How to develop a style and be more agressive?

[pedro.dantas]

Hi, I've been playing table tennis for 2 years, and recently I've reached the point of having a consistent and functional technique. I can finally play matches without worrying too much about my movement, which allows me to pay more attention to the ball (I used to get the timing wrong a lot, I think I focused too much on my movement).

My biggest problem right now is the lack of a style. I end up being very passive when playing. Even when I'm attacking, I always try to put a lot of spin on the ball to feel more secure, and I don't know when I should force a shot to finish the point. So, I usually manage to open the game with a loop on backspin balls. Often my opponents can't hold the spin, and it's one of the ways I score the most points. On slightly higher balls, I can get a loop kill and finish the point. I can open with both forehand and backhand, but I can only do the loop kill with my forehand. But when they defend well, I can't be aggressive enough to finish the point. I end up attacking with spin to be safe, and they keep defending. So I try to move them around by changing the ball's placement, but most of the time I end up being moved and losing the point because I can't reach the ball.

My racket isn't slow, my movement isn't too short, I just can't anticipate enough to finish the point. I simply don't know what to do, and that makes me very reactive and passive. Is there any way to develop a style or some way of playing that allows me to be more aggressive and finish these points?

 

[golden_son]

The way I see it, there's sort of three approaches you can take.

1. Practice serve-third ball attack patterns. Develop a handful of serves that force your opponent to give you an attackable ball - not a loopable backspin ball, since that seems to put you into an uncomfortable rally, but ones they're either likely to pop high or otherwise return weakly enough for you to loop-kill. This is where I get most of my points currently.

2. Develop a strong deep push. Force your opponent to open up and then be ready to counterloop, since open-ups are usually slower and more predictable in their placement if your push is good enough.

3. Practice multiball random so you're more comfortable moving around and keeping a rally going if you lose initial control of the point.

Ideally you would train all of these, but for quicker results I feel like you could focus on the former and get better at the latter over time. It's kind of up to you.

 

[victormanriquey]

My racket isn't slow, my movement isn't too short, I just can't anticipate enough to finish the point.

If anticipation is the problem, for me the best tip was to always follow the ball+opponent and stop admiring my own shots (as tempting as that sometimes is haha). That leads to better ancipation as you can mostly see (at amateur level where people don't change stroke angle in the last second) where the next ball will be played next. So you get faster feet. And also, no need to constantly go back to the ready position, there is no time for it as you grow in level.

Tl;dr: The issue is not slow feet, is the slow eyes/mind

My biggest problem right now is the lack of a style. I end up being very passive when playing. Even when I'm attacking, I always try to put a lot of spin on the ball to feel more secure, and I don't know when I should force a shot to finish the point. So, I usually manage to open the game with a loop on backspin balls. Often my opponents can't hold the spin, and it's one of the ways I score the most points. On slightly higher balls, I can get a loop kill and finish the point. I can open with both forehand and backhand, but I can only do the loop kill with my forehand. But when they defend well, I can't be aggressive enough to finish the point. I end up attacking with spin to be safe, and they keep defending. So I try to move them around by changing the ball's placement, but most of the time I end up being moved and losing the point because I can't reach the ball.

But when I read this and see what gear you have, I'm not sure you should be playing with a viscaria and H3N BS + D05, that's an olympic setup to be very aggresive all the time, not one as you develop technique and grow. Not everybody here will agree, but this is my opinion from (coach) experience with many other players

In any case, feels like you could use some coaching to work on those issues, if that is a possibility!

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

i think its indeed the mind.
one has to be in the mindset of attacking all the balls. we need to be predators at the ball. don't wait for the ball to come into the racket. try to take it at/near the top of the bounce. always.

 

[Yuomay]

Do a lot of drills involving “take initiative” then play a “winner”.

For example, backspin serve short to your backhand, flick to their backhand block to your forehand you play a winner.

Or you do a long topspin serve to their backhand they block on the diagonal you pivot and play a winner.

Add randomness when they go well

 

[lodro]

i think its indeed the mind.
one has to be in the mindset of attacking all the balls. we need to be predators at the ball. don't wait for the ball to come into the racket. try to take it at/near the top of the bounce. always.

I agree. The mindset at the beginning of every game has to be :"" KILL KILL KILL 😂

 

[golden_son]

I agree. The mindset at the beginning of every game has to be :"" KILL KILL KILL 😂

 

[blahness]

Most probably:

1) footwork is slow and you are looping when the ball has dropped too much (the lower it gets the harder it is to land a fast loop)
2) you are attacking mostly diagonal and there are not enough straight line attacks. If this is the case the blocker can literally just wait for your shot.
3) your BH lacks quality so opponent can just do whatever they want with their shot.
4) no special BH down the line shot (which can do the most damage positionally)
5) no loopkill shot against backspin with a lot of hitting (if you have this shot then it is extra difficult for them to defend positionally)

 

[NextLevel]

"Fear is the mindkiller." -Dune

The biggest and first step is always in training. But a not as big step but what keeps people stuck is not connecting training to matchplay. Look at how you win and lose points in matches. They will usually turn up opportunities to make certain things better or do certain things less. But almost as important in my experience is developing an in-between game based on learning how to control the ball. Unless you are overwhelmingly powerful. A lot of points will br decided by your ability to put the table one more time than the opposition against inconsistent opponents. Training kill shots is good but training your preferred mode of staying consistent under pressure while putting pressure on your opponent to make shots is important as well.. in fact some players develop this part of their game, whether it is fishing, blocking, chop blockong or kick countering before they develop their offense.

Practicing a skill repeatedly with not just the goal of hitting the ball on the table but to be able to adapt to many different levels of speed and spin is important for getting better at table tennis. Focusing on just hitting the ball past people is not the way.

Good luck.

 

[Dr Evil]

You don't usually choose your style, you develop it based on what works for you. You can be aggressive in almost any style, and it comes down to changing what you describe as your passive and reactive play into active and intentional play. Practice the discipline of having an actionable plan for how to win each point (other than just waiting for the other guy to miss), try to do something to execute that plan with every shot where you have options, and you're likely to see good results over time. Rather than speeding things up consider slowing down and focusing on placement, forcing your opponent to move (before he can move you), jamming him, limiting his options, playing the angles, etc. I think you can be more aggressive that way while developing your game. And I'll go out on a very sturdy limb and say there's no such thing as an amateur who can't be beaten with good placement alone.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Always have the stroke and body go forward . Imagine the ball is a punching ball

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Dear Pedro,

I understand your problem now. I truly and thoroughly understand....

You use Hurricane and try to play but without a full total kinetic chain forward fh loop using your whole body, that is why you FH loop is pussy-style and opponents can block easily. I remember seeing your previous video you posted and I commented that you are too gentlemanly with the ball, like trying to caress a young maiden.

Your problem is easily fixable with MX-P ( student budget ) or Zyre ( rich uncle budget ). You can do pussy fh and still get massive power.

 

[TenPercentWinRate]

Dear Pedro,

I understand your problem now. I truly and thoroughly understand....

You use Hurricane and try to play but without a full total kinetic chain forward fh loop using your whole body, that is why you FH loop is pussy-style and opponents can block easily. I remember seeing your previous video you posted and I commented that you are too gentlemanly with the ball, like trying to caress a young maiden.

Your problem is easily fixable with MX-P ( student budget ) or Zyre ( rich uncle budget ). You can do pussy fh and still get massive power.

No.

Your problem is easily fixable with pips of any size and shape.

Proof? When Dan challenged China, he got destroyed by an uncle with a hole in his pips whilst he tried to market new Stiga inverted rubbers.

Hence, you should preferably get some pimples on your bat, preferably with a hole in the middle as well.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

No.

Your problem is easily fixable with pips of any size and shape.

Proof? When Dan challenged China, he got destroyed by an uncle with a hole in his pips whilst he tried to market new Stiga inverted rubbers.

Hence, you should preferably get some pimples on your bat, preferably with a hole in the middle as well.

OP stated he wants more aggression, not the asian uncle stand like a coconut tree on one spot using BH block only style. You got it wrong!

 

[TenPercentWinRate]

OP stated he wants more aggression, not the asian uncle stand like a coconut tree on one spot using BH block only style. You got it wrong!

How dare you describe the uncle as a coconut tree! You are belittling his ability to execute controlled aggression in his long pips punch shots!

If the unc example can’t persuade you, how about He Zhiwen? Tell me one person that is around his age, parallels his aggression, has Zyre 03 on his racket, and be able to mop him? Hell, I bet even Harimoto has to use full effort to beat him.

 

[Denso]

I had similar struggles as described in the OP. As the next steps, I would suggest to train your BH like there's no tomorrow, and focus on stability and particularly placement - the speed will be developed automatically. Simultaneously, work on your FH killshot and placement tactics to setup the FH and make it easier for you to anticipate the next ball.

 

[MORTtheORT]

i think its indeed the mind.
one has to be in the mindset of attacking all the balls. we need to be predators at the ball. don't wait for the ball to come into the racket. try to take it at/near the top of the bounce. always.

100%. Don't die wondering.

 

[MORTtheORT]

If anticipation is the problem, for me the best tip was to always follow the ball+opponent and stop admiring my own shots (as tempting as that sometimes is haha). That leads to better ancipation as you can mostly see (at amateur level where people don't change stroke angle in the last second) where the next ball will be played next. So you get faster feet. And also, no need to constantly go back to the ready position, there is no time for it as you grow in level.

Tl;dr: The issue is not slow feet, is the slow eyes/mind

But when I read this and see what gear you have, I'm not sure you should be playing with a viscaria and H3N BS + D05, that's an olympic setup to be very aggresive all the time, not one as you develop technique and grow. Not everybody here will agree, but this is my opinion from (coach) experience with many other players

In any case, feels like you could use some coaching to work on those issues, if that is a possibility!

Yep, if you are passive because you are worried about the ball not hitting the table....maybe review your setup to something that will bring more confidence.

Haha shot watching... something I can be guilty of in low intensity doubles matches....many social media pictures with me standing upright, blade by my side and you can literally see me going Ooooooo. My excuse is I am the greatest TT spectator here

 

[MORTtheORT]

Tr

Hi, I've been playing table tennis for 2 years, and recently I've reached the point of having a consistent and functional technique. I can finally play matches without worrying too much about my movement, which allows me to pay more attention to the ball (I used to get the timing wrong a lot, I think I focused too much on my movement).

My biggest problem right now is the lack of a style. I end up being very passive when playing. Even when I'm attacking, I always try to put a lot of spin on the ball to feel more secure, and I don't know when I should force a shot to finish the point. So, I usually manage to open the game with a loop on backspin balls. Often my opponents can't hold the spin, and it's one of the ways I score the most points. On slightly higher balls, I can get a loop kill and finish the point. I can open with both forehand and backhand, but I can only do the loop kill with my forehand. But when they defend well, I can't be aggressive enough to finish the point. I end up attacking with spin to be safe, and they keep defending. So I try to move them around by changing the ball's placement, but most of the time I end up being moved and losing the point because I can't reach the ball.

My racket isn't slow, my movement isn't too short, I just can't anticipate enough to finish the point. I simply don't know what to do, and that makes me very reactive and passive. Is there any way to develop a style or some way of playing that allows me to be more aggressive and finish these points?

Drill your serves with a kill shot as the third ball. The game is about dictating the point from your server. Literally drill every serve you have, learn where the ball is most likely to be returned to and drill your kill shot for that serve. Change the spin on the serve and locations etc and learn the kill shot so you have options for different players.

This is what I do. And don't forget, this kill shot in the drill might be coming from a serve return...but this is no different to in a rally or returning an opponent's serve.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

How dare you describe the uncle as a coconut tree! You are belittling his ability to execute controlled aggression in his long pips punch shots!

If the unc example can’t persuade you, how about He Zhiwen? Tell me one person that is around his age, parallels his aggression, has Zyre 03 on his racket, and be able to mop him? Hell, I bet even Harimoto has to use full effort to beat him.

Actually I was thinking bout this style…

Not like this…