Wally REBOUNDER Manual

SETUP INSTRUCTIONS
Introduction
Setting up your Wally Rebounder is quick and easy. If you haven’t used Rebound boards before, it can
take a bit of patience and practice to get a good first ball returned and then get consistent rallies going.
With a little persistance, you will be rewarded with a great always-available training partner that can
sustain very natural feeling warm up sesssions, forehand and backhand topspin drives, looping drills,
footwork drills, create setups for killshots, and provide clear feedback as a great spin indicator for your
serving practice.
Unpacking Wally Rebounder
Inside the box you will find the board with metal brackets on each side, two full size adjustable tripods,
one tilt control knob and one tilt control lever. Please save all of the original packaging.

Setup The Two Tripods
Spread the tripod legs apart to the point where they reach their maximum
circumference using the bottom tripod knob to loosen or lock the legs in place.
Next, use the height adjustment knob on the tripod to raise the top of the tripod
with the control knob to about 8 inches above the surface of the table. You can
adjust the height more later, but this is a good starting point. Locate the tripods
at the back of the table and roughly the width of the board apart from each
other.
Attach The Board
Hold the board horizontally as you screw the control knob into the metal bracket on the
back of the board. It is important that you support the board so that the bolt goes in
cleanly with minimal torque on this joint. If you prefer, you can rest the board on the
corner of the table (as shown) for this particular step. Repeat for the tripod with the
control lever and once the lever is in place, you can use it to tighten the board into an
upright position. The round control knob can be left finger tight while the control lever
can be quickly loosened and tightened to lock the board into position. The lever itself can
also be easily rotated to a new position without loosening the board by pulling it out to
disengage the bolt head, rotating it, and then re-engaging the bolt head.
It is important that the board is stable and not rocking at the stands. If there is a wobble either raise or
lower the height of the board on one side or square up the legs at the floor by moving or rotating them.
Each side of the board should be at the same height. The board should be parallel with the floor.
Position The Board Behind The Table
Once the board is securely connected to the tripods, you can lift the whole
assembly and place the board directly behind your table as shown. Use the
control lever to tilt the rebound board slightly forward toward the player.
This is the default starting position, but you will adjust this angle depending
on how much speed and spin you are using in your stroke.
We recommend you place the board directly behind the table if you are just starting out. As you
progress, you can position the board diagonally at the corners of the table or place it further back from
your table for more advance play.
Adjust the Board Height
Adjust the height by holding a tripod with one hand and with the other hand loosen
height adjustment knob. This generally works best by adjusting one tripod up or down an
inch or so and then repeating for the other tripod until you reach the desired height.

Adjust the Board Tilt
Wally Rebounder can be rotated 360 degrees. To adjust tilt loosen the tilt
control knob and tilt control lever. Tilt the board to desired position and then
re-tighten the knob and lever. Note: the upgraded lever can allow you to make
small changes by using it alone, just keep the round knob finger tight. Do not
overtighten and do not force the board to tilt when the knobs are fully tight.
Adjust the Direction the Board is Facing
Wally Rebounder can also be angled rather than parallel to the back of the table. The steeper you
angle the board away from you, the more the ball will rebound toward the far edge of the table.
This is useful for footwork drills as more aggressive angles will force more movement by the player.
BOARD TILT: CLOSED OR OPEN POSITIONS
The default position (straight up and down) is considered a neutral position. As the board
is tilted downward in a closed position the ball return will be faster with a lower throw
angle and more difficult to play. Tilting the board upwards in a more open position, the
ball return will be slower with a higher throw angle and easier to play. Beginners should
start with the board in a very open position. If balls are rebounding past your end of the
table, close the board angle. If balls are going into the net, you may need to open the
angle of the board as well as check your stroke (see tips).
BOARD BREAK IN
The glue used to attach the rubbers to the board hardens over time. Additionally the rubbers are more
tacky when new, but will become less so and speed up after a few hours of play. These factors make
your rebounder more responsive as it ages. Finally, your board will be more responsive if the rubber is
kept at room temperature as colder rubber has less return action.
MAINTENANCE AND STORAGE
Your Wally Rebounder requires minimal maintenance, but periodic dusting and cleaning of all parts is
recommended. To clean and preserve the rubber surface, slightly dampen a clean soft rag with water or
a 50/50 alcohol/water mixture. Commercial table tennis rubber cleaners are also good choices. Wipe
the rubber surface keeping the rag away from any wood surfaces. Wipe across like a squeegee (table
tennis rubber is tacky) to remove any excess liquid. For daily storage it's not necessary to disassemble
the rebound board, but you should loosen both Tilt Control Knobs and adjust the rebound board so that
it hangs straight up/down or slightly closed/down position to prevent dust from collecting. For longer
storage, clean the surface then cover the rubber surface with plastic wrap.

Tips on playing with Wally
(See our FAQ on WallyRebouner.com for more tips)
Getting the ball to return properly
If you are experiencing problems getting "good" returns or hitting multi-hit rallys from your Wally Rebounder then this section
should help you diagnose the problem and start making progress.
Expectations - It often takes people a few sessions to develop a good and smooth forehand drives and good and smooth forehand
topspin shots so please do not be discouraged if you are having trouble at first. The Wally Rebounder is a great training tool because
it gives you immediate feedback and forces you to use good form. Focus on making one or two really good hits at first over the
number of times in a row you can hit the ball. Focusing on good form in practice will result in consistency and will improve your
overall game.
Paddle Issues - The rubber on your paddle needs to have decent grip on it to generate topspin. You can test this easily by dragging a
ball across the surface and seeing that it has some grip. Do the same thing across the surface of the wally rebounder as a reference
since the rubber we use has very good grip. If your paddle's rubber is slippery compared to the rebounder it is probably time to
replace it or upgrade your paddle.
Setup Related Issues - First, let's make sure your Wally is set up properly. Sometimes the angle of the board is tilted down too far
for that player’s stroke. Advanced players with very strong topspin and/or strong strokes require more tilt. Beginner or
Intermediate strokes often need very little board tilt at all
Our advice is to:
1. Place the tripods very close to the back of the table.
2. Start with the board almost straight up and down with very little to no tilt toward the table.
3. If you get to the point where the rebounded balls are flying off your side of the table then it is usually a good sign that you are
ready to add more tilt to your board.
Stroke related issues - Once you have the board adjusted, if you are still finding that the balls are still going into the net, then it
usually means that you are not generating much or any topspin in your current stroke. This is actually one of the areas where the
Wally Rebounder can very much improve your table tennis stroke, but it takes a little work and some patience as you learn.
Our advice is to watch some online training videos on forehand drive and forehand topspin.
Watch this video from Ping Skills on the basic topspin vs. block stroke. We find that the Wally Rebounder responds very much like
the blocking partner in this video. It doesn't take a lot of topspin, or a particularly heavy hit, but we believe you will see a difference
pretty quickly in the speed and trajectory of the rebounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpVAPPzj3ZI
First ball related issues - The first hit is normally the most challenging for new customers so we usually encourage them to focus on
a good first hit before we have them worry too much about how many balls in a row they can hit. Don't worry, things tend to
progress very quickly once you can get a consistent first hit with a little topspin on the ball. It helps to have a small bucket of balls
close by when starting out.
Our advice is:
1. Remove the net for now (you can add it back as soon as you get comfortable)
2. Stand on the left side of the table between the front edge of the table and the net (assuming right handed)
3. Drop the ball from moderate height to get a nice medium bounce

4. Make a simple forward stroke with a bit of topspin. The paddle should be tilted slightly toward the rebounder and your goal is to
brush the top of the ball driving it into the table a foot or two in front of the Wally.
5. Work on finding the stroke position and speed that will result in having the ball land in a nice hittable spot on your side of the
table. As you improve, work your way back toward the front of the table and start following up your shots.
We're confident that with a few of these tips and a little work on your forehand drive and forehand topspin strokes that you will
start seeing good progress after only a few sessions. We have seen many people significantly improve their game using their Wally,
tool so we want you to have a successful experience and we are happy to help! Please send us a note if you have additional
questions.
The ball goes sideways
What to do if the ball is returning sideways
Ok, if your returns are not coming back straight then it is a very good indicator that your stroke is producing some form of side-spin
on the ball. While spin is great and is an important part of the game, it is something you want to control. If you are seeing side-spin
on your normal forehand or backhand drive strokes it is almost certainly an indication that you need to work on your positioning,
your form, and/or on the basic stroke itself. Don't worry - This is one of the best reasons to own a Wally and many customers have
greatly improved the quality and consistency of their stroke since it is very easy to see what is happening and work on
improvements.
We suggest: Watch online videos on forehand and backhand drive. Practice these strokes on your Wally but focus on the quality of
the return and not so much on how many in a row you can hit. The idea is to master the stroke first and grow from there. Master
the basics and then start adding spin into your game on purpose!
Do I need to use the net?
Some Beginner and Intermediate players can benefit by removing the net during the "getting acquainted" phase right after receiving
their Wally Rebounder.
Hitting the first ball and getting a clean rebound can be tricky at first and takes a little practice. By removing the net, you can
remove one more variable in the learning process.
Removing the net can also help visitors, children, etc. get some enjoyment out of the Wally without having to spend as much time
on table tennis forehand/backhand drive stroke fundamentals.
Can I practice serving with the Wally?
Perhaps the best kept secret of owning a Wally Rebounder return board is just how awesome of a tool it is for working on your
serves. That's right - It's super useful! Let's face it, everyone wants a great serve but you have to work at it. If it's more fun, you will
practice more. If you get feedback, you will improve faster. Most successful servers use similar looking strokes to deliver large
variations on speed and spin. Wally helps you on all of these accounts.
We Recommend:
Place your Wally right at the back of the table with the board perfectly vertical and the bottom of the board right at table level.
Serve into the Wally and you will get a very clear indication of spin of your serves.
Left and right sidespin will angle off in the opposite direction.
Underspin will bounce right back into the table, Topspin will leap up off the board
The difference in weaker spin and very strong spin is pretty dramatic.
Try to keep the motion of your serve consistent but produce large variation on speed and spin.
With Wally being so easy to set up and use, many of our customers have told us that they just use it a few minutes a day to keep the
"feel" of their serves sharp.