Most often coaches and top players (including me) talk about attacking the “three spots” – wide forehand and backhand, and middle (opponent’s transition point between forehand and backhand, roughly the elbow). But there are really five spots to play, though not always in the same match. Do you play all five? Which spots you play should change from match to match, depending on the opponent. And note the obvious parallels between the first two and the last two – for #1 and #5, and #2 and #3, I’ve just flipped the words “forehand” and “Backhand.” (For the following, unless otherwise noted, we’ll assume both players are righties; lefties adjust. Sorry!)

1. Wide forehand. When your opponent plays to your forehand, then you have an angle into their wide forehand where you can often attack outside the forehand corner. If the opponent isn’t ready for it, that’s the spot to attack, as wide as possible. In fact, think of this as playing the “wide, wide forehand.”
2. Forehand corner. From your forehand side, the opposite corner gives you the most table, diagonally to their forehand corner. This is where play both for safety and for strong attacks where you might need more table. It’s also where you play when playing a backhand down the line to the forehand. It’s especially effective if your opponent is looking to cover the wide angle you have into his backhand, or if he has a weaker forehand. (For down-the-line shots, it’s often good to set up as if you are going crosscourt, then go down the line.)
3. Middle. This is the opponent’s transition spot between forehand and backhand. It’s usually around the elbow, but it’s different for different players. Against a strong forehand player, it might be more toward the backhand side, and vice versa for a strong backhand player. Whenever possible, attack this spot relentlessly until you get the right ball to put away to a wide corner or middle again. Against attacks to their middle, opponents will often be a bit slower to react as they have to decide between forehand and backhand, and they have to move into position. So they’ll make more outright mistakes or weaker shots. It also takes them out of position, leaving a wide corner open. (Sometimes they’ll rush to cover the open corner, so instead go to the other corner.)
4. Backhand corner. From your backhand side, the opposite corner gives you the most table, diagonally to their backhand corner. This is where play both for safety and for strong attacks where you might need more table. It’s also where you play when playing a forehand down the line to the backhand. It’s especially effective if your opponent is looking to cover the wide angle you have into his forehand, or if he has a weaker backhand. (For down-the-line shots, it’s often good to set up as if you are going crosscourt, then go down the line.)
5. Wide backhand. When your opponent plays to your backhand, then you have an angle into their wide backhand where you can often attack outside the backhand corner. If the opponent isn’t ready for it, that’s the spot to attack, as wide as possible. In fact, think of this as playing the “wide, wide backhand.”

One of the banes of my coaching existence are players who lazily block in drills by just holding their racket out, relentlessly blocking back ball after ball with great efficiency in a way they would never do in a real match. And, of course, when they play matches, they revert to this and their blocking falls apart.

Instead, even when doing a simple blocking drill, return to ready position after every shot. For example, if you block a backhand, immediately go to a neutral position with your racket tip pointed at where you expect the opponent to hit the ball, ready to cover both forehand or backhand, even if you know, in this drill, that he’s going to your backhand. If you don’t, then you are practicing not being ready with your forehand block. And vice versa with forehand blocking. (This is also true for other drills and strokes. For example, when forehand counterlooping in a drill, you should also go to neutral position between shots.)

Coaches often do this for a very simple reason – they are no longer competitive players, and so they no longer need to return to ready position. And since it’s easier to not go back into ready position after each shot, they don’t do so. Sometimes players see this and mistakenly copy it.

By keeping that racket aimed at the opponent’s contact point between each block, ready to cover the whole table with forehand or backhand, you are ready to become a mean green blocking machine! (Wearing green is optional.)

Many players with strong backhands cover the middle of the table with their backhands. It’s a smart strategy, and allows them to dominate with their best shot to all parts of the table. To stop this, players often play to their forehand – only to watch the “backhand” player smack it down their throats. What should they do?

The problem is that the backhand player often limits his forehand shots to only the forehand corner, and so doesn’t have that much table to cover – and so has a good forehand against those shots. But he does so at a cost – he’s weak on the inner forehand. Because that is his “middle,” his transition point between forehand and backhand. For these backhand players, it’s roughly a few inches to the forehand side of the middle of the table and is maybe six to twelve inches wide.

Most players expect the opponent’s transition point to be toward the middle of the table or a little toward the backhand side, and so they automatically play to that spot – which is exactly where the backhand player is strongest. Or they make the mistake noted above about going to the forehand at the wrong time. (This doesn’t mean you don’t go after the forehand at the right time. If you play to their wide backhand first, then they are likely wide open on the wide forehand.)

So, next time you play a strong backhand player, go after their “middle” - that inner forehand!

This could be the most important part of these four parts about positioning. So often players feel they are slow and are unable to cover enough ground to play effectively, when in fact they have all the footspeed needed – not as much as you’d think – they just aren’t recovering from the previous shot effectively. It’s like being a sprinter with a ten-pound weight attached to a foot. Recovery means primarily two things: regaining your balance, and following through back into position.

Regaining your balance: It’s amazing to watch most players below (and sometimes at) the elite level and see how often they are unnecessarily off balance. They’ll play an aggressive forehand, for example, and finish their forehand so off-balance they struggle to recover for the next shot. While the weight on a strong forehand should finish toward the left foot (for a righty), the weight should not be so far over that you are off balance. Instead of doing that, rotate your body more in a circle, and you’ll end up more balanced and ready to recover for the next shot.

It's not just forehands; many players go off balance leaning to the side to stroke or push, and put their weight on that side’s foot, thereby going off balance. Then they are rushed trying to get balanced against for the next shot. Instead, step or shuffle to the ball, staying balanced throughout.

Follow through back into position. It’s not enough to recover your balance, then see where you should move, and then move. After essentially every shot you move out of position. And so part of your follow through should bring you back into position. If you’re a righty and play a forehand or backhand from the forehand side, you’d follow through to your left, back into position. If you play a forehand or backhand from the wide backhand, you’d follow through to your right, back into position. It should be part of the natural follow through.

Many players do not really prioritize the importance of getting back into position after every shot. Instead, they might move two feet to hit a shot, and perhaps step back a foot, and think that’s good enough. It’s not. Unless you simply do not have time to do so, you should always get into the best possible position you can.

So, where should you position yourself after each shot in a rally? It depends on the shot you just sent to your opponent, its placement and depth, and on the playing styles of both you and your opponent. And then it comes down to knowing what the proper position should be, and instinctively moving there.

For example, if you hit a shot to the left (opponent’s right), then he has an angle to your right, and so you’d have to position yourself more that way. But the exact positioning is also based on the opponent. If he’s good at angling, then you have to cover that angle more. If he plays slower shots, then you can move a bit to the side to favor your stronger side. If your shot goes deep, you’ll likely have more time to react to the return, and so you can also favor your stronger side a bit more.

You should, of course, also position yourself to favor your strong side if you have one. Some favor the forehand; some the backhand; some play completely neutral. This is where you might do some self-analysis and decide just where in this spectrum you are at your best against any given opponent.

One last note – you should generally NOT be moving as the opponent hits his shot unless you’ve anticipated where it’s going and are already moving there. If you are out of position and scrambling to get back into position, the opponent will likely just hit behind you, and since you are moving away from that spot, you won’t be able to recover. So, if you are way, Way, WAY out of position, then unless you’ve left the table completely open, it’s usually better to get as much into position as you can, then come to a complete stop in a good ready position. Then, once you see where the opponent hits, you’ll be able to move quickly in either direction – and unless it’s a very aggressive shot, you’ll likely be able to at least get to it even if you are out of position. Or, at least you’ll make the opponent hit an aggressive shot, which he might miss!