Once you get past serve & receive, the basic rallying shot at the higher levels is counterlooping. Some do it from way off the table, others from close to the table (often taking the ball on the rise), while most take it somewhere in between, sometime after the top of the bounce (around table level), from five to eight feet back. It's mostly done on the forehand side, but some do it on the backhand side as well - especially the best players in the world, who often backhand counterloop off the bounce. (Spectators often don't even realize it's a counterloop as it happens so quickly, and think it's just a backhand block.) For this article, unless noted otherwise, I'm mostly talking about forehand counterlooping.

Not everyone needs to counterloop, not unless you are aspiring to the higher levels. If you have good serve & receive (and so can get the first attack in, forcing your opponent to either defend or go for a risky counterloop or some other difficult counter-attack) or have good defense (such as blocking or chopping), then counterlooping may be an unneeded luxury. But at the highest levels, essentially everyone counterloops. Blocking is often the last resort, as the best loopers overpower blockers with space-aged looping strokes and equipment. Even choppers almost always look for chances to counterloop.

At the recent USA Nationals I watched two rival junior players go at it. The previous time they'd played it had been rather close. This time the player I was coaching relentlessly counterlooped whenever the other player looped, turning the opponent into a blocker. The counter-looping player won easily. It wasn't a matter of just choosing to counterloop; the junior had been trained to do so with relentless counterlooping drills, and so when faced with aggressive loops, there was no hesitation; he counterlooped, and continued the barrage each point until the point was over.

Keys to a good counterloop include good technique (see a coach and watch the top players); light on feet (which is a habit you can develop); and good sponge. Even developing players should use modern sponges developed with looping in mind, with a slower blade until they are advanced. The paradigm used to be that developing players should use thinner and slower sponges to develop their strokes, and while I believe that was true before, I don't believe that is true any longer. Using such sponges simply limits the player from developing at a more advanced level. By using modern looping sponges, players find looping and counterlooping more natural, and so it becomes central to their games.

I'm not going to go into the finer points of looping or counterlooping technique here; see a coach for that. Instead, let's talk about what you can do to develop your counterloop.

First and foremost is the obvious: practice counterlooping. Find a partner or coach who can counterloop. Stand a bit off the table - perhaps five feet - and toss the ball up and loop it directly to your opponent's side of the table. This gets you right into counterlooping, forehand to forehand. Before you can do anything else, you must be proficient at this. One hint - don't try to meet the opponent's incoming topspin straight on. Instead, hook the ball by hitting a bit on the outside of the ball, creating a sidespin that breaks to your left and away from your opponent on his forehand side (for righties). This not only makes your counterloop more consistent, it gives you better angles, forcing your opponent to cover that much more table. If you watch world-class players, you'll see that they almost always counterloop with sidespin. Be aggressive in putting your own spin on the ball; overpower the incoming spin with your own spin, mostly topspin.

When you are pretty good at straight counterlooping, try the next variation: this time serve straight topspin (and have your partner do the same) so you can start by looping off a topspin ball from close to the table, and then back up and start counterlooping.

As you practice, you'll get a feel for what type of counterlooper you are - off-table, mid-distance, or close to table. Learn all three, but generally specialize in one. At the highest levels, players try to counterloop from as close to the table as possible, but at the speeds they play they are still forced to back up.

You can also get a coach or partner to feed you multiball, where the coach loops the ball directly after tossing the ball out of his hand. This allows him to move you around as you work on counterlooping and footwork.

Many players never practice anything beyond this type of straight counterlooping. But think about it - in a game, many or most loops start from backspin, which often have more topspin (because they are adding to the backspin already on the ball), come at you from a closer contact point (so you have less time to react), often have a sharper arc (due to the extra topspin), and force you to counterloop from relatively close to the table (since they don't usually bounce out as much as a loop against topspin). Plus you don't know where the ball is going, unlike in the counterlooping drills explained above, where you are going forehand to forehand. Here are some more advanced variations so you can get more match-like practice.

First, if you have a partner or coach feeding you multiball loops, have him vary the placement, so sometimes you forehand counterloop, other times you have to use your backhand. (Either block, hit, or counterloop. Or, if you are a chopper/looper, chop the backhand.)

Second, work on counterlooping against a loop against backspin. Have your partner serve backspin, you push long, and the server loops, and you counterloop, and both players continue to counterloop. (Or, if your partner isn't a counterlooper, he can switch to blocking after the first loop against backspin.) This gives you practice counterlooping against a loop against backspin. It also gives your partner practice looping against backspin.

But there is an even better way to rapidly develop your counterloop against a loop off backspin, using an adjusted version of multiball. Your partner will need a box of balls handy. Just as above, he serve and loops against backspin, and you counterloop. Only you do not play out the point. As soon as the server loops, he reaches for the next ball. So the server serve and loops over and over, and the receiver pushes and counterloops over and over. By doing this you can rapid-fire practice over and over your counterloop against a loop off backspin. And the server gets great rapid-fire practice looping against backspin!) As an added bonus, the receiver should work on his long push - don't make it easy for the server. Push quick off the bounce, heavy, low, deep, and well angled. (But for this drill, always push to the same spot.

You can also do this drill where the server loops to your backhand, and you can either backhand counterloop, hit, or block. You can also have the server alternate, looping one to the forehand, one to the backhand.

When you are proficient at this drill, there are two variations that will bring you to an even higher level. Now have the server serve & loop to one of two spots - either the forehand or backhand. (Or perhaps the wide forehand or wide backhand.) This forces you to make a quick reaction decision, just as you would in a match. Make sure your first move is the right one - don't anticipate, just respond to the ball coming off the opponent's racket, or a split second before if you see where it's going.

The final variation is to have the server loop anywhere on the table, including at your middle.  When you are proficient at this, able to counterloop on the forehand, and counterloop, hit, or block on the backhand (depending on your style and the incoming ball), and able to cover the ball to the middle (forehand or backhand, depending on your style and foot speed), you will be ready to do this in a match. And then you'll be able to turn past rivals into blockers that you can overpower.

One last tip: No Guts, No Glory. If you don't use this shot regularly in matches (whether it's practice, league, or tournaments), then you won't develop the shot. 

I've noticed over years of coaching in matches that the large majority of opponents are most vulnerable to one of six types of rallying tactics. These are tactics once you are into a topspin rally, so we're not looking at serve and receive here, though of course you can use that to set up these rallying tactics. Here they are, in rough order of frequency.

Forehand, then backhand. This is against two types of players. The first is a player who is quick to attack with the forehand from the backhand side, but has a weaker backhand. You go to the forehand first to draw him out to that side, and then you come back to their weaker backhand side. The key is that you choose the ball you let him have on the forehand side and are ready to counter that ball back to the backhand. The second type is a player who is strong on both wings, but weaker on the backhand once pulled out of position by going to their forehand. These are what I call "pocket players," who can rally or attack forever when in position, but whose level drops dramatically once out of that comfortable pocket.

Relentlessly go after middle. This is against a player who is good on both wings, but doesn't cover the middle well. Players like this are usually either tall (and so have a bigger middle) or lack mobility. Many opponents mistakenly go after the corners against these players, which they are very good against. Against a player who mostly covers the middle with the backhand a good tactic is to move the ball back and forth between wide backhand and middle, with sudden attacks to the forehand.

Pin them on backhand. This is against a player with a weaker backhand who doesn't use the forehand from the backhand side very often. The tactic is to keep going wide and deep to the backhand with quick, aggressive shots. The goal is to force a weak ball from their weak side you can put away. You can also go after the middle, especially if they try to cover it with their backhand.  

In and out. This is against players who either soft loop or fish over and over from off the table. Often they are two-winged players who can topspin forever if you keep hitting the ball out to them. Instead, block the ball soft to bring them in, then attack out at them. Use the diagonals - block soft to the forehand, then hard to backhand, or vice versa.

Go after forehand. Some players simply have weak forehands, and can't do much there even if they know the ball is going there. This is especially true of some players who greatly favor the backhand and have limited mobility to cover that wide forehand. When you go after their forehand, they have difficulty, and they are hoping you will go back to their backhands, or at least to their middle where they can also use their backhand. Rarely do so.  

It's complicated. This is against a player who changes his playing style in the middle of a game, and so sometimes one of the categories above fits, other times he switches to another category. The most common example is the player who switches between a two-winged attack (but weak in middle) and an all-out forehand attack (but weak at wide corners, especially if you go to the wide forehand and then come back to the backhand). Be aware of their changes so you can apply the appropriate counter-tactic. Remember that when they change tactics, they are often going to their secondary game (i.e. weaker game) because your tactics were working against their primary game. If you play smart, the odds are they will be even more tactically vulnerable with their secondary game. 

You should be able to smash or loop at near full power without going off balance. Top players can play great shots in rapid succession because they are always balanced, which leads to a rapid recover for the next shot. When you go off balance, even slightly, you cannot recover quickly for the next shot. There are two times when players tend to go off balance: either when moving to the ball or when following through.

When moving to the ball, if you keep your weight somewhere between your feet, you can stay balanced. If you instead lean or reach toward the ball, you go off balance as your weight goes over just one foot or even beyond. To see this, stand in a ready position. Lean to your right (or left). Now try to move to your right (or left) - see how difficult it is? Your first move needs to be a step, not a lean.

The second place where players often go off balance is when they follow through too much to the side, especially with the forehand. If a righty has a big follow through to his left, he'll be off balance and unable to recover for the next shot. Instead, imagine a pole going through your head, and try to rotate in a circle around the pole. You don't have to do so exactly, but if you focus on rotating around this circle more and less off to the side, with your weight between your feet (or at most over the front foot), you'll be ready for the next shot. Even with a complete weight transfer from the back leg to the front leg you don't need your weight to go outside the feet, which puts you off balance. Note that a wider stance makes it easer to generate power without going off balance.

Here's a test on whether you go off balance in your follow through. Shadow practice doing your most powerful forehand shot, whether it's a loop or a smash. Freeze at the end of your follow through. Is your weight over your left foot (for a righty), or has it gone even slightly beyond that, leaving you off balance, requiring precious time to recover? Have someone give you a light shove and see if you are truly balanced. You should finish the shot balanced and instantly ready to return to ready position to follow with another shot. The best way to practice this is with multiball, where a coach feeds you shots in rapid succession, and you are forced to recover quickly for the next shot over and over. 

How close should you stand to the table? Much of this depends on your playing style. Most new players tend to stand too close to the table. This leads to all sorts of problems if not fixed early on. A player who develops his game while standing too close is often jammed, which leads to short, jerky strokes that are rushed. Players like this may learn to block well, but the shorter, rushed strokes lead to a loss of both power and (when trying to hit harder) control. They also tend to stand in a backhand position, leading to a weak forehand. They also have trouble covering the wide forehand as they are unable to use the full forehand "pocket" since they are jammed at the table - instead, they can only hit the ball in the front of the hitting zone, rather than turn sideways and hit the ball at the top of the bounce with a more comfortable shot that uses the full forehand hitting zone.

As players become more advanced, the opposite tendency comes up - players who back off the table if the opponent so much as looks at them funny. There are times when you should back up, primarily when the opponent is attacking strongly or if you have a defensive style (backspin or topspin), but the backing up should be in reaction to this attack, not as a habitual way to keep the ball in play in moderately fast rallies. With good technique and practice, you should be able to rally pretty fast without backing off too much. If you back off too easily, you give your opponent more time to react to your shot and get his best shot into play; you have no angles to play against your opponent; and you have far more ground to cover, both side to side and in and out.  

There is also the phenomenon I call "The Zigzag," of which I'm often guilty. This is where a player takes a step back to cover the forehand, then another step back to cover the backhand, then another step back to cover the forehand, and next thing you know they are lobbing from the vender booths. Instead, learn to play these shots relatively close to the table, but not so close that you are jammed.

So just how far should you stand? A good guideline is to start the rally about arm's length from the table. From that distance you can handle most shots - stepping in for short ones, holding your ground in most rallies, and stepping back when forced to by the opponent's attack.  If you are a fast reaction player with good blocking and other close-to-table shots, then try to stay within that arm's length of the table until absolutely forced back. If you are a looper, you'll want to start at arm's length, but as soon as you get into a rally you can take a step back to give yourself more time to loop. (If the rally really gets fast, you'll back up even more, as top players often do when they counterloop.) Some players like to play a consistent off-table topspin game, in which case you'll back more quickly than most players - but try to back up only as far as you really have to as you happily topspin away, and fish and lob only when the opponent forces you to. (In other words, make them go for risky attack shots, where you'll get some free points, before you fish and lob.)

Of course, if you are a chopper, then you'll be backing up as soon as the opponent attacks - though even there, you don't want to back up more than necessary or you'll give the opponent extra time and extreme angles to go for.

Lastly, let me urge all players to at least experiment outside their comfort zone. If you are a blocker, try backing off sometimes - either on defense or looping. If you are an off-table player, try playing at the table as a variation, blocking or even looping quick off the bounce. You may find a new dimension for your game, and at the very least, you'll better understand how other players play, making it that much easier tactically when you play that type of style. 

Daniel from West Virginia emailed me the following question:

One of the things that I am struggling to understand is the relationship between rotation versus right-to-left leg weight transfer when looping.  I saw in one of your earlier blog entries that you compare forehand looping with "rotating around a pole" that runs from the ceiling down to the floor.  I've watched this video of Wang Liqin over and over and he seems to be generating most of his power with rotation rather than right-to-left leg weight transfer.  Both of his feet stay pretty much rooted in the ground at all times during the stroke:

But whenever I watch counterlooping rallies between pros in an actual match, they do seem to be transferring their weight forward towards their opponent quite a bit, no?

In this video of Zhang Jike looping against underspin, I can see a large weight transfer onto the right foot, as evidenced by the fact that his left heel is off the ground when he initiates the stroke. This stroke seems to be slightly less about rotation and more about leg drive:

Does this mean there is a bigger transfer of weight onto the right leg when looping underspin than when looping topspin?

I'm not sure if any of this makes any sense, but if you could ever do a blog entry on the relationship of using rotation versus using forward momentum in generating power on the FH side, it would be really great.  My stroke is really suffering as I'm just not confident in how to generate the racket speed right now.

This is an excellent question. The question basically is how much power should a player generate from these three aspects: rotational energy, driving forward with the back leg, and driving upward with the back leg.

When looping against topspin or a block (i.e. any ball without backspin), you'll mostly use rotational energy and pushing forward with the back leg; there's little upward motion. From the Wang Liqin video Daniel links to above, you can see that Wang (3-time World Men's Singles Champion) uses a lot of rotational energy, but his head doesn't move a whole lot - he tends to keep the right-to-left body movement to a relative minimum as his body mostly rotates in a circle. The advantage of this is that it means his head and body ends only a short distance from where it started before the stroke, meaning he is almost immediately ready for the next shot. If your head and body move more from right to left (for a righty), you may gain some power, but you'll be slower recovering for the next shot. You need to find the right balance. If you have as much natural power as a Wang Liqin, then you don't need much right-to-left movement. But if you have more time, then the extra body movement will add to your power.

Here's a video of Ma Long vs. Wang Liqin. Watch Ma Long (far side, currently #2 in the world, former #1) in the first point as he loops five in a row. (It's replayed in slow motion.) Like Wang Liqin, he mostly uses rotational energy, but he also moves right-to-left for extra power, especially in the very first of his loops. Now jump to the point starting 50 seconds in, and watch Wang Liqin's first two loops. (It's also replayed in slow motion.) He gets great power, yet it's almost all rotational energy - watch how little his head moves during the stroke. Now jump back to the point starting 23 seconds in (also replayed in slow motion), and you'll see a series of Wang Liqin loops where he has far more right-to-left movement - now his head does move during the stroke. Why is this? It's more a matter of not being in perfect position against these angled shots into his backhand, forcing him to go way around to loop the forehand.

So while you do want that right-to-left movement (for a righty) when looping for extra power, you want to focus on rotational energy, with the center of gravity kept well between the legs, and the head moving only a little bit. The main exception is when looping from way around the backhand side, where you often aren't as far around as you might want, in which case you compensate with more right-to-left movement. (Which means a slower recovery, so you have to have fast footwork if you do this, or simply end the point with the first shot.) The other exception is when going for extra power, but as shown by Wang Liqin and Ma Long, that's not always necessary.

Now look at the video Daniel linked to of Ma Long vs. the chopper (Joo Se Hyuk). Here Ma has to overcome the heavy backspin, and so much of his power is upward as he pushes up with his back leg. He's not going for a lot of speed in most of these loops, and so there's only minimal forward motion as he topspins away, mostly stroking upward and rotating in a circle, with his head starting and ending in almost the same place. (In some of the early loops, he is almost falling backward as he focuses almost totally on upward motion.) In the first point, he loops ten balls before missing the eleventh. The first eight are all basically steady loops (by world-class standards), where most of his power is going upward. Now look at the ninth loop, where he loops with much greater power into Joo's backhand. Now there's a sudden increase in right-to-left motion, with his head ending more to the left. This gives extra power. (And since he's playing a chopper, there's plenty of time to recover for the next shot.)

What does this mean for you? The most important thing is to stay balanced, especially when looping against a fast incoming ball. Focus on rotational energy, and add as much right-to-left movement (for righties) as needed. Many players find it a lot easier to end the point this way, and if the ball rarely comes back, then there's no problem. At the higher levels, even these powerful loops often come back, and so recovery becomes an important issue - but at that level, players are so fast they can often get away with more sideways movement, relying on their footwork to recover for the next shot. But as shown by Wang Liqin and Ma Long, it is the rotational energy that is most important, and the rest is the extra spice often used for a little extra power or to compensate when forehand looping from way around on the backhand side.