Where to Start Training: Don't Burn Time on the Wrong Order

This section has 30 articles, from grip and footwork to serve, receive, loop attack and defense, then match mindset and handling unusual styles.

More articles isn’t always better — wrong order is wasted practice. Plenty of players grind one move and keep hitting a wall, because some foundation piece earlier never got set. This page does two things: which road to walk so practice pays off, and where to look when you’re stuck.

One line for new players

If you just picked up a racket, or you’ve played under three months, go straight to New Players, Skip the Trick Shots.

That one is all about “spend the first 30 days just getting rallies going” — the plainest thing. Get the ball steadily over the net, then steadily back, and every technique after grows from it. Skip that to drill loops and serve-attacks and you’ll most likely build a body of stiff bad habits.

Main learning path (walk it in order, it’s easiest)

Each step stands on the foundation of the one before:

First month — New Players, Skip the Trick Shots: grip, stance, carry-rally, small steps; make “can play” solid.
Body basics — How Tight Should You Grip, Full-Body Relaxation, Wrist Relaxation, Wrist Stability, Core Power, Rotation Axis, Body Strength. If you can’t loosen up or you’re too stiff, everything after is wasted.
Framework and center of gravity — Stroke Framework, Controlling Your Center of Gravity, Center-of-Gravity Stability. Whether the form has shape shows in these three.
Footwork — Footwork Basics, Footwork Is About Shifting Weight. Great hands are useless if the feet don’t arrive.
Single-shot techniques — Forehand Loop, The Backhand Loop, Why Your Backhand Flick Feels Hollow.
Meeting the ball early and rhythm — Meet the Ball Early, The Two Pauses Around Contact, Continuity and Recovery, Stillness in Motion.
Serve, receive, and short game — Hook Serve, Why You Keep Eating Serves, Push, Short Push, Long Push, Attack on the Third Ball.
Match mindset — Match Spirit.
Opponents in play — Falling Apart Against a Left-Hander, Handling “Odd” Styles.
Training methods — Getting Better at Multi-Ball, Blowing Up in Amateur Doubles, How to Play Without Getting Hurt.

Stuck? Find it by question

No need to read from the top — see which category you’re stuck in:

Can’t return a ball, can’t rally → New Players, Skip the Trick Shots
Awkward grip, stiff wrist → How Tight Should You Grip, Wrist Relaxation, Wrist Stability
Can’t generate power, using brute force → Core Power, Rotation Axis, Body Strength
Always can’t reach the ball, reaching for it → Footwork Basics, Footwork Is About Shifting Weight
Loop nets or sails out, form scatters → Forehand Loop, Stroke Framework, Controlling Your Center of Gravity
Your backhand feels hollow, won’t punch through, gets pushed back → The Backhand Loop, Core Power
Eating spin on receive, can’t read it → Why You Keep Eating Serves, Push, Short Push, Long Push
Nervous in matches, mindset collapses → Match Spirit
Weird spins, long pips, can’t play left-handers → Falling Apart Against a Left-Hander, Handling “Odd” Styles

The threads running through them all

Seen alone they scatter, but strung together they’re a few through-lines — the part of this section most worth returning to:

Control before power: from the beginner’s carry-rally to core power, the logic is consistent — control the ball first, then power can come out.
Feet before hands: footwork basics, weight shift, continuity — all repeating the same thing: once you’ve arrived, the hands have a condition to strike.
Relaxation is the premise of power: grip tension, full-body relaxation, wrist relaxation — all breaking the misunderstanding that “force equals good play.”

Get those three lines and the 30 articles aren’t 30 isolated facts; they’re a net.