(By Brian Pace)
One of the aspects of coaching I have encountered is the reluctant athlete that questions if they should have a coach. That is the type of athlete that feels they are talented enough that they can reach the elite level without anyone that has provided them with an elite experience. That is something difficult for me to address because my entire career has been deeply embedded in having a coach. From the day that the racket was put in my hand, until my career ended and I became a coach, I traveled this planet looking for a coach that knew more than me, or taught differently. The 18 coaches I had during my career represent a multitude of approaches in table tennis, with the main goal of assisting the athlete to reach their full potential. Here are the benefits of having a coach for Table Tennis if you are that player that is hesitant to move forward on it.
Structured Training Program
One of the first benefits of having a coach is creating a proper training program. For every first lesson with a student I have had over the last 25 years, the first question I have asked the player is, “How do you get to 11 points”? I have never had a student successful explain to me how they win matches. So, the first benefit of the coach is being able to compartmentalize what shots the players need to hold up that identifies their style. That is what will make it effortless with regards to creating a training program. This will set the tone that we aren’t looking to start out creating new shots, but putting your shots under scrutiny to get them to perform better in tournament play. Almost all players without a coach will struggle with how to look at their performance post-tourney, and continue to train in a way that enhances their skills, but not their overall performance. Almost all players recognize their performance by looking at the result, but having a training program is what allows you to organize what aspect of your game was responsible for the result that went good or bad.
Creating a Language
Another great benefit of having a coach is, you get to create a language out of how you play and how to analyze deeper. All players are fantastic at analyzing “That” they missed a shot, but not aware of “How” they missed the shot. This is how a player can make the same error 10-12 times in a match, and not change it. That equates to 3 unforced errors per game, and can easily cost you the match. Your coach creating a component based technical training approach will allow you to analyze an error, plug that error into a formula, which will allow you to point at the component inside your shot that was responsible for the error. There is about 8-10 seconds between the time the ball hits the floor, to the time you get back to the table to prepare to engage in the next point. The faster you can analyze the error, the faster you can make the adjustment in your mind without it affecting your tactical approach. All too often players won’t have the system to analyze their errors when it is happening, but they can analyze it deeper hours after they are removed from the anxiety of the competitive moment. Having a language is what will allow you to analyze and adjust your approach in real-time. This will have an immediate impact on your performance, because the players that perform the best are able to make the adjustments the fastest.
Prevent Training Pitfalls
The player I fear the most as a coach is the one that has solely built their game around what they have seen on the internet or observed in their club environment. The problem with that is they haven’t looked at if they should be playing that exact way or not. Having a player build their game around shots that don’t represent their natural ability will create some serious pitfalls in training and tournaments. If a player that is 6’1 has decided that they want to play like a world class close to the table Chinese player that is 5’6 will create a collapse as some point. The collapse will happen because the player won’t be successful at executing shots under those circumstances. Having a coach will help you develop according your natural talent as well as your trained skillsets. This is the best way to ground your game in the reality of your ability, instead of dreaming up a style that the player can’t pull off. The best way that any player can put themselves on the steepest incline to improve, is having a coach identify their natural skillsets that were given to them by their parents.
Faster Improvement Arc
Where most of the players have had the most frustration is being out in the middle of the ocean with regards to the status of their progress. This is when a player will start to contemplate quitting, changing their game, or switching equipment. Having a coach will all but ensure that these thoughts will never run through your head. Structured Training, Creating a Language, and Preventing Training Pitfalls opens the door for one of the most effortless experiences in sports, and that is creating a Faster Improvement Arc. The coach’s hidden agenda has always been to put the student on the path to fast improvement. Having a coach means you don’t have to ever wing it. Having a coach means you never need to try to figure it out on your own. Having a coach means you never make a bad decision then double down on it. Having a coach is like having your own personal “Table Tennis Yoda” that won’t let your table tennis experience go to the dark side. Improving faster is something that all players ponder over, and having a coach is your best chance to ensure that it happens, as well as having fun while you are doing it.
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