You should always be learning in table tennis, or in any serious activity. I’m always amazed at how often players miss opportunities to learn from others, or limit their learning by only learning from a few. Here are three types of players you can learn from, both as a player and a coach.

• Students of the Game. Some players are just this – they spend a lifetime learning about all or most aspects of the game. The more you talk with them, the more you’ll learn. Ask questions. Pick their minds. Even if you are an experienced veteran, it’s unlikely you know every aspect of the game better than they do. Ask them about their matches, and you might get a torrent of info that you might learn and improve from.
• Crafty Veterans. They are long-time players who might not really be students of the game, but they know their games very, very well, and know how they win. Why not learn how they win, and adapt some of that for yourself? For example, I knew a veteran player with a big forehand loop and a super-heavy forehand push. Normally he loops with the forehand, but sometimes he will suddenly and tactically change to his super-heavy forehand push, catching opponents off guard – and gets an easier ball to attack on the next shot. Plus, this makes him unpredictable, and opponents often get nervous against him.
• Hedgehogs. What is a hedgehog in this context? It’s a concept often in business to describe one who does perhaps one thing really, Really, REALLY well, and does it over and Over and OVER, thereby building up big profits. Others can’t compete with this single-minded focus. (This is a simplified version of the concept.) In table tennis, this would be the player who is not a student of the game, and not really a crafty veteran, but has learned to do one or two things really well, and just wins over and over on this. Perhaps the player just pushes and blocks. Or just goes backhand-to-backhand with everyone. Their game may be simple, but they probably know that part of the game inside-out – and likely better than you. Why not learn from them, and perhaps adapt what they do well as part of your game? Or, at the least, learn how to play against it, since if one players does something well, others will as well.