A Tip of the Week will go up every Monday by noon.

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Published:

11/23/2015 - 14:03

Author: Larry Hodges

When you face a new and unknown opponent, you aren't sure yet how the rallies are going to go. But you can control how the rallies start. Learn to use serve & receive to start rallies the way you want them to go, and so rather than you adjusting to your opponent, he has to adjust to you. It doesn't matter if the opponent plays very orthodox or has an unusual or weird style, you should be able to at least start the type of rally that favors you. A few examples:

  • If you are good at attacking backspin, then a short, heavy, and very low backspin serve often forces a backspin return that you can attack.
  • A short and low no-spin serve, as a variation to spin serves (especially backspin serves), is hard to either attack or push heavy, often giving you an easy ball to attack.
  • If you serve a lot of short backspin serves and your opponent keeps pushing them back heavy, throw in short side-top serves and you'll likely get pop-ups.
  • If you are good in fast topspin rallies, then a topspin or sidespin-topspin serve often forces a topspin return that you can attack. Mix them up with big breaking side-top serves as well as short ones.
  • Fast & deep serves, strategically placed, often get you into a fast exchange, and can back players slightly off the table, giving you time to set up your attack. Forehand loopers are often forced out of position by these serves. Focus especially on side-top serves that break away from the receiver, fast no-spin at the elbow, and sudden quick ones down the line.
  • Slow but deep sidespin serves, against an opponent who doesn't loop, sets you up for all sorts of attacks.
  • If your opponent keeps attacking your short serve with his backhand, serve from the middle or forehand side so you have an angle to serve into his forehand, and force him to receive forehand. 
Published:

11/16/2015 - 13:43

Author: Larry Hodges

Many players grip the racket too tightly. Many think this gives them added stability. Actually, all it does is tighten the muscles up by matching opposing muscles against each other rather than have them work together. It means that instead of smoothly executing a shot like the pros do, some of your muscles are trying to do the shot right while others are pressing back, making your shot ragged and erratic.

It also leads to injuries as muscles are forced to battle against each other while simultaneously executing table tennis shots. Players with tight grips leave the playing hall with exhausted muscles; players with loose grips leave with relaxed, loose muscles.

Here's a test. Imagine someone sneaking up behind you and grabbing your racket from your hand. It should come right out. If it doesn't, you're holding it too tightly. Conversely, it shouldn't be so loose as to wobble about in your hand, but that's rarely a problem.

Published:

11/06/2015 - 14:41

Author: Larry Hodges

A backhand sidespin serve tends to be more effective to an opponent's forehand, while a forehand pendulum serve tends to be more effective to the backhand. This is both because players often have to lunge after the ball as it breaks away, and because the racket angle needed to return these sidespins is less natural when done this way. Because the balls are breaking away from the table, it effectively increases the width of the table, forcing receivers to cover more ground. This doesn't mean only serving these serves to the side that they would break away from, only generally serving it more to that side. Each opponent is different, so try out each combination and see what happens.

Using this principle, you might want to develop the following four serves. 

  • Big breaking sidespin serve (from the backhand side) deep into the backhand that breaks away from the receiver, usually done with a forehand pendulum serve. This is very difficult for many receivers to handle as they often don't have as much range on the backhand as the forehand, and so end up reaching for the ball as it breaks away.
  • Big breaking sidespin serve (from the forehand side) deep into the forehand that breaks away from the receiver, usually done with a forehand tomahawk serve. This serve is extremely effective through the intermediate level, but doesn't work very well at the higher levels, where they just loop it. But it's often a free point against many club-level players, who lunge for the ball as it breaks away and so lose control, usually lifting it off the end or side.
  • Short sidespin serve (from the middle or forehand side) to the wide forehand that breaks away from the receiver, either bouncing twice on the table (given the chance) or going off to the side, usually inside the corner. It is usually done with a tomahawk, backhand, or reverse pendulum serve. Many players find this serve very awkward to receive as they have to reach over the table with their forehand, and then often end up lunging at the ball when it breaks away. Below the advanced level players almost always return this crosscourt, so you can almost camp out on that side and wait for the return. 
  • Short sidespin serve (from the backhand side) to the wide backhand that breaks away from the receiver, either bouncing twice on the table (given the chance) or going off to the side, usually inside the corner. This is usually done with a forehand pendulum serve. This often isn't as effective as one that breaks short into the forehand, but many players will have trouble with it, plus it takes out the extreme angle into the forehand, which is important for players who strongly favor the forehand.

So add these breaking sidespin serves to your repertoire, and give your opponents a case of the lungies! 

Published:

11/03/2015 - 13:17

Author: Larry Hodges

One of the common problems I see are players who stand too far from the table when looping against backspin. They'll stand well off the table, with their contact point in front of them. This means that to put their weight forward, they have to fall slightly backwards to compensate. It's either that or resorting to a rather soft loop, with mostly upward motion, and little speed.

Instead, learn to almost jam the table with your left leg (for righties) when looping backspin. This allows you to rotate properly into the shot, even with the same contact point as the players who back up, since you'll be contacting the ball to the side of your body instead of in front. But now, with body torque, you'll have tremendous power, and so able to loop at all speeds. 

Having tremendous power does not mean you loop every ball with great speed. It means you effortlessly create power, and that power goes into both speed and spin. Go for about 50-50 on most shots, going for more speed against a weaker push or when you've really read it well. (Here's a Tip of the Week on creating "Easy Power.")

Standing closer to the table also allows you loop backspin a bit quicker. Some players even take them on the rise, but for speed loops, it's best to take them at the top of the bounce; for more consistent loops with a higher spin to speed ratio, take them perhaps slightly on the drop.

While this article was written about looping backspin, it all applies to looping against topspin as well, except the positioning is a bit more complex, depending more on the incoming ball. But against a softer topspin ball, you'd also want to stay close to the table and generally loop it around the top of the bounce, or even on the rise.

Here are three examples from the final of the recent Men's World Cup. These players don't push long a lot, so in the first game there were only three long pushes where the other player forehand looped, twice by Ma Long, once by Fan Zhedong. Watch how close they are to the table in all three cases.

So remember - when you want to jam a loop down your opponent's throat, jam the table!

Published:

10/26/2015 - 13:52

Author: Larry Hodges

It's the lament of developing players everywhere: How do I get a good practice partner? You might get lucky and find someone at your local club who happens to be about the same level, has the same burning desire to improve, and is both willing and available to train at the same times and number of hours that you want to do so. If so, you've hit the jackpot, and your game will be going places.

But more often finding someone who meets all this criteria is difficult. So you may have to go to option two – develop a practice partner by practicing with a weaker player.

This enhances your chances in multiple ways. First, the number of players below your level is almost for certain far greater than the number of players right around your level, and so the chances are greater of finding a compatible partner. Second, because it gives a weaker player the opportunity to train with someone stronger, the incentive is greater, so you are more likely to find a willing partner. And third, it will likely force you to focus on your basics, i.e. re-enforce the foundation of your game, which is so often overlooked.

Let's elaborate on that last point. Many players look for practice partners at their level or higher, who can push them to a higher level. This often means playing faster and faster, which should make you better – and there's some truth to that. But what's often missing is the consistency part. If you ask a beginner and most intermediate players what the biggest difference between an average player and a top player, they would most likely say the pace they play at. If you ask a top player the same question, he'd likely say consistency. By hitting with a weaker player, you are forced to slow down a bit and focus on consistency – and that should be the foundation of your game.

How do you develop such a practice partner out of a weaker player? At the start you have to be patient as the player won't be able to play at either your pace or consistency. So you use your powers as the stronger player and focus on consistency as well as accuracy – keep the ball right to their forehand and backhand pockets, so they can fine-tune their strokes and develop their consistency. And a magical thing will happen –not only will they improve, but they will get more and more used to your shots, and soon they will be practicing with you on an almost even basis. (I've not only done this in the past with several practice partners, I've seen others do it many times.)

And note that they will be improving not because you are pushing them to play faster and faster, but because both of you are focused on consistency. Only increase the pace when both players are consistent at a given pace. (This is also a hint about practicing with any player – focus on consistency. Stronger players play faster because they are consistent at that speed.)

So if you are having trouble finding a good practice partner, change your mind-set and develop one, and together you can take the table tennis world by storm. 

>It's the lament of developing players everywhere: How do I get a good practice partner?

That is the biggest challenge in table tennis, at least for me. I exit the sport 7 years ago because my regular training partner at some point had no time to practice. It was difficult to find another one because there was no "club" for amateurs in the place where I lived.

>and is both willing and available to train at the same times and number of hours that you want to do so.

That is the most frustrating thing. In the place where I play, there is a group of players that practice regularly, and I am amongst them. However, other such players avoid practicing with me at all costs because I am the weakest one. There are other guys, and some of them are stronger than me, but they play once in a while and it is a problem. I'm willing to play with weaker players and I often do, I'm OK to invest time in them. But the problem is that they don't play regularly, so they don't improve and even if I try to help them, it all goes in vain. At this moment I'm thinking about giving up the sport again due to the same reason: abscence of practice partners. I haven't had a quality practice session in last several weeks :(