We are slowly moving towards a time when table tennis activity can resume in a form we all know and love, but in the meantime clubs and individuals are continuing their inventive methods of staying in communication and keeping active together.

Clubs have been meeting online for coaching and get-together sessions and have found ways to keep up their competitive element with challenges.

Woodford Wells TTC launched an in-house challenge series aimed at its younger players, in which they gain points completing challenges and then challenge their fellow players, gaining or losing ‘ranking points’ according to the outcome. They even played an online knockout tournament.

Club coach Zoltan Hosszu said: “Apart from the usual skill challenges the players had to do physical tasks, mainly table tennis related footwork and mobility exercises, trick shots and even video analysis.

“The programme proved to be very successful, almost all our juniors joined and enjoyed themselves. Those who struggled mentally during lock down found it a lifeline, not just participating but simply staying in constant touch with friends; the keen ones found new goals to work towards, and some developed new skills and were inspired to push themselves further.”

Check out some of the best bits below:

Meanwhile, Portishead TTC put together this great video of their members keeping a rally going while discussing their favourite players – and ice cream!

Mark Dare, our 2017 Coach of the Year, has been running an online course for Cromer Tennis and Squash Club in Norfolk, which has table tennis teams playing in the North Norfolk League.

The 10-week course, aimed at beginners up to local league players, had been planned to run in person, but Mark has had to adapt to run it online. He was even dubbed the sport’s answer to fitness guru Joe Wicks in his local media, which covered the story.

The course covers everything from grip and stance to footwork and how to play the common shots, plus tactical thinking, and has more than 70 people signed up.

Click here to watch the video tutorial on backhand drive

England No 2 Maria Tsaptsinos has launched her own YouTube channel and has been in the kitchen making a Victoria sponge in a recent instalment, which – by her own admission – did not turn out ideally, as you can see here:

Bishop Auckland TTC have been going down memory lane with a series of photo flashbacks on social media, and they have also been among those clubs putting their volunteers in the spotlight during Volunteers Week 2020, as this tweet shows:

There have been plenty of examples on social media of clubs continuing their great work online, including the following:

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