What is the Point of No Return?
Well, technically I'm really talking about the law of diminishing returns, but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? The point of no return is when you have reached equilibrium, where the training you are doing is enough to maintain your level but not enough to improve it.If you are a typical ping-pong player, you have probably got a routine that you follow week after week, with the occasional tournament thrown in. Now and again you try some new equipment in the hope that it will be the miracle cure for your table tennis woes. You get a lift for a short while as you adapt to the new blade or rubber, and then you drift back into the table tennis doldrums. You want to improve, but you just can't train any more than you are doing already, and you can't think of any other options. Sound familiar?
Since you can't just do more training to solve your problem, you are going to have to look at how you can use your training time more efficiently in order to improve your game. I'll assume for the moment that you aren't currently wasting time during your training sessions (if you are, consider yourself smacked upside the head - <smack!> - pull the lead out and stop stuffing around!).
Recommendation #1 - Is Your Strength Really a Weakness?
The first thing I would recommend is to look at the amount of time you spend training your strengths. While it is true that every player needs some strengths in his game, it's probable that you are spending too much training time indulging in the shots you like - you have hit the point of little or no return for that stroke.Your strengths are already highly developed, so the amount of effort you need to improve them by say 5%, is much more than the amount of effort you would need to improve the biggest game weakness that you have. Try cutting the time you spend training your favorite shot by 30%, and spend that time training the biggest flaw you have that is costing you matches. Do this for a month and see the difference!
I'm going to qualify the above recommendation a little, and ask you to use your common sense here. If you are a two winged attacker, you are probably terrible at chopping, but this does not mean you should spend this time training your defense! Look for the weakness in your game that costs you points, such as the inability to open up off a backspin ball, or an unreliable flick return of serve. Train the relevant weaknesses to your style.
Recommendation #2 - Keep It Real
The second recommendation I would make is to not try to bring your weaknesses up too high. Remember, you have only a limited amount of time, and there is a reason it is a weakness in the first place. You will hit the point of no return at a much lower level for a flaw, simply because you are not naturally any good at it. Trying to raise it too much further will take too much time that could be valuably used elsewhere. Don't try to make it a strength - just make it hard for an opponent to exploit.Recommendation #3 - Think About It
The third recommendation is to use your brain. Is there any way you can use different tactics in your game that will make the most of your strengths and minimize your weaknesses? For example, if you are bad at forehand looping from your backhand corner, either: (i) don't use the standard forehand pendulum serve that naturally kicks the opponent's return towards your backhand; or (ii) use the serve but be ready to open with your backhand, rather than running around to hit a forehand.There may be a point of no return with using your brain - but it's unlikely that you will hit it - and I mean that in the nicest possible way! <g>
