLE
This presentation will help you to work and manage players
of different levels
BEGINNERS
Class 1
Have fun
Pillar 1
4 Basic
Learn
Elements
Pillar 2
Simplicity
Apply
Pillar 3

Test
Pillar 4
 Having Fun
Rule valid from Day 1 of a table tennis player’s career
8 WHYs & more!

o Because it is essential for improving

o Because it is a perfect anti-stress

o Because it is fundamental for performing

o Because any sport is a game

o Because it is important for education

o Because increases the self-confidence

o Because it relieves fatigue

o Because it is a part of development & more

 LEARNING
Definition
To gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in
(something) by study, experience or being
taught.
TABLE TENNIS IS THE LEARNING STEPS
PRINCE OF SKILL • LET THEM PLAY
GAMES
• NO RULES (NOT A SPORT
YET)
• BASIC
• IMPORTANCE OF THE
INITIAL INPUTS
 LEARNING
Methods of teaching
VERBAL
• AUDITORY
• EXPLAIN WITH SIMPLE WORDS
• INTRODUCE SOME FUN FACTS

VISUAL
• SEEING (SHOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING)
• YOUR SKILL AND/OR OTHERS’ SKILLS

KINESTHETIC
• TACTILE LEARNING
• HELPING THE CHILD TO GET THE
FEELING OF THE STROKE
 ANALYTICS
METHOD
VERBAL We have to make sure that our R
(auditory) message will REACH our student E
clearly, directly and simply. P
L
E E
When you observe children doing T
A VISUAL
(seeing) their stuff, you will notice how they
R A
tend to COPY others.
T
N
I
KINESTHETIC Helping the children to FEEL the
action by taking their arm or hand; in O
(tactile)
short, to play with them N

TIME TO PROCESS
 COMBINED
METHOD
VERBAL VISUAL
(auditory) (seeing)

REPEATATION
KINESTHETIC VERBAL

LEARN
(tactile) (auditory)

VISUAL KINESTHETIC VERBAL

(seeing) (tactile) (auditory)

TIME TO PROCESS
 APPLYING
SKILLS
Turning a theoretic idea into practical action
PRACTICAL STAGE

As indicated above, repetition is the practical stage of applying

any skill. For any stage of teaching any basic technique or any

element related to table tennis it is very important to investigate

and observe the reaction of your students and proceed to the

next level or stage.

1. Target
THE 7 Ts
1. Tool
1. Talent
TESTING
SKILLS
1. Thinking
1. Threshold
1. Tangible
1. Takeaway The act of watching results
PRACTICAL STAGE WITH SOLID RESULTS

The 7 Ts is the process by which you can use all your skills to
make the class with the student very successful.

Here, there is no limit to your creativity. I have listed some essential

elements that can be used interchangeably. It is not necessary to
proceed in order.

The most important thing that connects the Ts is an additional T:

TRUTH
 Honoring the values

Education
of sport
DISCIPLINE
Respect Training that
makes people more willing to obey or
Behavior
more able to control themselves
Environment
Sportsmanship
Equipment Discipline is a vast matter which has an underlying objective:
making people responsible for their actions.

The process is expressed in different ways depending on several

aspects like family, social condition, background etc.

When we deal with children, we have to consider our role as

educators.
GRIP
READY POSITION TECHNIQUE
TAPPING /
BOUNCING
ELEMENTS
PUSH
FOREHAND
BACKHAND
SIDEWAYS STEP
TRANSITION F/B
Learning,
applying, testing GRIP
the technique
• What to consider
GRIP Children will automatically adjust the grip as per
their previous knowledge or for their current comfort.

• How big is the hand?

Due to the size of their hand, it might be not easy to
find the ideal grip, so consider it a period of study.

• What to avoid
Pay a lot of attention to wrong habits, like holding
the racket with two hands (tennis habit) or adjusting the
racket with the free hand before hitting any stroke.
Learning,
applying, testing READY
the technique of
READY • Introduction
POSITION
POSITION The ready position is a very dynamic process during
which a player can adjust, modify, change throughout their
career.

• Legs position
As above, in this stage it is only important to keep the
legs not to close and not too open, just it depends on how
toll the student is and, of course, by bending the legs.

• Arm position
It is important that the student learns to keep the
racket and arm high.
Learning,
applying, testing TAPPING /
the technique of
TAPPING/
BOUNCING
• What do you need?
BOUNCING A ball and a racket

• What is the object of this exercise?

This is the first encounter with the ball and the
racket, something for them to get familiar with.

• What is for?
The action of tapping or bouncing the ball on the
racket is very important to make them understand the
reaction of the ball on the racket and in a certain sense on
the palm of the hand.
Learning,
applying, testing PUSH
Moving something forward
the technique •
Following the principle of simplicity, push is the
PUSH action to move something forward, an action to take the
ball from one place to another, without hitting hard.

• Accompanying the ball

When the ball touches the racket, the action of
gently accompanying ball is the basic to learning this
kind of stroke.

• Follow-up the action of push

In the process of educating the student, it is
important to teach them what the follow-up means. This
element of the technique will be very useful later on for
more intermediate and advance stages.
Learning,
applying, testing FOREHAND
the technique of • What to pay attention to
It is very common that the arm of the child tends to
FOREHAND drop down; the action of Forehand makes the ball spinless,
so the trajectory of the racket should be straight.

• Where to start the action of Forehand

EASY BUT NOT With the help of the upper side body which
backswings, the arm is ready to start the action; there is no
EASY an ideal starting point, but definitely avoid to backswing too
much.

• Where to end the action of Forehand

There is an end to the stroke, because each one is
strictly connected to the next. Again, the follow-through
action is fundamental to being consistent and to keep going
in the rally. This ability will be a must to learn in any table
tennis player’s career.
Learning,
applying, testing BACKHAND
the technique of
• What to remember
BACKHAND Being the simplest action, it is very easy for the
children to learn, and they tend to play more with
backhand rather than forehand.
THE SIMPLEST • Technique
To keep the racket always high, above the ball or
at chest height.

• What to avoid
To avoid the ball bouncing and getting higher
than the child. To do so, teach them to follow the timing,
when it is possible to count loudly or to say something to
help to keep the rhythm. .
Learning,
applying, testing SIDEWAYS
the technique of
SIDEWAYS • Basic step
STEPS
The sideway steps are the very common steps in
STEPS many sports, table tennis is not excluded.
INVEST TODAY TO • Isn’t it too early?
GAIN TOMORROW Absolutely not, children are enjoying it when things
become dynamic, too static is a synonym fot boring

• Shadow system
Besides the simple and super easy work at the
table, the work off the table is also very important: the
shadowing.
Learning,
applying, testing TRANSITION
the technique of
TRANSITION •
F/B
Essential skill
The transition Forehand/Backhand and
F/B Backhand/Forehand in endless combinations is the very first and
maybe most important of the basic strokes. This ability is common
A BASIC in all stages of the development of a player, better transition for
easier development.
INTEGRATION
• What to consider (main aspects)
1. Position of the arm and racket
2. Make sure there is no movement stops (fluency of
the arm and upper body side.

• How to improve
1. From easy to hard
2. From simple to complex
3. From slow to fast.
WORKING CHART WORKING CHART
5* progress Grip Ready Tapping Push Forehand Backhand Sideway Transition
position bouncing steps
HAVING FUN
LEARN
APPLY
TEST
 A
HUGE
THANK YOU
TO ALL

Next lesson
Friday 24 July 2020
15:00 CEST