This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Captain Obvious to the rescue!
You have to meet Der_Echte and hear him speak to realize that read him as Captain Obvious is a big mistake. And a key part of what he said isn't obvious to people who want to play fast and even occasionally eludes me when I am playing faster - I don't play faster because I am trying to play faster, I play faster naturally because I am reading my opponent's play and ball better.
I am actually going to write an article about this on OOAKforum because I think this point goes over many people's heads especially in a best of 5 or 7 match. Your opponent has time to learn you and you have time to learn your opponent, even more so when the opponent has a coach or teammates. Therefore, you need to always be alert and trying to win the match quickly because as your opponent learns you, things can always turn. Never underestimate it.
After the match is over and your opponent came back to win 3-2 or 4-3, everyone likes to say they choked, but the truth is that it isn't usually choking. Your opponent had a chance to figure you out and once they did so, you just couldn't fight as well. I find that if I am winning points off my serve by itself in game 1, I might not be winning those same points in game 2/3 and definitely not in game 4. If my loop is always to the forehand side from my forehand, my opponent now anticipates it. If I have a backspin/topspin reverse serve alternating combo, my opponent now remembers the pattern.
So to play faster, don't try to hit the ball harder, just find ways of creating time for you to read the opponent's play or just do it better. Because as you play quality shots in response to his shots, you will naturally gain time. But quality shots are not always about hitting the ball harder/faster - my preferences are placement and spin.