Evie’s Coaching CPD weekend

The recent CPD Coach Weekend held in St Austell, Cornwall on the 14 and 15 June brought together a really engaged group of coaches from across the region for two days of practical learning, discussion and shared reflection. The weekend created a strong sense of openness, with coaches consistently sharing experiences from their own environments, reflecting honestly on challenges, and learning from one another in a really grounded and collaborative way. 

A key focus throughout was session planning, particularly how coaches can design sessions that genuinely meet the needs of their players while still maintaining a clear intent. This naturally led into some really valuable conversations around how sessions can be progressed and adapted in real time—recognising when to step in, when to extend a task, and how small changes in constraints or organisation can significantly shift player behaviour and learning outcomes. The emphasis was on building coaching confidence to make those adjustments without losing the purpose of the session. 

There was also a focus spent on technical foundations, looking at how to develop strong, simple skills without overcomplicating the coaching process. Multiball delivery was another key practical theme, with coaches getting hands-on experience around quality of feeding, rhythm and intent. The focus went beyond just execution, looking closely at how multiball can be used purposefully within a session to increase repetition, challenge decision making, and create intensity at key moments. Alongside this, there were some really rich discussions around the psychological side of coaching, exploring how we shape environments that build confidence, support players through mistakes and develop resilience over time. 

Across both days the engagement was excellent. Coaches were very open in discussion, willing to share their own experiences and realities from different environments, and genuinely keen to explore and learn from each other’s perspectives. A special thank you goes to Paul Whiting for his support in helping to facilitate the weekend, a big thanks also to St Austell Table Tennis Club for kindly hosting. 

One of the reflections that captured the spirit of the weekend came from a participant, highlighting both the value of shared discussion and the impact of linking practical and psychological learning: 
“I would like to personally thank both Evie and Paul for an excellent weekend. The sessions were very informative and thought provoking. I found the group feedback very helpful in that all the coaches experienced similar challenges and self-doubt in their role, which was reassuring and helps with our own personal confidence. The psychology sessions which were explored alongside practical activities I feel will assist me going forward in better understanding the emotional development of the players that I have the opportunity to coach.” 

Following on from a really positive weekend in Cornwall, the team is now looking ahead to the next Coach CPD event which will take place in August in Gloucestershire with further details to be shared shortly. 

Matchplay tactics CPD

Aad recently delivered an online ‘Matchplay Tactics’ CPD workshop, held on Monday 15 June. This brought coaches together for an energetic and insightful exploration of how tactical decision making shapes modern table tennis. The session focused on understanding ball flight variables including: placement, speed, spin, pace and the curve of the ball, and how these factors influence a player’s choices under pressure.

Coaches engaged actively throughout the workshop, contributing examples from their own coaching environments and discussing how depth, angles and tempo can be used to disrupt an opponent’s rhythm. The group explored the Magnus effect and how topspin, backspin and sidespin change the trajectory and bounce of the ball, leading to valuable conversations about anticipation, timing and tactical clarity.

Pace variation proved a particularly popular topic, with coaches sharing practical ideas for fast–slow rally patterns and how these can challenge an opponent’s timing. The chat box discussion highlighted the importance of helping players make quicker, smarter decisions in real match situations.

Workshops like this are part of the team’s ongoing commitment to supporting coaches across the country. If you haven’t joined one yet, we’d love to see you at a future session, your insights and experiences make these events richer for everyone.

Nutrition was the focus of another online CPD workshop, examining how players should fuel for performance before, during and after competition. The session generated some great discussion as it challenged some traditional beliefs by distinguishing between eating for general health and eating specifically to maximise table tennis performance. Despite taking place on one of the hottest evenings of the year and coinciding with one of England’s World Cup fixtures, the workshop still attracted an excellent attendance.