15 children from two schools – Kingslea and St Mary’s Pulborough – took part in a table tennis skills festival at The Forest School on Friday. The event involved learning and informal, self-scoring competition and Finn and Charlie from Kingslea emerged as winners accumulating 430 points, 20 ahead of schoolmates Ayaan and Jack.
The evening opened with a warm-up followed by a quiz based around the basics of the game, including grip, posture, distance from the table, footwork and some key strokes. The children then progressed to practising and being tested on some control skills, followed by basic stroke skills and then serving skills. The main scoring section of the evening was a carousel of fun mini-targets (such as an archery ring, a tower of cups and basketball net).
At the end of the event there was just enough time for the children to play some simple matches whilst the results were totted up.
Well done to all children for showing lots of enthusiasm, giving full attention and doing their best.
Any child wishing to progress to playing table tennis within a local club environment should consider the following options: