Play-style Tips!

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

Hello,

I thought it might be a good idea to open up a thread where people can discuss their favourite and least favourite play styles to play against. The idea of this is to help each other find solutions to playing against types of players they find tricky, as what someone finds tricky, someone else will love!

One of my least favourite styles that I struggle against is left handed loopers who play FH's from everywhere! I just can't seem to stop them getting in , and as a backhand-orientated player I could do with some tips

Any help would be appreciated! And feel free to post about the styles you struggle against, there's loads of people on here who are willing to help!

songdavid98 · Nov 24, 2016

Yecats Encerwal said:
Hello,

I thought it might be a good idea to open up a thread where people can discuss their favourite and least favourite play styles to play against. The idea of this is to help each other find solutions to playing against types of players they find tricky, as what someone finds tricky, someone else will love!

One of my least favourite styles that I struggle against is left handed loopers who play FH's from everywhere! I just can't seem to stop them getting in , and as a backhand-orientated player I could do with some tips

Any help would be appreciated! And feel free to post about the styles you struggle against, there's loads of people on here who are willing to help!

As a lefty penhold looper, I am your worst enemy. I don't really like playing other aggressive players though. They don't let me relax; they leave me no choice but to attack very early in the point.

***********

Honestly, if you are having trouble against players like me, either build up a solid defense (like good wide angle pushes, good blocks, good counter attack) or just attack first, or both. If they are somehow using their forehand for everything, start making more fast shots down-the-line (put deception on pushes. also blocks and topspins down the line are good). People like me usually predict cross court shots because we sort of *force* you to, by using angles, spin, and power. A good combination of angle, spin, and speed can make it very hard to make down-the-line shots.

What you need to do is either prevent that from happening altogether by attacking first, or you can learn to deal with it with defense. Defense is sort of under-rated because you can use that just as well as offense for predicting your opponent. Good angles and spin will prevent your opponent from *forcing* your shots.

Archosaurus · Nov 24, 2016

While I haven't exactly played against people good enough to really have a proper playing style that I have problems with, because I'm not exactly up to par myself, I do have one pet peeve. Not because I can't win, but because it's crappy to train against.

Flat hitters who just play soft and half the time not even that low or deep. Really low level people. It's not hard at all to beat them.

However I find their balls with no topspin kick and pretty high bounce to be harder to loop than proper strokes with spin and depth to them. If you back up like you would against a looper or a fast attacker, you just need to move in because the return is soft. That's not too bad for winning the game, but it's hard to loop balls like that with quality.

It's good practice though, compared to spinning up a low backspin or topspin ball, digging into high no-spin and avoiding smashing feels more like walking on a tightrope.

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

songdavid98 said:
As a lefty penhold looper, I am your worst enemy. I don't really like playing other aggressive players though. They don't let me relax; they leave me no choice but to attack very early in the point.

***********

Honestly, if you are having trouble against players like me, either build up a solid defense (like good wide angle pushes, good blocks, good counter attack) or just attack first, or both. If they are somehow using their forehand for everything, start making more fast shots down-the-line (put deception on pushes. also blocks and topspins down the line are good). People like me usually predict cross court shots because we sort of *force* you to, by using angles, spin, and power. A good combination of angle, spin, and speed can make it very hard to make down-the-line shots.

What you need to do is either prevent that from happening altogether by attacking first, or you can learn to deal with it with defense. Defense is sort of under-rated because you can use that just as well as offense for predicting your opponent. Good angles and spin will prevent your opponent from *forcing* your shots.

Thank you! I think i'll focus on playing more down the line and getting in first.

Variation also seems to be the key here.

thekleifheit13 · Nov 24, 2016

I don't like playing high level hitters. If someone even near 2000 loops at me i can at least get a paddle on the ball and if I'm far enough away from the table i can try to counter. Hitters, no freaking chance. I'm working at loopdriving more so i don't give them a high enough ball to hit, but it's still in development.

I love playing people that use pips on one side and aren't attacking much with them - just serve underspin into the pips and attack the topspin that comes back hard

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

Archosaurus said:
While I haven't exactly played against people good enough to really have a proper playing style that I have problems with, because I'm not exactly up to par myself, I do have one pet peeve. Not because I can't win, but because it's crappy to train against.

Flat hitters who just play soft and half the time not even that low or deep. Really low level people. It's not hard at all to beat them.

However I find their balls with no topspin kick and pretty high bounce to be harder to loop than proper strokes with spin and depth to them. If you back up like you would against a looper or a fast attacker, you just need to move in because the return is soft. That's not too bad for winning the game, but it's hard to loop balls like that with quality.

It's good practice though, compared to spinning up a low backspin or topspin ball, digging into high no-spin and avoiding smashing feels more like walking on a tightrope.

Most people find themselves making more mistakes against people who give them less to work with. I am the same, I find "nothing" balls hard to deal with. It is good to play against this type of player though to cut-down on unforced errors. I find myself dropping sets to people I shouldn't be, purely for this reason!

Kelpo · Nov 24, 2016

I have a lot of trouble against slow spinny topspins. Where I live there aren't very many of them, but when I do play them, I always try to block for some reason. And then most of my blocks go way long. I'm thinking the best thing I could do is to just take a step back and loop it.

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

Kelpo said:
I have a lot of trouble against slow spinny topspins. Where I live there aren't very many of them, but when I do play them, I always try to block for some reason. And then most of my blocks go way long. I'm thinking the best thing I could do is to just take a step back and loop it.

Yeh you are correct, you have two choices:-

1) Take the ball super early with a closed racket
2) Wait a little bit longer and counter loop

Both are effective and a good combination will keep your opponent guessing!

Or if your feeling fancy, go for a ridiculous chop-block like Ma Long

Kelpo · Nov 24, 2016

Yecats Encerwal said:
Yeh you are correct, you have two choices:-

1) Take the ball super early with a closed racket
2) Wait a little bit longer and counter loop

Both are effective and a good combination will keep your opponent guessing!

Or if your feeling fancy, go for a ridiculous chop-block like Ma Long

Awesome! If I can stop my instincts, I will try counter looping. Thanks for the tip!

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

Kelpo said:
Awesome! If I can stop my instincts, I will try counter looping. Thanks for the tip!

You're welcome!

Using the opponents spin to your advantage is a key skill in Table Tennis, one that everyone can improve on!

I know I can!

Archosaurus · Nov 24, 2016

Yecats Encerwal said:
Most people find themselves making more mistakes against people who give them less to work with. I am the same, I find "nothing" balls hard to deal with. It is good to play against this type of player though to cut-down on unforced errors. I find myself dropping sets to people I shouldn't be, purely for this reason!

You're probably right. I've found I tend to block or counter very high shots around my head level if they have a bit of spin or pace, and of course they will not attack them so I get away with it. However I should really be learning how to spin those. The problem is that sometimes it has a bit different trajectory, so it's difficult.

It sounds like a real problem, because I've heard of decent but seemingly under-rated players not rising up the ranks because they have problems against weird balls like this.

Yecats Encerwal · Nov 24, 2016

Archosaurus said:
You're probably right. I've found I tend to block or counter very high shots around my head level if they have a bit of spin or pace, and of course they will not attack them so I get away with it. However I should really be learning how to spin those. The problem is that sometimes it has a bit different trajectory, so it's difficult.

It sounds like a real problem, because I've heard of decent but seemingly under-rated players not rising up the ranks because they have problems against weird balls like this.

People usually struggle climbing rankings not because they can't beat people above them, but because they lose to too many people below them!

Cutting out silly losses is a sure way to gain some crucial points, and more importantly, not lose any hard earned points

LordPippington · Nov 24, 2016

Kelpo said:
Awesome! If I can stop my instincts, I will try counter looping. Thanks for the tip!

You can do a modified 'punch-block' against those heavy top spins. Where you basically slap down on the ball, instead of doing a passive block. This will help keep it on the table. Let me see if I can find a video --

songdavid98 · Nov 24, 2016

Archosaurus said:
While I haven't exactly played against people good enough to really have a proper playing style that I have problems with, because I'm not exactly up to par myself, I do have one pet peeve. Not because I can't win, but because it's crappy to train against.

Flat hitters who just play soft and half the time not even that low or deep. Really low level people. It's not hard at all to beat them.

However I find their balls with no topspin kick and pretty high bounce to be harder to loop than proper strokes with spin and depth to them. If you back up like you would against a looper or a fast attacker, you just need to move in because the return is soft. That's not too bad for winning the game, but it's hard to loop balls like that with quality.

It's good practice though, compared to spinning up a low backspin or topspin ball, digging into high no-spin and avoiding smashing feels more like walking on a tightrope.

Lol Archo. That's really common because lots of players don't practice punishing bad-quality shots. If anything raise your backswing so you don't lift the ball too much, and loop through. You have to actually spin through the ball and spin forward, rather than spinning the ball upward. Good luck.

Learning to punish bad shots is probably one of the key factors to improving yourself as a player.

Kelpo · Nov 24, 2016

LordPippington said:
You can do a modified 'punch-block' against those heavy top spins. Where you basically slap down on the ball, instead of doing a passive block. This will help keep it on the table. Let me see if I can find a video --

Really informative video. I'll try the punch-block thing and see how it goes.

Ilia Minkin · Nov 24, 2016

I absolutely hate playing blockers or counterattackers. I just start thinking about all that volume of sweat and hardwork I had while trying to improve my footwork and strokes. And these guys just use all my hardwork against me without doing much.

jmillsy2 · Nov 24, 2016

songdavid98 said:
Lol Archo. That's really common because lots of players don't practice punishing bad-quality shots. If anything raise your backswing so you don't lift the ball too much, and loop through. You have to actually spin through the ball and spin forward, rather than spinning the ball upward. Good luck.

Learning to punish bad shots is probably one of the key factors to improving yourself as a player.

As a defensive player, being incapable of punishing poor shots is one of my major failings, so I can confirm there is a lot of truth to this!

Raylazyfo · Nov 24, 2016

Ilia Minkin said:
I absolutely hate playing blockers or counterattackers. I just start thinking about all that volume of sweat and hardwork I had while trying to improve my footwork and strokes. And these guys just use all my hardwork against me without doing much.

I like to block a lot especially on my backhand. My Advice is play high, spinny loops. These are difficult to deal with as it gives the opponent more time. A blockers game is to rush you. Don't be rushed

Ilia Minkin · Nov 24, 2016

songdavid98 said:
Lol Archo. That's really common because lots of players don't practice punishing bad-quality shots. If anything raise your backswing so you don't lift the ball too much, and loop through. You have to actually spin through the ball and spin forward, rather than spinning the ball upward. Good luck.

Learning to punish bad shots is probably one of the key factors to improving yourself as a player.

Ohhh that is my pet peeve... But how to practice punishing bad shots? Ask the training partner: "could you generate some junk balls for me?" ...

songdavid98 · Nov 24, 2016

Ilia Minkin said:
Ohhh that is my pet peeve... But how to practice punishing bad shots? Ask the training partner: "could you generate some junk balls for me?" ...

Easy. Play against beginners, but don't go easy on them. Tell them enough so that they get the ball on the table

Play-style Tips!

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