Neil Robinson: The coaching environment which helps Wales’ para table tennis players to thrive

Coaching environment

The seven-time Paralympian began coaching in 2009 and 15 years of experience has taught him that people come before process.

“For me, the best coaching environment is about developing and nurturing good relationships with players,” says Robinson.

“It’s not as important to understand the technical and tactical aspects as it is to understand the player as a person.

“You need to know what makes a person tick and recognise how you as a coach can help them. Players are all different with different approaches and personalities.

“To get the best out of them, you have to understand that and be willing to adapt to get the most out of them. It’s not about imposing my authority. It’s about listening and responding.”

That authority, says Robinson, only exists if there is mutual respect between player and coach.

The respect is earned, he says, when the basics have been taken care of.

“I work closely with the staff at Sport Wales to make sure the players feel good about the environment they are working in. That’s not always about the number or extent of the resources you have, because people can always want more.

“Often, it’s about adapting as a coach and being resourceful.”

Small details

One example of that is Robinson’s insistence of taraflex flooring, the same flooring as his players will compete on at tournaments around the world. It means each morning, a strip of the material – slightly wider than each table – is rolled out to ensure perfect tournament-like conditions.

In the small details, he says, the players are aware that everything is being done to ensure they reach their full potential.

Those facilities in Cardiff are backed up by strength and conditioning coaches, physios, nutritionists and soft tissue experts.

“Once you have shown players you have created as good an environment as is possible, then you can concentrate on one-to-one coaching on the table, with the possibility of them being the very best they can be.

“They also then start to develop each other, and we are very lucky in having some great role models like Rob Davies, who have achieved so much.”

One of those players who benefits from Robinson’s coaching at tournaments is Karabardak, who won his first Paralympic medals at his fourth Games in Tokyo, taking bronze in the men’s class 6 singles and silver in the men’s class 6-7 team with Will Bayley.

Positive approach

The Swansea-based player says Robinson and the Welsh coaching set-up have been instrumental in Welsh players earning Paralympic, World, European and Commonwealth medals in recent years, with Davies and Stacey among those who have tasted success.

“Neil is a very good coach, he has developed a lot of experience, and he is always really positive,” says Karabardak.

“He manages the variety of players very well. We have players with different types of disabilities. Some are very severe, some are less severe and that means everyone has their own way of training and different things they like to do.

“A good coach is able to realise that it’s going to take different routines with different people to manage not just their abilities, but things like fatigue and injuries. Neil is very good at all that.”

Those core people skills – the ability to take a person-centred approach and treat each athlete individually – are not just apparent in Robinson’s work with elite athletes.

The same principles apply, he says, when he works with patients at Llandough, at their spinal and neuro rehabilitation unit.

Along with 2016 Paralympic champion Davies and Matthews, Robinson turned to table tennis through his own recovery from spinal injuries – in his case suffered in a car accident when he was just 18.

Life-changing event

“I found table tennis during my rehabilitation process after my injury,” says Robinson.

“I deal at the performance end of things, but I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to try and find a way of giving people with spinal injuries the opportunity to play table tennis, or any other sport they might enjoy.

“I started when Rookwood Hospital was still going, around February of 2020 and then Covid struck and it was obviously stopped.

“Rookwood closed down and the spinal injuries unit went to Llandough. But I kept in touch, and used to go and chat to patients who had suffered injuries. From that, I’ve been able to introduce them to play table tennis.

“Again, it’s about understanding and recognising the individual.  Some people want to play to help their rehab, some play just for fun, or recreation, or they may go on to take it more seriously as something they want to devote time to going forward.

“I understand what it is like to have that life-changing event. I have empathy and maybe what I say about sport and the benefits it can bring is more believable because I am a spinal-injured person myself.”

Most people, says Robinson, do not aspire to become the next Rob Davies and win a Paralympic gold medal, but the value of sport can still be hugely significant.

“I found sport a massively powerful thing to get me back up and into society. It can help with motivation and develop determination, at whatever level you want to play and enjoy it.

“I have had to put that hospital work on ice for a little while, because of the Games, but I will certainly be going back to it.”

It’s likely he will be associated with more medal success by that stage, too.