By Thierry Verviers
Prestige Table Tennis Club (Montreal) Head Coach
To become an excellent table tennis athlete, you need to have excellent technique to support effective tactics. It also takes a great mental attitude to be able to deal with pressure and so on.
But all this must be supported by a very good physical condition. Being in better physical condition will allow for more efficient technical shots, but it will also allow the athlete to conserve energy longer as they progress through a tournament.
A table tennis athlete must work on different aspects of his or her physique. To do so, he can use different tools. Here are some examples with equipment that you can now get in the Fitness section of the PPD.
The skipping rope (Speed)
It allows you to work on cardio, agility and coordination of legs and feet, speed. Really useful for a physical warm-up when space is too limited to run.
Balance boards
They allow you to work on your balance, coordination as well as the strength and endurance of your lower limbs.
The AB Roller
Excellent for working the abs. It is impossible to generate power in our top spins without a strong abdominal belt. In addition, this strong abdominal belt will allow the athlete to hit effective shots even when off balance.
Resistance Elastic Bands
The large bands allow you to work on shoulder and core muscles with table tennis related movements such as top spin. A partner can hold the rubber band while you do top spin moves.
Small bands are a great way to work the leg muscles. You can even use them during simple moving exercises at the table.
And these are just a few suggestions. Go see other equipment offered by PPD for more ideas.
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