Best way to handle slow, high, spinny opening loop?

[TensorBackhand]

When opponent does a slower spinny loop to your fh, what's the best way to return this?

You can block it gently to give a somewhat neutral return.

You can sorta punch it like Mima Ito, but this seems risky.

You can counter loop it. But i think i dont have the feeling for counter loop yet, because my counter often goes long because of heavy topspin. I think im brushing my counter loop too much, too similar to a regular loop.

 

[zeio]

For your current level, not putting yourself in that situation in the first place is the best way.

 

[blahness]

My preference is the FH sidespin quick carry. It's basically a slightly more aggressive version of the flat block which is imo safe and more importantly produces some nasty sidespin which really makes the subsequent loop very hard.

There's a few keys to this.

1) wrap around the side of the ball to avoid the topspin and to lengthen contact duration to improve control. There's both hook and fade versions. You don't need to produce topspin on your own because there's plenty of incoming topspin to borrow.

2) Use 2nd joint of index finger to press down on the ball to control the topspin

3) Use the body to "hug" the ball and control it. Similar to FH counterloop, the right thigh has to control the ball and collapse it downwards and forwards to provide a pressing down force. The feeling is like falling down towards your left foot.

4) Zero backswing - any kind of backswing will lead to more contact errors.

 

[blahness]

The best practitioner of the sidespin quick carry (on both BH and FH), imo is Kenta Matsudaira who has probably the best feeling for this.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

i make often mistakes on it, IMO the #1 source of mistake , like on many other shots, is to have both feet "stuck" on the ground and not being on the move. Often this ball is a bit shallower, so there is a need to come closer to the ball, and to make this little footstep adjustment. if not, we reach for the ball and its uncontrollable, and the timing is off.

Then its rather "simple". keep racket high, close racket angle, upper body bent and try to keep the head near the racket. Relax the grip to absorb the spin and don't aim straight but contact the ball slightly on the left to fight side spin and aim the diagonal.

don't be 100% passive, need to be active and do a little bit of action on the ball

 

[Lazer]

Those are easy to counter back, I usually return them with a fast drive, sometimes a smash. High speed loops are more difficult, here a block may be necessary.

And also on BH, where I don’t have as much power, if it’s not too far out and very slow I may pivot, otherwise I try to place it in a difficult position. But slow loops on my BH are effective, You can often kill the next shot.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Crillo]

Those are easy to counter back, I usually return them with a fast drive, sometimes a smash. High speed loops are more difficult, here a block may be necessary.

And also on BH, where I don’t have as much power, if it’s not too far out and very slow I may pivot, otherwise I try to place it in a difficult position. But slow loops on my BH are effective, You can often kill the next shot.

Cheers
L-zr

This is what I do as well!

 

[TensorBackhand]

Those are easy to counter back, I usually return them with a fast drive, sometimes a smash. High speed loops are more difficult, here a block may be necessary.

And also on BH, where I don’t have as much power, if it’s not too far out and very slow I may pivot, otherwise I try to place it in a difficult position. But slow loops on my BH are effective, You can often kill the next shot.

Cheers
L-zr

Because the ball is slow and i have so much time, my instinct is to counter loop with a big wind up swing. But i dont have the mechanics on this stroke down yet. When i hit the shot, its basically impossible to return. But i might hit 33% for now. Always going long.

 

[BaRanchik]

My coach told me to take them early and kind of push them down with a block.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Block like Da Boss!

 

[brokenball]

Kill it! High loops wil bounce high so you should have a good line of sight shot.

 

[NextLevel]

When opponent does a slower spinny loop to your fh, what's the best way to return this?

You can block it gently to give a somewhat neutral return.

You can sorta punch it like Mima Ito, but this seems risky.

You can counter loop it. But i think i dont have the feeling for counter loop yet, because my counter often goes long because of heavy topspin. I think im brushing my counter loop too much, too similar to a regular loop.

No matter how good you are at the stroke, you will miss it a lot when you start, especially when playing opponents at a similar level to yours. Over time, as long as you drill the right swing plane with practice, it gets easier and better. The key is to have the right swing plane, which doesn't so much impart topspin as cover the ball (there is already enough topspin on the incoming ball, so the key is you have to read that ball correctly). Once you have that, you can do almost anything you want.

Counterloops and punch blocks are not that risky, it is a mindset adjustment that people who like playing what they think is safe table tennis need to make. But if you consider them risky because you have bad technique, you will be stuck with the bad technique rather than adjusting it to the ball with practice.

 

[Dr Evil]

Because the ball is slow and i have so much time, my instinct is to counter loop with a big wind up swing. But i dont have the mechanics on this stroke down yet. When i hit the shot, its basically impossible to return. But i might hit 33% for now. Always going long.

Avoid the big wind up swing. Take it off the bounce with a compact swing, focusing on good contact and placement with fast recovery for the next shot. Or you can step back and take it on the fall, which is usually an easier shot especially on backhand. Try not to get caught in the middle where you have to take it near the top of the bounce which can be shoulder height or higher; easier to drive or punch it back in that case.

 

[NextLevel]

Avoid the big wind up swing. Take it off the bounce with a compact swing, focusing on good contact and placement with fast recovery for the next shot. Or you can step back and take it on the fall, which is usually an easier shot especially on backhand. Try not to get caught in the middle where you have to take it near the top of the bounce which can be shoulder height or higher; easier to drive or punch it back in that case.

When it is high, the problem is that it is likely to shoot off your racket without dipping if you use a modern inverted racket. So you have to counterintuitively spin/hit more compactly and with less power when the ball is high, and start above the ball, which is harder when the ball is higher. But usually they just hit through from below and the ball shoots directly off the racket and has no chance of dipping.

 

[TensorBackhand]

No matter how good you are at the stroke, you will miss it a lot when you start, especially when playing opponents at a similar level to yours. Over time, as long as you drill the right swing plane with practice, it gets easier and better. The key is to have the right swing plane, which doesn't so much impart topspin as cover the ball (there is already enough topspin on the incoming ball, so the key is you have to read that ball correctly). Once you have that, you can do almost anything you want.

Counterloops and punch blocks are not that risky, it is a mindset adjustment that people who like playing what they think is safe table tennis need to make. But if you consider them risky because you have bad technique, you will be stuck with the bad technique rather than adjusting it to the ball with practice.

Yeah, i think my swing plane is not right

 

[NextLevel]

Yeah, i think my swing plane is not right

 

[blahness]

For your current level, not putting yourself in that situation in the first place is the best way.

That is true - handling a loaded topspin (especially FH topspin) is usually not a great position to be in.

 

[kingkimchi]

When opponent does a slower spinny loop to your fh, what's the best way to return this?

You can block it gently to give a somewhat neutral return.

You can sorta punch it like Mima Ito, but this seems risky.

You can counter loop it. But i think i dont have the feeling for counter loop yet, because my counter often goes long because of heavy topspin. I think im brushing my counter loop too much, too similar to a regular loop.

Now, I counterloop. But when I was at a lower level, I would step back, wait for the ball to sink, and before the ball kicks and drops, I would brush the top of the ball(with racket angle 45-40 degrees) with a big motion. This is like a slow counter, in chinese we call it 海底捞鱼 (netting fish swiftly from the bottom of the ocean). This phrase is often used for choppers. I think Joo saehyuk and ruwen filus does this motion too. Watch them and backcourt returning topsin to a spinny topsin loop, I think I mimicked them aswell. Generally, the motion returns the ball to the opponent with a low arc, and a fast kick, which forces your opponent to suddenly lob is back to you, due to the kicking topspin. So when the lob to you it is your chance to attack.

 

[SFF_lib]

When opponent does a slower spinny loop to your fh, what's the best way to return this?

You can block it gently to give a somewhat neutral return.

You can sorta punch it like Mima Ito, but this seems risky.

You can counter loop it. But i think i dont have the feeling for counter loop yet, because my counter often goes long because of heavy topspin. I think im brushing my counter loop too much, too similar to a regular loop.

Use pips 😂😂

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Use pips 😂😂

You'll be the king of the world in no time, even beating CNT players. Unconventional social / fun rubber FTW!