By Larry Hodges

Most players know what a third-ball attack is: you serve, the opponent returns, and you attack aggressively, usually with a loop, a smash, a hard-hit drive, or perhaps a quick off-the-bounce drive. It's that simple.

But this means you are relying on your opponent to return your serve in a way that you can attack effectively. While you want to develop your third-ball attack, you also want to develop your five-ball attack, as your fall-back plan.

By Larry Hodges

If you know your opponent's rating before a match, you have several advantages:

1. You can use tactics that will defeat that level;
2. If the opponent is lower rated, you can go in with confidence;
3. If the opponent is higher rated, you can go in feeling you have nothing to lose, and so play better than normal.

On the other hand:

By Larry Hodges

When pushing on the backhand, most players are at one of three levels:

Level One: Get it back!

Level Two: Do something with it! This usually means one of three things: Quick off the bounce and angled; heavy; or short. This is effective at all levels. But there's another level. . . .

Level Three: Do even more!

By Larry Hodges

Are you one of those players with a steady backhand, but unable to really attack or counter-attack with it? Here's a solution: practice temporarily with short pips!

Most players won't want to switch to short pips long term because there are many disadvantages to short pips: can't spin the ball much, difficult to topspin from off the table effectively, and ball doesn't bounce off as lively so you have to generate most of the force on your shots.

By Larry Hodges

Most players serve with a purpose. They are trying to get you to return their serve in a specific way so they can attack it. So . . . don't.

The classic case is the forehand looper who serves backspin to your backhand, anticipating a push to his backhand. He steps around and forehand loops. If he's got good footwork, he'll usually follow that shot with at least one more forehand loop unless you make a great return. So he's getting two forehand loops in a row, exactly what he wants.

By Larry Hodges

You don't need to be a chopper to win with backspin, even in this modern age of topspin. Backspin will always have its place, when used properly. Of course, even attackers often serve backspin, hoping for a pushed return (backspin) that they can loop. However, when should an attacking player use backspin in a rally?

By Larry Hodges

Can you name the fifteen fast & deep serves? More importantly, can you execute them effectively?

By Larry Hodges

Some of us remember the incredible topspins of U.S. Team Member Rick Seemiller (brother of Dan) back in the 1980s. He didn't have great power on his loops. What he did have was more topspin than anyone in the U.S., and probably in the world. Even world-class players commented on this. When faced with this very slow, arcing ball that exploded off your racket, invariably going off, many an opponent called it "unreturnable." 

The game has evolved since then, with faster sponges and speed glues, and players tend to go for as much speed as spin. But there's nothing like a very slow but incredibly spinny loop to mess up an opponent's block and/or counterloop!

Another big advantage of the slow loop is it gives you time to get back into position after the shot. You can do a slow forehand loop from the backhand side, and move back into position before the opponent can quick-block to the wide forehand. Also, the slowness of the shot means that most block returns will tend to come back more slowly, since the opponent can't use your own speed against you. This gives you even more time for the next shot, as well as a softer ball to attack.

To do this shot, you will need two things:

1.      A very sticky inverted racket surface;

2.      Strong legs; if you have serious knee problems or just weak leg muscles, the shot will be more difficult, though you can still get pretty good spin if done properly.

The shot is usually done against backspin, so you can use backspin in creating your own topspin. To execute the shot, let the ball drop much farther down than usual, all the way to around your knees. Bend your knees more than usual, and drop your playing shoulder and playing racket very low, with the racket tip pointing to the ground. Then push upwards with the legs, and drive the racket upwards. Contact the ball by just barely skimming it. Arc the ball a little higher than usual, making it go deep on the table.

Note that there's a world of difference between a spinny loop that lands short (easy to attack) and one that lands deep (very tricky to do anything with). Keep the ball deep!

Done properly, your opponent will face a very spinny ball, coming at him relatively slowly (so he can't use your own speed against you), and deep on the table. If he blocks, he has to punch the ball from deep on the court against a lot more topspin than he's used to. And heaven help the player who tries to counterloop against this shot! Sure it can be done, but it's not easy.

Happy Topspinning!

By Larry Hodges

By Larry Hodges

If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your service game, take some time to really think about it. Analyze your current serves, and what you want to do with your serves – what shots you want to set up. Then analyze how to best connect these two.

Here are a few pointers. Good luck!

1.      Use serves that set up your game. For example: