How to play against Lefties?

[joshmak10]

I really struggle to play against my left handed friend as a righty. We are around the same skill level. Any tips guys?

 

[NextLevel]

I really struggle to play against my left handed friend as a righty. We are around the same skill level. Any tips guys?

Play against him more and more, the problem is universal. The biggest thing is that the tactics he uses against you will tend to work against him. The most common area of weakness is the very wide forehand of both players, lefties are just more adept at finding it because they play many more right handed players than you play left handed players.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Not as simple as switching which side you play to since many lefties have solid backhands as well - it's more about the direction and spin (i.e. their backhands naturally breaking a bit more towards your forehand direction and their forehand breaking more into your backhand direction). It simply takes practice to get used to this.

 

[NextLevel]

 

[Robin0910]

I’m watching this thread as a left handed player so I can use these to beat you, right handers 😈

 

[blahness]

It is all about serve and receive lol. First thing is knowing how to loop the super wide FH corner serve and be able to come back to rally even if it gets blocked to the BH, if you can't do that the opponent can simply serve pendulum wide to your FH and then redirect to your deep BH and you are toast.

Second thing is how to loop the straight line deep BH serve which is way worse than the righty version because there is less time to react. Your BH needs to be strong enough to loop all the 7 types of spin for the deep fast serves.

If you don't loop these 2 variants, the opponent will get the 1st attack and you are toast too lol.

Third thing that is super annoying is short FH receive. It is so easy to serve all kinds of spin to the short FH stably so you better know how to use FH to deal with all kinds of serves there (7 types of spin again). Especially bad is the hook serve to the short FH, it is a nightmare to receive.

Fourth you need the footwork to be able to handle all 3 spots competently.

On looping, the big problem is being able to FH loop down the line, otherwise they are always waiting for you on the BH corner to block you to the deep BH and it is again really annoying to deal with.

The other thing is with explosive footwork to the wide FH, this will always be a really difficult ball. Coz the lefties all have sidespin BHs which go diagonal to your extreme wide FH. If your footwork sucks then you won't even be able to reach the ball let alone counterattack.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I’m watching this thread as a left handed player so I can use these to beat you, right handers 😈

switch hands for some points
keep the opponent confused for ever

 

[olive-nguyen]

The person i play most tt with is a left handed, the one in the most recent video. I try to pull him out wide or just hit the elbow. Actually not very different compared to a right handed, but i think its just that our level of play isn’t justified enough for a difference.

 

[Fantastic_Muffin_D]

Watch few matches between FZD and Wang Chuqin several time and you will understand 🐧

 

[Machi]

switch to left hand when playing against left handed and then switch to right handed when playing against right handed, to use the same tactics

 

[Robin0910]

In all seriousness, watch the video between Ma Long and Wang Chuqin at the 2024 Macao World Cup. Ma Long destroyed Wang Chuqin by playing to his weaknesses which every left hander has.

 

[suds79]

I'm left handed and while I could say things that righties do vs my that gives me trouble, it's so far removed to what could actually be going on with you.

I don't know how we can really help here without video.

We don't know if you have a form issue on a particular stroke. Maybe you're doing something tactically that's a bad idea. We're all a little bias. Could very well be you're not quite at the same skill level even though you say you are.

Post a match then ask for feedback.

I've done that in the past. Recording yourself is invaluable information. You'll often notice things you can't see during the match that you can when you study your film.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

In all seriousness, watch the video between Ma Long and Wang Chuqin at the 2024 Macao World Cup. Ma Long destroyed Wang Chuqin by playing to his weaknesses which every left hander has.

which is?

 

[Infernal]

It is all about serve and receive lol. First thing is knowing how to loop the super wide FH corner serve and be able to come back to rally even if it gets blocked to the BH, if you can't do that the opponent can simply serve pendulum wide to your FH and then redirect to your deep BH and you are toast.

Exactly, watch any He Zhi Wen match. Everybody struggles with this.

 

[Robin0910]

which is?

Wide forehand and the elbow. And it’s also harder to receive hook serves and reverse pendulum serves to the forehand with quality than regular pendulum serves

 

[suds79]

Exactly, watch any He Zhi Wen match. Everybody struggles with this.

So as a lefty penholder, but I play inverted, the He Zhi Wen play is still my number 1 play and I've done it countless number of times in my life vs righties. It just works well.

For anybody not in the know here's how to beat it or at least what I see from people who do this vs me that I see as a good adjustment.

Stand more towards the middle in the receive. In table tennis if you reach, you're likely missing & you lose. You cannot take a too wide FH where you have to uncomfortably reach that either misses or if it does get on the lefty just TPB blocks it down on the line on you and you're running back & forth. No you stand slightly more towards the middle so it's a one step over and you either smoke a down the line loop winner or a crosscourt loop hoping the spin is too strong for them to block down the line on the short side of the table (he zhi wen's short pips helps him here).

"But Suds if you stand more middle of the table you're susceptible to a down the line serve to my backhand?" Yep. That's why you have to be able to play a good ball with your backhand on these type serves. This is the deal.

But if you're forehand oriented and like to stand in your back corner on service receive? It's a wrap.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Wide forehand and the elbow. And it’s also harder to receive hook serves and reverse pendulum serves to the forehand with quality than regular pendulum serves

These issues aren't unique to lefties any more than they are to righties.

 

[Robin0910]

These issues aren't unique to lefties any more than they are to righties.

Exactly. When a right handed and a left handed player play they have the exact same general weaknesses. Neither has an advantage other than experience which is unique but usually it’s less for right handers. You have to find your opponent’s weaknesses. There’s no blueprint which tells you how to beat every left handed player.