🎯 Table Tennis IQ - Tip #1: ATTACK THE MIDDLE FOR EASY POINTS

[Bryan TT]

Most players focus on hitting wide angles, but they forget about one of the most effective targets—the middle (your opponent’s crossover point between forehand and backhand).

👉 BIG MISTAKE: Always aiming for the corners and ignoring the middle, which forces your opponent into an easy, comfortable shot.

✅ HOW TO FIX IT:

1️⃣ Find the crossover—hit the ball between their forehand and backhand, forcing an awkward decision.
2️⃣ Use it at the right time—when they’re slightly off-balance or after a deep shot to the backhand.
3️⃣ Mix it up—combine middle attacks with wide placements to keep them guessing.

Targeting the middle correctly can make your opponent hesitate, leading to weak returns or outright mistakes.
You must start abusing the middle, especially at the club level. We can all win easy points by just switching the placement of our shots. Instead of playing a long serve to the backhand, play it to the middle. Instead of looping to the forehand, loop to the middle ect...

A really good tactic that is used at the top level is that they play to the middle. And the opponent is going to have to return it with either the forehand or backhand, whichever one they choose, it will open a spot on the table, and they will be able to kill it there. If he plays it with the backhand, the backhand corner will be open, and they can win the rally easily ect...

By the way, i’m trying to become #1 on the leaderboards, so a comment and like would be greatly appreciated . Also you can follow me, so that you don’t miss out, i will post a lot of tips

 

[yamagata]

What is the best way to improve as a beginner, to keep you oppo in the rally with friendly shots, just focusing on basic techniques, or to challenge yourself and take every opportunity to increase speed, power, spin and placement?

 

[vossi39]

Most players focus on hitting wide angles, but they forget about one of the most effective targets—the middle (your opponent’s crossover point between forehand and backhand).

👉 BIG MISTAKE: Always aiming for the corners and ignoring the middle, which forces your opponent into an easy, comfortable shot.

✅ HOW TO FIX IT:

1️⃣ Find the crossover—hit the ball between their forehand and backhand, forcing an awkward decision.
2️⃣ Use it at the right time—when they’re slightly off-balance or after a deep shot to the backhand.
3️⃣ Mix it up—combine middle attacks with wide placements to keep them guessing.

Targeting the middle correctly can make your opponent hesitate, leading to weak returns or outright mistakes.
You must start abusing the middle, especially at the club level. We can all win easy points by just switching the placement of our shots. Instead of playing a long serve to the backhand, play it to the middle. Instead of looping to the forehand, loop to the middle ect...

A really good tactic that is used at the top level is that they play to the middle. And the opponent is going to have to return it with either the forehand or backhand, whichever one they choose, it will open a spot on the table, and they will be able to kill it there. If he plays it with the backhand, the backhand corner will be open, and they can win the rally easily ect...

By the way, i’m trying to become #1 on the leaderboards, so a comment and like would be greatly appreciated . Also you can follow me, so that you don’t miss out, i will post a lot of tips

But you should mention, that this only works with balls that go to baseline as well. This is why we tell beginner/intermediates to focus on the corners, as their balls are ususally hitting the middle of the table (net to baseline, not left to right). Such a ball, even if aimed at cross over point, is most of the time easy to return and opens up the table for your opponent and keeps you guessing the next ball.

 

[jaghaimo]

to keep (...) in the rally with friendly shots

By friendly shots I assume the not attacking (smash or topspin). As a beginner I'd get the basic right and focus on technique (drive first, then topspin) and control.

If doing FH to FH warmup, then focus on getting the ball in the same place all the time, regardless where your opponent sends the ball. This means having the same stroke every time, thus having good enough footwork to cover small (or large, if your opponent is spraying balls around whole court) distances. Make a habit of first moving your body, then your arm.

Do the same on the BH (say BH to BH), with even bigger effort to move the body first (don't reach out for the ball). Once you can keep FH-FH and BH-BH for 15-20 balls start rallying full table, and focus on FH-BH and BH-FH transition. Again, you want to be able to do 15-20 balls.

At this point you should be able to outplay opponents through placement alone (again, assuming friendly rally). No need for adding (much) power. Abuse opponents footwork, play the ball (even weaker) to where they are not ready (after wide FH, BH corner, not necessarily wide will do). When the opponent is out of place, even if they catch the ball it will be a weak return. You can finish it if you like (which we usually do even in a friendly rally, if a ball pops high we smash), or just torment the opponent by placing another difficult ball for him (my favourite). You don't have to win the point by hitting hard, he can lose it by simply missing or not getting to the ball at all.

If you then want to progress further you need to look into attacking (topspin) and defending (blocking).


In short: focus on placement (control, so first you don't miss the table, and then so you can send the ball where you want), and, once comfortable, spin (topspin shots are safer due to the arc). You can always add speed by using more power - how much power you can use will depend on your control.

Every now and then, have a session with a coach to remove bad habits from your technique. You can also ask experienced players (those that look stable when they warm up) in your club for tips.