Returning The Chopped Ball

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The chop is actually the bread-and-butter of the DEFENSIVE player. Chopping the ball means giving it some amount of BACKSPIN while playing it. The severity of the chop depends on the degree of backspin given to the ball. As mentioned earlier, chopping is a defensive action and meant to slow down the game. Any table tennis player would need to learn how to return the chopped ball because of the inherent DANGER of the backspin. Understanding how to return the chopped ball gives you the upper hand and provides the opportunity to DOMINATE the game.

The standard way, especially for newbies, of returning the chop is chopping it back. This leads to a rally consisting of chops and counter chops. Kind of boring - isn't it? The player sloppy enough to return the ball without proper backspin is likely to lose the point. This is because a low quality return chop would most likely invite a severe flick shot or even KILL.

However, the object of this discussion is not to return the chopped ball by chopping it back, unless the chop is of extremely good quality or the player in question has limited skills. Also, we are not going to discuss here how to return the deep chop, which is a different customer altogether. One of the best ways to return the chopped ball is by FLICKING it. The flick shot has been discussed in an earlier post, so please take time to read it when you want. Most defensive players are AFRAID of the flick. They know that if their chops are getting flicked, it is only a matter of time before they lose the game. But remember that the flick shot is only executed when the ball is coming at a low trajectory. The tricky part of playing the flick shot is correctly judging the backspin on the ball. It is better to avoid the flick if the ball is HEAVILY loaded with backspin.

Another way to return the chopped ball is playing the classic TOPSPIN. However, do this only when the chop is of MEDIUM quality. Give the ball a nice and FIRM rolling action when you play the topspin shot. After all, you want to NEUTRALIZE the backspin on the ball. The failure to do so will likely send the ball flying into the net and you will lose the point. Be very careful to adjust the character of the chop before thinking about topspin.

One of the MOST effective ways to take ADVANTAGE of a chopper is placing the ball while playing the flick or topspin. The flick or topspin combined with ball placement is enough to freak out a defensive player. Doing this a few times will most probably win you the game itself. The reason is you will be changing the very character of the game that your opponent finds COMFORTABLE.

Try flicking the chopped ball to different parts of the table which lie relatively EXPOSED. This will force your opponent to come racing to return the ball. His return stroke might lack the same quality if he has to rush in to play the ball. Even try to aim the flick or topspin right at your opponent's body! These are all tactics with ball placement to UPSET your opponent's equilibrium. If your opponent has moved somewhat away from the table, try the drop shot. If he comes rushing in and does a lame-duck scoop, go for the kill. You will most likely win the point.

If your opponent is a particularly good chopper, and tries to pin you down to chop rallies, you can try a slightly different tactic. Go for the SOFT flick, as opposed to the REGULAR flick. This means opening the face of the bat and tapping the ball LIGHTLY, in an experimental way. Most of the time, this will UNSETTLE a defensive player. He might make mistakes by way of low quality returns, which you can then take advantage of.

Facing the chopped ball really opens up your potential skills as a table tennis player. While it is perfectly acceptable to return quality chopped ball with a counter chop, the higher levels of the game DEMAND that you negotiate the chop with something BETTER. Getting rid of the FEAR when handling backspin is the first and most important step to playing your natural OFFENSIVE game.

Why Twiddling Your Racket Is Not Smart

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As you might know already, twiddling your racket means rotating the bat so that the backhand rubber becomes forehand and vice versa. Many players use this technique in a table tennis game, and do it with considerable skill. Let us examine why so many players resort to twiddling and why it is a BAD idea.

First of all, the very act of twiddling is a DEFENSIVE response. It happens frequently when receiving a serve. If a player finds himself repeatedly overwhelmed by the debilitating spin in a serve, usually directed to his forehand, he might twiddle the bat so that he can now receive the ball with his backhand pips or antispin sandwich rubber. After he has played the ball, he twiddles the racket back again so that he can now play normally. Twiddling hardly happens for receiving service on the backhand, for which most players use antispin or pips rubber.

Twiddling is also done sometimes to gain advantage in an equally balanced game. Sudden twiddling injects an element of surprise that can prove disadvantageous for the opponent. The sudden change in the character of an otherwise smooth rally during a game can catch the opponent on the wrong foot - sometimes literally. For example, a topspin forehand rally between two players can get disrupted if one of them twiddles the racket and flicks the ball with his pips rubber that he uses for backhand normally. By doing this, he, so to say, gains an 'unfair' advantage.

However, all things considered, the very act of twiddling is fundamentally flawed. Firstly, twiddling means you are UNABLE to play your opponent normally. Because you are unable to play his serves or shots normally, you try to interchange rubbers to see if your game improves. The point is, if you are unable to play normally, then something must be terribly WRONG with your credentials as a table tennis player. Maybe you need to use a DIFFERENT rubber for your forehand. More likely than not, your core skills as a table tennis player is questionable. If your opponent has professional experience, he can DESTROY your game completely if you try to twiddle. For example, he might continue with the same serves to FORCE you to twiddle. Twiddling DISPLAYS your ineptness and fear. You want to do something about your core skills before going out to play professional tournaments.

Secondly, rotating the bat means you LOSE the comfortable grip that you had earlier. This can be FATAL in a high-speed game like table tennis. You are quite likely to FAIL in rotating properly in time to get back your earlier grip. This can put you in a tight spot when you play against a quality player. Your opponent can EASILY see that you are uncomfortable with playing his type of game, and INCREASE the pace in order to give you less time to twiddle.

Thirdly, twiddling takes your attention away from the game itself - at least to some extent. Your are so intent on executing the twiddle properly that you lose sight of the game. This can be advantageous for your opponent. He can simply play tricky shots or place the ball while you are busy concentrating on twiddling. If you fail to notice the finer nuances of a game, and just concentrate on twiddling, you are more likely than not to lose miserably.

Fourthly, twiddling means you are slowing yourself down. This is because most humans cannot concentrate equally well on two completely different tasks. This slow down can EXPOSE you to exploitative actions by your opponent like PLACING the ball. This will force you to move fast and give you LESS opportunity to twiddle. You can twiddle and move fast, but not be able to perform both actions with the same facility.

Fifthly, twiddling gives you a false sense of security. Instead of worrying about why you are unable to receive difficult serves and shots, you tend to concentrate more on how you can twiddle better. This means you are not inclined to devote more time on intensive practice sessions with your table tennis partner to overcome your basic shortcomings.

Considering all these points, take a second look at your game instead of focusing more on twiddling. The faster you give up this ADDICTIVE and SELF-DEFEATIST habit, the quicker you will emerge as a skilled table tennis player.

What If Your Backhand Is Chronically Weak

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Quite a few table tennis players find that their backhand is simply not working. Maybe they can return the ball - but not effectively. Our brain is wired to use the forehand stroke better than the backhand. Further, the forehand sweep has much more freedom than the backhand. All this makes it quite difficult to hit the ball with sufficient finesse when we use the backhand. Players have to practice for hours on end to get their backhand right. It takes much more time and practice than the forehand stroke.

One way to avoid the backhand is using the penhold grip rather than the shakehand grip. However, here we will not discuss that option. Instead, we want to find out how to be able to play EVEN with a really weak backhand. One good way to overcome the problem is to use the pips or pimpled rubber instead of the sandwich rubber. If your backhand is REALLY weak, use a pips rubber such as PHANTOM without any sponge. This will give you more control over your backhand than a pips rubber WITH some sponge.

In order to get going with your backhand, you need to use an OFFENSIVE racket. The reason is the reduced punch you get from the pips rubber will be compensated by the extra speed you get from the racket. This will give you the ability and confidence to hit back a ball SMARTLY using your backhand.

Using a pips rubber gives you the added advantage of being able to chop the ball easily. Further, when you hit the ball using pips, you give the ball a kind of 'vibration' that might well overwhelm your opponent if executed properly. Many professional level players find it difficult to negotiate a ball that has been returned using pips.

Since you get the 'unfair' extra advantage of being able to return heavily chopped balls easily using pips, take ADVANTAGE of it. Instead of just chopping the ball lamely back, give it a crispy TAP. This will put even more pressure on your opponent because of the extra momentum. When your master the technique, however, return the chopped ball with a jaw dropping FLICK. You will most likely win the point.

When returning a forward spinning ball with your backhand pips, simply block it. If you control the shot well, it will fly back to your opponent with the DREADED vibration or 'shake' effect. One disadvantage of negotiating a topspin or loop with the pips rubber is controlling the ball. A good way to make best use of pips is to be able to FORCE the ball into a low trajectory. However, this depends on your skill level as compared to your opponent.

The main idea behind the pips rubber is to give you a fair chance in a table tennis game even if you have a miserable backhand. However, this is not to dismiss the DEFINITE advantages you get from pips. Used effectively, you can easily UNSETTLE your opponent with your backhand. Most of the points you win with pips will usually be negative points. In other words, you get points from your opponent making mistakes rather than you making the winning shots.

Playing The Flick Shot

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Using the flick shot in table tennis is a POWERFUL way to DOMINATE the game. A flick may be done when the ball is coming at you at low trajectory. Flicking means you open the face of the bat and tap in the ball SHARPLY without too much attention to the 'rub' you are giving it. Basically, it is a wristy shot executed with sufficient power. The flick shot adds a lot of momentum and some spin to the ball.

It is dangerous to use the flick shot if you are not sure of the spin on the ball coming at you. Usually, it is okay to flick the ball that has a low trajectory and not much speed. But if the ball has a tremendous amount of spin, your flick can go out of control. Most table tennis players use the flick when negotiating a chopped ball, which has a good deal of back spin. It is a spectacular way of dominating your opponent's play. If you use the flick with finely judged placement, you will most likely win the point.

If your opponent happens to be somewhat of a defensive player, he would prefer chopping the ball most of the time. If you get DRAWN into an extended rally with both of you chopping, you are likely to lose control of the game. It's better NOT to play the game your opponent likes. That will NOT be to your advantage. A SMARTER approach is to try and break the stranglehold of your opponent by playing a DIFFERENT game. This is where the flick comes in. When you flick the ball, your opponent, who was chopping the ball all along, finds it difficult to continue chopping. Most likely he will block your flick. This is a WONDERFUL opportunity to go for the classic top spin or flat spin.

Now let's discuss how to return a flick. The most important factors are working here are your reflex and intuition. The flicked ball comes at you in a flash - so you need to stay prepared for such a shot. One of the best ways to negotiate a flick is to block it with a slight push. This push will add EXTRA momentum to the ball and maybe your opponent will get into trouble. For still more SEVERE effect, place your blocked shot. Your opponent will most likely be badly prepared to return your block shot properly. You may even win the point.

The flick is often used when a player wants to dominate the game. Experienced players are usually able to flick with the forehand as well as backhand. While it is rather easy to flick on the forehand, it takes months of practice to get your backhand flick right. A flick is a clear signal sent to the opponent that he better prove himself by returning the flick or be ready for a withering defeat.

A flick also changes the pace of the game. It makes it much faster and a treat to watch. Defensive players are usually afraid of the flick. The reason is flicking means destroying the chopping used in defensive play. A flick shot, when returned weakly, invites a searing top spin or even KILL (if the ball is spooned up lamely). At the same time, it should be mentioned here that the flick is a double-edged weapon. If you cannot judge the complex movement of the ball coming at you, you are likely to flick into the net. So it is always advisable to use the flick shot with discretion and when confident that you will be able to execute it properly. You can also use it experimentally when leading by a good margin in a game.

Pasting Your Table Tennis Rubber

 

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Here we will find out how best to paste your table tennis rubber on the blade of your racket. It is actually quite easy to paste the pips rubber with little or no sponge. Let's find out how to paste the sandwich rubber, which presents more of a challenge. Understand that how you paste your rubber is going to make a BIG impact on its performance. This fact, unfortunately, is not so much appreciated - except for professional level players. And they would much rather keep it SECRET.

The best technique for pasting your rubber is going to be discussed now. We are not going to look at exotic glues available in the market that will enhance the performance of the rubber. Instead, we will look at the BEST way to paste the sandwich rubber using ANY glue that you find satisfactory.

Before you start, make sure that you have your backhand and forehand sandwich rubbers as well as racket ready. Get for yourself two pieces of SMOOTH and identical rectangular glass sheets of medium thickness. They should be sufficiently large to cover the area of the blade. Also, keep a razor blade (rather than a sharp knife) ready. I prefer razor blade because it does the job much more neatly and efficiently compared to a knife. Get hold of a fat book or any object of similar weight. It should be of medium weight and not overly heavy.

Now apply the glue to the exposed sponge of one of the rubbers. Apply glue to one of the surfaces of the blade of your racket. Gently ease the sandwich rubber onto the blade. Apply NO pressure on the pasted rubber at all. Now invert the rubber you have pasted onto one of the glass sheets. Take the razor blade and clip out the extra rubber neatly. Use the same procedure for the other rubber and blade surface.

What we have done here is just pasted the two rubber sheets onto the blades surfaces. The reason for NOT applying pressure is to prevent the inverted pips molded into the sponge from getting STRESSED. A stressed sandwich rubber will not be able to perform that efficiently.

Now, placed the two glass sheets on either side of the racket, with the handle protruding out and place the whole thing on a table. Keep the fat book or something else on top of the upper glass slab. Let the pasting process continue for about 10 hours or so. Take care NOT to try out the racket in the meantime - maybe out of curiosity. For example, one nice way is to do the pasting is at night before going to bed. This way you can leave the pasting process undisturbed. You can use the racket when you wake up in the morning.

After the requisite number of hours have passed, take out the racket and look at the two surfaces of the pasted rubbers horizontally. You should see no undulations whatsoever. This is desirable. The glass sheets have done their job.

Now bounce a table tennis ball with the racket to test out both the rubbers. You should hear a DULL thud when the ball bounces. This is also desirable. If you had applied too much weight during the pasting, you would have heard a SHARP thud. More high frequency than you are hearing now. This is NOT desirable. It means you have managed to stress out the inverted pips of the sandwich rubbers. In other words, you have almost ruined the rubbers. You can still play with your racket, of course, but your performance will be POOR. For example, your top spin will not have the same BITE.

Professional players take care to paste their rubbers lightly over the blade surfaces. Now you know how to do the same. Hope you enjoy playing with your new racket.

Placing Your Shot Is Key

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Placing your shot is as important, if not more than, as playing a quality shot. If your opponent happens to be an expert level table tennis player, he will most likely return your shots with equal, if not higher, caliber. After a few rallies, you might find yourself overwhelmed. There is, however, a better way to take advantage of a deadlock situation by starting to place your shots.

In table tennis, you need to place your shot to get maximum leverage. There are a few ways to place your shot. Let's discuss some of them to get you that extra edge in your playing skills.

One of the best ways to place your shot is to hit it in the DIRECTION of your opponent's body. This will force him to move away from the trajectory of the ball in order to give himself sufficient room to negotiate his return stroke. It is quite difficult to hit back a ball that's coming right at you! In this way, you will be able to UNSETTLE your opponent. If he delays moving away from the ball, his return stroke will probably not be of good quality - and you can take the ATTACK right to him by taking full advantage of the poor return - by hitting it back with POWER.

Another way to place the shot is getting it into an area of the table that is farthest from him. This will FORCE him to rush at the ball. Again, if he delays, his return stroke will not be of good quality or he might mishit the ball or fail to hit it altogether.

Playing a drop shot is another excellent ball placement technique if your opponent likes to play away from the table. To play a drop shot during a power rally is a bit risky. You need to control the ball well in order to hit a drop shot. Take the ball gently with a slight backward or 'cushioning' movement to unload some of the momentum in the ball. The ball will limp away from you and drop tamely on the other side. Best is if it falls near the net. Your opponent will likely come rushing in and lift the ball back at you. This is a SUPER situation to go for the KILL or a scorching topspin – WITH placement if possible. You will most likely win the point.

When you place the ball, you keep your opponent under pressure. But remember to place the ball using quality shot. A lame duck shot will not have sufficient effect. In fact, your opponent might take advantage of a poor shot to put YOU under pressure.

It is not always easy, though, to place a shot. The ball coming at you might have different types of complex motions that might be risky to negotiate for placing. If you JUDGE the ball poorly for placing, it might fly out of control. Slower or medium paced rallies are ideal for ball placement. Use your best judgment, and if in doubt, don't go for ball placement. It might land you in trouble.

As you gain more and more experience with table tennis, you will know intuitively when it's okay to place the ball. Keep a watch on your opponent's movements all the time. Go for the SURPRISE placement, especially if you are winning the game. You are likely to win an EASY point. In such situations of imminent defeat, a player crumbles under the slightest pressure. It's always better to apply that pressure and win easily.

Returning Short Balls In Table Tennis

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Short balls are notoriously difficult to negotiate. A short ball bounces for the first time a bit away from you. If you do not have good experience, it will bounce a second time before leaving the table. The frustrating thing about a short ball is that you cannot accurately judge its nature before it's too late. A good tactic is to watch your opponent! The way he moves his racket to deliver you the short ball gives some idea of what kind of short ball is coming at you.

Watch the stroke of your opponent carefully. If he has given the short ball a 'wicked' spin, just negotiate your stroke with minimal pressure (to create a 'cushioning effect) on the ball. Hit the ball softly but firmly. The ball you send back will carry some of that wicked spin.

If the short ball is tame - that is, not much spin - hit it HARD with a flick of your wrist. Take your shot as the ball begins to move up. This will take your opponent by surprise. Never forget to keep up the pressure on your opponent. Don't give him time. This will be to your advantage.

If you see a short ball come at you hard - that is, with speed - block it. Do this firmly. This will send the ball crashing into your opponent's court. If possible, press just enough into the ball as it rises send it flashing back.

My favorite is ATTACKING the short ball. This is risky, though. The shot can go out of control. But, with experience, you will enjoy taking risks. However, ALWAYS respect the wicked spin. Never attack a viciously forward spinning short ball - unless you are crazy! Speed is easier to manage than spin.

Another short ball is a chopped ball. This carries some backward spin. Return that ball by chopping it yourself. Play safe. Be sure to give the chopped ball its due respect. Once you gain experience, you can return chopped balls harder - by giving it a kind of soft flicking action.

The short ball that is 'dead' is rather easier to negotiate. A dead ball lacks momentum, speed and spin. Give it a searing flick, if possible. In other words, create pressure on your opponent.

Short balls can be notorious for sending your racket's rubber crunching into the top edge of the table, if you are not careful. This might ruin your rubber or just damage it slightly - depends on how lucky you are. If spending on replacing your rubber is not a problem, play freely. After all, you learn really well by playing freely.