My friend and I play frequently, and he has a good forehand loop and is a great blocker. He has long arms and plays Jpen, mostly single-sided. He does have a backhand rubber, but mostly uses push block on backhand.
I find it difficult to get a ball past him, even fast, spinny topspins. I have had some success with backhand topspins to his backhand.
Any suggestions on tactics against such a player?
Thanks in advance,
Tim
Hi Tim
this can be a difficult opponent. aiming directly to the wing may just feed him rather than move him
however even tall players have a shorter reach on the backhand especially if they are trad penholders because they have to reach across their bodies.
With tall players they dont need to take a step much but they find it harder to recover.
A trad penholder is probably less susceptible to balls to the elbow than shakehands players but playing consistentlly to the centre of the table may cause him to make angles against you, which then gives you a chance to trump his angle by going even wider which may cause to take a step giving you a chance to go big down the line.
serving tight very short and wide to his bh may make him take a step and give you an opportunity.
You just have to try all these things and see what work.
I had such an opponent who I played 12 times over the years in the league. As i like to play quick 3rd ball it was frustrating to play against a wall like player difficult to get out of position
He won the first 3 encounters, I won the next 4 using various tactics then he won the next 2 demonstrating that he was wise to my tricks. What to do? my clubmate told me look he is super consistent, your normal 3rd ball short rally style cant cut it. Revert to a consistent rally style , ease off the power and be prepared for a long match! I took the advice and won 2 of the next 3. So he ended slightly on top I wish my teammate had spoken to me earlier encouraging me to think strategically rather than just 3rd ball tactics.
hope some of my ramblings.will help