How do you learn the counter-punch stroke?

iammaru said:

She stays close to the table, play very compact strokes (both fh and bh), take the ball very early most of the times (ball on the rise), focus on speed and placement rather than power, always ready for the next shot (thanks to compact strokes). When you take the ball early, your opponent have less time and likely play a weak shot, hence you will have more chance to punch it. If you take the ball later, you might get a powerful shot and it’s very hard to punch it no matter how good you are. As powerful as the loops that she punch back might seem, they are not the best quality loops her opponent can make, and they are not too hard to handle in her standard.

I think that’s it. Her bh punch is good, but not any special technique, the secret is she developed a very technically sound game, this bh punch will not be as consistent if say you have a big Fh and like to overpower the opponent.

To learn this stroke I think you just need to practice a lot of blocking, try to take the ball as early as possible. And when you are confident and consistent enough, add just a little power. Multiball random Fh bh block probably is the best drill.

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Michael Zhuang said:

I was watching the Ayalog youtube channel that was posted on TTD, and I noticed that Aya doesn't have the same power as many of her male opponents. But she is still beating most of the men. It's pretty obvious that she's winning because she stands closer to the table than they do, cuts off the angle, hits the ball early, and counter punches the mens' loops.

I think this is the stroke that I need to be learning if I want to improve as a player. So what's the best way to learn this stroke? Is it basically just the same as a block, but with more forward movement?

Why is she able to hit this shot so consistently? Usually when somebody is looping me with their full power, I do well just to block it back into play.

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What a lovely player to watch - thanks for sharing this

Michael Zhuang said:

Why is she able to hit this shot so consistently? Usually when somebody is looping me with their full power, I do well just to block it back into play.

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I don't know her, but looking at her fundamentals, it is clear that she went through some formal training when younger.

so, why is she able to hit this shot so consistently?
- she has likely done this during her training, which is 4 to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for quite a few years.

I suggest if you want to be like her, is to get a coach that can work on your BH technique.
It requires a lot more than hand/arm action/angle.
Your feet, weight need to be in position and behind the ball.
If you can't do a regular backhand, you would also struggle to do this "punch".

I like to do it with my RPB and if done correctly and you have a high quality opponent, the ball will come back even way faster.
So it isn't for the faint heart. It isn't a win shot, but a shot that could open up an opportunity to outplace your opponent and win points, or you would struggle for the much faster return.

But give it 1000 hours, and you should be a bit more consistent.

Michael Zhuang said:

I believe she said she uses SWAT blade with G1 on both sides.

To hit this shot, is it better to have a faster more direct blade? Or a flexier blade with more dwell time?

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It doesn't matter
I can do with both.
I teach students with both

Michael Zhuang said:

I believe she said she uses SWAT blade with G1 on both sides.

To hit this shot, is it better to have a faster more direct blade? Or a flexier blade with more dwell time?

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There are no shortcuts in table tennis, you need to put in the work to make progress. And material used is secondary. Start with regular block and then add more power as you go.

Nice YouTuber. Thank you very much.

Michael Zhuang said:

I practiced my counter punch today. I had fairly strong looper just loop to my backhand. I would try to block 2 loops, then counter punch third by punching through the ball. I did this on both backhand and forehand. I was able to hit some good counter punches, but it also feels like a quite risky shots. I had a fair bit of misses as well.

I'm not sure I would ever have the confidence to hit this shot in a game.

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Michael Zhuang said:

Ok. You are free to assume that it didnt happen. Don't see why that would benefit you.

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It benefits a lot of people actually. Not just you and me.

A video provide a lot of context and non-verbal communication. It benefits you if a forum member who is also coach decide to give you pointers / correction. It benefits other who in future may see your video and learn from it what to do and what not to do.