This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
So I have a friend who is USATT 877 or so, but has an advanced forehand stroke - I believe I have posted video of him before. He is still struggling with the 800-1200 crowd. Initially, I used to think it was spin reading, but I realized a good part of it was that he wasn't looping with enough spin to raise his consistency. But I remember when I was like him and I felt I was looping with spin but people kept on telling me I was driving the ball, even when I felt I was trying to spin.
I think I have found a way around this conceptual dilemma. When I watched his matches, he kept looping to put the ball past his opponent and the opponent often stepped back and blocked him down. Sometimes, he would loop the ball too hard and miss. But what rarely ever happened was a loop that was slow and into the net. Or a loop that was slow enough that his opponent had to wait for it. Or that the loop was fast and dropped short. He often won the point when he produced these shots, but his default shot was based on looping the ball past the opponent, not on looping the ball on the table and seeing what the opponent did to it.
I know looping the ball deep is essential to trouble some opponents and drive them back so they don't take the ball early. That said, for players at the lower levels, I think the real issue is often that they do not know how to loop the ball short with quality. For them, looping hard, means looping the ball fast and with pace, not looping the ball onto the middle of the table. So combining a few concepts from the coaches I have worked with and myself, I will pace some emphasis on looping the ball short in my coaching and practice. MY instruction is that you can loop the ball as hard as you want to and ideally with as much spin as you want, but you need to keep it 6 to 12 inches and if possible more from the endline. Try to keep it low, try to make it fast, but keep it from the endline. If you can loop powerfully and hard with this kind of margin, your consistency will go up at the lower levels immediately and you can start looking at other placements seriously.
So how do you do this? IF you have a good loop, just work on it. It will usually require a slight adjustment to your usual contact point on the ball, but over time, with practice, you will get used to it. It pays off as you will be able to produce powerful shots under pressure.
I think I have found a way around this conceptual dilemma. When I watched his matches, he kept looping to put the ball past his opponent and the opponent often stepped back and blocked him down. Sometimes, he would loop the ball too hard and miss. But what rarely ever happened was a loop that was slow and into the net. Or a loop that was slow enough that his opponent had to wait for it. Or that the loop was fast and dropped short. He often won the point when he produced these shots, but his default shot was based on looping the ball past the opponent, not on looping the ball on the table and seeing what the opponent did to it.
I know looping the ball deep is essential to trouble some opponents and drive them back so they don't take the ball early. That said, for players at the lower levels, I think the real issue is often that they do not know how to loop the ball short with quality. For them, looping hard, means looping the ball fast and with pace, not looping the ball onto the middle of the table. So combining a few concepts from the coaches I have worked with and myself, I will pace some emphasis on looping the ball short in my coaching and practice. MY instruction is that you can loop the ball as hard as you want to and ideally with as much spin as you want, but you need to keep it 6 to 12 inches and if possible more from the endline. Try to keep it low, try to make it fast, but keep it from the endline. If you can loop powerfully and hard with this kind of margin, your consistency will go up at the lower levels immediately and you can start looking at other placements seriously.
So how do you do this? IF you have a good loop, just work on it. It will usually require a slight adjustment to your usual contact point on the ball, but over time, with practice, you will get used to it. It pays off as you will be able to produce powerful shots under pressure.
