There is a player in my club who has very powerful backhand tap . He taps almost every ball i play on his body and his forehead block is also very good. ( I think I am playing my shots on middle of the table) so I am always ending losing the game. My question is how to play against such players ?
How to deal with backhand tap
- Thread starter hamesh
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Sorry, I am not familiar with the term backhand "tap". I know backhand drive (long, fast, low shot with minimal top spin), backhand flip (a backhand shot over the table, produces top spin), or a backhand loop (a fast, spinny shot that produces top spin), or the block.
Either way, if your opponent has a strength, try your best to not play into it. One solid advise is to vary shot placement. Go forehand, then backhand, then forehand. Most club players have a hard time stringing together forehand then backhand shots because it requires a lot of practice.
Either way, if your opponent has a strength, try your best to not play into it. One solid advise is to vary shot placement. Go forehand, then backhand, then forehand. Most club players have a hard time stringing together forehand then backhand shots because it requires a lot of practice.
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I think he means a short chop blockish return. I have a similar player in my club, rarely long duels. Always Serve, return and point…The serve return is always under spin. Sometimes with side spin.
Cheers
L-zr
Cheers
L-zr
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The trick to lose the sight of big picture is to focus...
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I believe you are talking about a backhand flip instead of a banana flick. The key difference is speed and less spin for Flip vs. spin and curve for Banana flick. So, one of the key scenarios could be that you did an underspin serve or did a push and your opponent steps in and does a flip. Unlike flick, the flip shot relies more on the accurate timing and needs to be performed either when the ball is at its peak or before its peak but slightly above net height.
As an opponent, you get overwhelmed because you might not even recover properly before your opponent does this shot. Also, the incoming ball skids on your side more as it factors more speed and less spin.
To mitigate this, try controlling the depth of your push or serve (deep pushes near to the baseline and fast long serves are difficult to flip) and/or add side spin to your return which makes the ball go in either direction. The idea is to make your opponent move or choke and thus make a quick decision. If you move your opponent, preferably to a corner, so that even if he executes the shot, other side of the table is open which you can exploit. Any shot execute from a corner can be predicted on where it would be coming on your side of the table. This is especially true if you cut down the reaction time of your opponent by exploiting a quick on the rise timing for your stroke.
So basically, I am talking about things which you already know - spin, placement, timing and speed. Do keep in mind, that I mentioned speed as the last parameter, since that is how it is. Speed should be your last resort in formulating your attack as it involves most risk.
If you consider playing percentages and after deploying your strategy your opponent is still able to make 2 out 10 shots then the balance tilts in your favor and that is what I would be looking for. Good luck!
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