Forehand or Backhand

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I'm in quite a debate with myself that my game should be forehand or Backhand oriented. I mean, when I play forehand oriented, I can cover the whole table. That's not in case of backhand. Whereas, my backhand punch is very very effective. My forehand smash or slap is not at all effective. Can someone give advice on this?
 
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What Do you win most points from? Forehand or baxkhand?
 
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Don't think, in terms of being FH or BH oriented .. don't be a one trick pony ... Think in terms of being complete player.. Think about what stroke, you should play when.. Identify & improve upon your weakness.. train & practice..
 
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I'm in quite a debate with myself that my game should be forehand or Backhand oriented. I mean, when I play forehand oriented, I can cover the whole table. That's not in case of backhand. Whereas, my backhand punch is very very effective. My forehand smash or slap is not at all effective. Can someone give advice on this?
Use your FH to set up, BH to get the points then.

FH to block, fish, push, snake etc.

BH to loop kill

 
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As you practice the skills of playing and do game simulation drills, and develop higher level tactics, these things sort themselves out for you. People don't need to choose one of those things. A BH oriented player develops into that as a result of what he trains and where his/her skills lie. Same for an FH oriented player.

But if one of your wings is naturally stronger or weaker, then it also makes sense to train and develop the weaker wing so you can choose how to play based on who you are playing and what is happening in the current point you are playing.
 
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I've now found my strengths. I am feeling comfortable to serve with my fh and then play with backhand whether it's the fh or bh corner. And surprisingly, my backhand strokes or punches at my fh corner are very consistent.
 
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I've now found my strengths. I am feeling comfortable to serve with my fh and then play with backhand whether it's the fh or bh corner. And surprisingly, my backhand strokes or punches at my fh corner are very consistent.
I have a question for you: tactically, when and why would you choose a BH Punch from your FH corner? Is there a reason to leave the BH side open? Or are you doing that on return of serve and getting back to control the BH side?

From the BH side, you can use your FH to control the whole FH side of the table because of the nature and reach of the FH.

If you are on the FH side using your BH, either you have amazing footwork like ZJK and are doing it for one shot and will get back to cover the BH side as part of the shot selection/technique, or you are OUT of Position, because, from the FH side, if you are already turned to your BH, it is very hard to cover the BH side since you want to be taking BH shots from right in front of you and you don't want to reach the way you can with FH.

So, tactically, do you have a reason for making BH shots from the FH side which will, necessarily bring you way wider to the FH side than you need to be? For example, if you are taking a FH shot from the same spot on the FH side as you are taking a BH shot, you will be about 3 feet (almost the width of the table) closer to the BH side to take the FH shot than you will be to take the BH shot.

You may be able to get away with that with players of a certain level. At a certain point, a decent player will punish you for what it sounds like you are doing.

A BH oriented player like ZJK would use his BH to keep his opponent pinned to his BH side to control the rally. But, unless there was a reason, the shots he was taking with his BH on the FH side were in the short game where he was returning a push or a serve on the FH side. As soon as that return was made, he got back into position on the BH side to cover the whole table.
 
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Try to be deliberately more passive on the BH (even if you feel like you could smash the ball easily) and focus more on hitting the ball harder with your FH. That way you'll train yourself to achieve the perfect balance between the two sides.
 
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My opinion is still the same with what I said in OP's another post last week: 'You don't have to define yourself. Self definition affects your subconscious, which is usually a restriction to yourself'.

A pro or highly advanced player would have already developed his style before he realized it. When a player are at a level below that and he chooses to be a FH or BH oriented, it is not because he is good at FH or BH, but because his BH or FH is even worse than the other. The best way to improve is to train the weaker hand, but if someone defines himself at a earlier stage, he will try to avoid the problems on the weaker hand, like he will try to use BH to cover the whole table if he chooses to be BH oriented or he will use FH for all shots to his BH side if he chooses to be FH oriented. Then the player will be on a wrong way.
 
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Carl, I am not that good at fh. I do have good footwork. I don't see the point why should i play fh in bh corner if I can punch the ball with my bh to get the point.
Bzing, I can't smash in my forehand. Somehow or the other, my fh smash always goes into the net. Lycanthrope, why are you calling me OP?
 
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Carl, I am not that good at fh. I do have good footwork. I don't see the point why should i play fh in bh corner if I can punch the ball with my bh to get the point.
Bzing, I can't smash in my forehand. Somehow or the other, my fh smash always goes into the net. Lycanthrope, why are you calling me OP?

Reasons to play a pivot FH topspin on the BH corner ( for a right-handed player )

1) You'll look darn cool. Your play mates will surely say, wow! That is a good point Gozo!
2) You'll feel darn satisfied and feel good even if you lose the game
3) A full FH topspin is not easy to defend. Even if your opponent blocks, it can easily fly out of the table, that is assuming you get the spin on and not a half ass smash / lazy flat hit return. There must be a tactical reason why many pros are doing it. If your FH gets into the net it is mainly because you are doing mainly half-ass smash or a lazy flat hit return.

NB: On a personal note, Point (1) & (2), granted is more for ego purpose. I am reaching 50 in a couple of year and I only started TT in my early 40's. It is only recently that I am learning and incorporating pivot and do a chinese style FH loop kill technique in my game and I am glad, at this age, I can still do a pivot FH topspin loop-kill as my fitness / mobility is not a hindrance yet.

Urbish, if you are a young person, you should try this, it is darn cool technique and will up your satisfaction to a higher level. Don't waste this opportunity to learn something cool like this. Trust me, I was also doing what you were doing with my BH for many years and after a while it gets boring and passive.

 
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Carl, I am not that good at fh. I do have good footwork. I don't see the point why should i play fh in bh corner if I can punch the ball with my bh to get the point.
Bzing, I can't smash in my forehand. Somehow or the other, my fh smash always goes into the net. Lycanthrope, why are you calling me OP?

OP only means the first post in the thread, or the author of the first post. Sometimes these discussions get off-topic, you may have noticed that. Referring back to the OP is a good way of keeping the conversation on track.

I agree with Lycanthrope's reply.

 
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Lycanthrope, why are you calling me OP?

OP only means the first post in the thread, or the author of the first post.

As Brs said: OP could mean "Original Post" or "Original Poster" so OP could refer to the first post of a thread or the person who created the first post in a thread depending on context.

Urbish, you are the OP of this thread and your first post is the OP of this thread. :)

 
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I've now found my strengths. I am feeling comfortable to serve with my fh and then play with backhand whether it's the fh or bh corner. And surprisingly, my backhand strokes or punches at my fh corner are very consistent.
Carl, I am not that good at fh. I do have good footwork. I don't see the point why should i play fh in bh corner if I can punch the ball with my bh to get the point.
Using your BH from your BH corner is fine. Using your BH from your FH corner, as you said above in the text I made red, that could get you in some trouble if your opponent knows how to make you pay for taking BH shots from the FH corner.

But perhaps it is a typo and you meant that your BH strokes from your BH corner are very consistent. :)

 
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