ICC's Subham Kundu shares his insights into early success in table tennis development and the important role of multiball training in shaping young athletes in the sport.

Multiball practice has been around in the sport of table tennis for many, many years. It has helped elevate the importance of technical sharpness among many of the top international players and teams. During my time at the ICC Table Tennis Center in California, I have noticed that throughout the USA that multiball is used often as a training tool.

This training method is the perfect tool for a high volume of technical repetition. Where drills with partners can help simulate the flow of a match, multiball sharpens reactions speeds. Students who practice multiball regularly often have an increased quality and great precision in their strokes. They are able to execute positioning and techniques more effectively under pressure.

The increase in ball quantities also helps improve correct muscle memory at a faster rate than regular practice. At a younger age, the use of this method allows young players to repeat and refine skills much more effectively. In the US where players invest a lot in 1 on 1 time with coaches, it is clear that multiball training plays a key role in helping develop a strong level of players at the Hopes and Cadet level. The US has excelled over the years in performing well and producing strong players in the youth categories.

Multiball is best used during the off-season of tournaments, to make changes and refinements to technique. It can then be used in the buildup of the season for footwork repetition. Remember footwork is technical and needs repetition too!

When tournaments are coming up I recommend increasing the pace of multiball to prepare your players. You can also create more match simulation type sequences with a larger quantity of semi-random or random components.

A good thing to do as practice partners is to feed each other multiball. You will improve your overall practice and develop better feeding skills as you go.

Try adding more multiball training to your practice plans! You will see the improvement in many areas of your game.

PLAYER BIO

Subham Kundu is a professional Table tennis player and coach from Kolkata, India. Born on 22nd of November 1989, in Kolkata, West Bengal State. He started playing when he was 6 years old and quickly developed a passion for the sport. Kundu has played in the Indian National circuit for 15 plus years and moved to the USA in 2019.

Kundu became involved at ICC TT club as a player and Mentor. He now has many students training under his guidance who are winning medals in US OPEN, US Nationals and four star Tournaments in ICC. He has also mentored US national Team players in the 2022  Pan Am Tournament preparation camp in Westchester.