How to improve?

[UpSideDownCarl]

3rd ball attacks? How can I improve that?

Drills for practicing 3rd ball attack.

Here is one:

1) Player 1 serves short underspin.
2) Player 2 pushes short to the middle of the table.
3) Player 1 attacks with forehand (3rd ball attack).

alternate #3) Player 1 attacks with backhand.

Here is another:

1) Player 1 serves short underspin.
2) Player 2 pushes short to the backhand side of the table.
3) Player 1 uses footwork to attack with forehand to the backhand side.

Alternate #3) Player one attacks with backhand to a) backhand side; b) forehand side; c) opponent's crossing point.

I could write hundreds more. It is worth working on one attack at a time, doing a few buckets of one attack before switching to a different attack and then at a certain point you make the exercise completely random as would happen in a game.

Also, I would make so one person is the server for one bucket and then you switch roles so both players get to be in both roles.

You can also do drills where the first person is serving underspin and the second person is attacking the serve.

 

[ttmonster]

Carl the problem I have is whenever I setup a drill .. e.g I am going to attack forehand .. automatically my ready position after serve changes ... meaning if I know if I am going to loop back hand ........ have you encountered this problem and figured out to outsmart your brain on this .. i have tried doing random but its not effective ..

 

[dici]

The basic footwork posted in MyTT is one of good example and solution about your issue. Usually I found that if you put both of your feet steadily on the floor, then, we will have some hard time to react for something that is unexpected. But inside the video they have some stuff that can help you to improve alittle

Link is here:
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44287&PN=1#555855

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Carl the problem I have is whenever I setup a drill .. e.g I am going to attack forehand .. automatically my ready position after serve changes ... meaning if I know if I am going to loop back hand ........ have you encountered this problem and figured out to outsmart your brain on this .. i have tried doing random but its not effective ..

This is a good point. But if you do not know how to hit the stroke yet, just worry about getting the ball on the table and doing the right stroke. If you already know how to hit a loop against short underspin where you have to drop your racket under the table and have the edge of the table sort of measured so you just miss it to catch a ball that would bounce twice, attacking it with a real loop instead of flipping, then you might need something different where the person receiving serve is trying to throw you off by where he/she puts the ball. But if you have not perfected the technique of looping then don't worry that you are set up for the shot you know is coming.

On the positive side of this issue, I also notice that if I set up for a forehand loop, I can cover the whole table with my forehand or switch to my backhand as I choose. An example, if I set up for a forehand loop and see the ball is coming to my backhand I can keep that set position and take a big one step deep to my backhand side and take the ball with my forehand. This is an important skill to have. I also notice that if I am set up for my forehand and it goes to my backhand, I have plenty of time to switch, setup for, and then take the ball with my backhand. If I have set up for backahnd and it comes to my forehand side, I am not as good at switching to forehand, but I can cover a good part of the forehand side of the table with my backhand as well.

So, even though this happens, it ultimately is not something to worry to much about. If you watch the pros, they have often decided what shot they are going to hit before the ball is coming and then they just need to use footwork to get into position.

So at a certain point it is worth being able to do that. Drills like the Faulkenberg and a 1-2-3-2-1 forehand drill help you be able to move from backhand to forehand on the backhand side. And again, it really ends up just being a matter of practice.

Last week I played some people at a bar near my home, instead of the guys I normally play at my club, the ball felt like it was going so slowly that I could cover the whole table with either my forehand and my backhand and I could feel how easy and natural the footwork was at that speed. I don't think these people had ever seen anything like it, but it was nice for me to see that the footwork happened naturally since, usually I am playing people better than me where I get stuck with stuff like that. The guys I play who are better than me seem to be able to handle what ever I throw at them the same way, like it is easy and in slow motion.

More practice but the right practice. When you have exceeded the usefulness of a drill you might need new ones. And drills should never replace match play. Drills teach you skills and help you change habits you fall into in match play that are holding you back. Match play shows you when you have sufficiently learned those skills so that you are naturally using good technique when the situation you drilled on comes up in a match.

 

[Belisar]

whenever I setup a drill .. e.g I am going to attack forehand .. automatically my ready position after serve changes

Why not ask your practise partner to throw in the odd random ball. So if you want to set a drill involving a forehand loop why not ask for say 1 ball in 5 to be played to the backhand instead. It is not often enough to mess up the main purpose of the drill but may be just keep your footwork and positioning honest.

 

[Mr. RicharD]

I want to be clear about my comment on footwork and leg drills. If you're training to play Table Tennis there are certain leg drills that you must do to gain speed, strength, and agility. The Chinese have the best system and from what I've researched and my personal background in Martial Arts kids who don't have the muscle retention to build the proper muscle memory for the sport shouldn't be training yet. It's not until about 18 that proper leg strength is encouraged in the Chinese Teams. Depending on the growth of the student it may be earlier, but 15 in my opinion is pretty young for a TT athlete to be training their legs.

As for the off day training it's not a bad idea to do some light cardio or agility training with jump rope or acrobatics, but as Carl said the best thing to do without a table is shadow train or if you're still a beginner the best thing to do is get comfortable with a ball and paddle. I'm a long time believer that to really get to know the sport of Table Tennis your racket needs to be in your hands as much as possible. With a ball you should be able to balance the ball with no problem in the sweet spot of the blade and you should be able to bounce the ball and hit the sweet spot several times in a row with no problem and then switch both backhand and forehand sides without a problem Another great way to train the hand eye is throwing a ball up in the air and catching it so that the ball does not bounce on the paddle, but cradles to the sweet spot. Then have people toss the ball 10 feet into the air and try to catch it the same way without it bouncing on the blade.

But the absolute best thing as Matt said is to get a coach whenever possible to help you with your stroke production and to show you some of your weaknesses.

 

[charlinmarson]

We understand the fundamentals and the learning process of how to improve tennis that will lead to the results they desire, and they practice and sharpen those tennis skills diligently. The Technical aspect of tennis is one of the most important areas to focus on when trying to play better tennis.