KS4 · Physical education · Year 11
Doubles play in table tennis
Net and wall games: teaching others tactics and strategies in table tennis
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can work with a partner to play doubles in table tennis.
1 of 9
Doubles play in table tennis: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
What you’ll learn
I can work with a partner to play doubles in table tennis.
Key learning points
- Move: stepping aside after hitting the ball gives your partner space to play their shot.
- Think: taking turns to hit the ball demonstrates you’re following the correct rules.
- Feel: getting into a rhythm with your partner increases confidence.
- Connect: demonstrating communication through a shared goal is key to effective teamwork and success in a game.
Words to know
- doubles
- playing as a pair to form a team partnership
- alternate shots
- each player on a team must take turns hitting the ball during a rally, so that both partners are involved in every point
- positioning
- moving effectively to give your partner space to hit the ball
Common mistakes
In doubles, players should stand on the left and right and just hit the ball on their side (like tennis or badminton).
In doubles in table tennis, players have to hit alternate shots which means once you have hit the ball, you need to move out of the way so your partner can hit the next shot. Just standing on sides will make it difficult to play alternate shots.
For parents, carers and teachers
- You may wish to plan partners based on ability/expereince to create areas for pupils of similar ability/expereince to work together so you are give more focus to those who need more support pupils, or perhaps keep them in mixed groups.