A Tip of the Week will go up every Monday by noon.

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Published:

02/02/2015 - 14:53

Author: Larry Hodges

Develop the Five Types of Rallying Shots

There really are only five types of rallying shots, and you should perfect them all. If you can't, your game is not complete and you'll never be as good as you could be. So what are these five types of shots you should develop?

  1. Opening Attacks
    There are your first attacks in a rally. Against a ball that goes long this usually means looping, though you can also do a more simple drive. Against a short ball this means a flip (usually called a flick in Europe). A surprising number of seemingly defensive or passive players actually have good attacks once they are into the rally, but they don't have effective or consistent opening attacks, and so they are usually on the defensive.
  2. Continuing Attacks
    It's not enough to open with an attack; you have to continue the attack. At the higher levels this usually means to loop over and over. You can also continue your attack with regular drives, which is especially common the backhand. This is often the most physical aspect of table tennis as you are forced to move quickly to keep up an attack.
  3. Putaways
    If you can't end the point when the shot is there, then you are severely handicapped. This means loop kills and smashes. (One of the best way to develop your putaway shots is with multiball practice.) 
  4. Consistency
    The game isn't all attack. Consistency shots include regular drives, blocks, steady loops, pushing, as well as defensive off-table shots chopping, lobbing, and fishing. There is overlap here with "Continuing Attacks" as a steady loop can fit both categories. Consistency shots are best used at the start of the rally to return serves (such as pushing or a soft-to-medium-speed loop) and to withstand an opponent's attack.
  5. Tricky Shots
    These are the often unorthodox shots, ones where you throw something different at an opponent to make him uncomfortable. Examples would be a change of pace, drop shot, no-spin shots that look like spin, an unexpectedly heavy spin (such as a very heavy push), an unexpected sidespin (such as a sidespin block or loop, both of which you can sidespin either way), or a last-second change of direction. You probably don't want to center your game around these types of shots, but if you don't have at least a small arsenal of tricky shots to throw off an opponent then you are handicapping yourself. Even all-out attackers use such tricky shots on occasion, such as on receive or with sidespin loops, or sudden changes of direction.

Now examine your game, and ask yourself which of the above are you very good at? You can develop your game around these shots. However, the more important question is probably which of them are you weak at? (Rather than rate them relative to your current level, rate them relative to the level you are striving to reach.) Now you know what to work on. Go to it. 

Published:

01/26/2015 - 15:40

Author: Larry Hodges

Often players ask me how to play different surfaces. There are obvious and easy answers for that, and beginners do need to know how the various surfaces play different. For example, long pips tends to return whatever spin you give it, and they need to understand that to be able to play it. Short pips tends to return flatter (i.e. less spinny) then you'd expect from the more common inverted. And so on.

But the more important thing is to simply learn to play the ball. You don't really need to know that long pips will return your spin, except perhaps as a help at the start of a match. Very early in any match you'll see how your opponent's surfaces and strokes return your shots, and that's what you need to play. For example, knowing that long pips will return your spin is fine, but some types return more than others, and some strokes with long pips return more than others. Players need to match what actually is happening in a match to how they react, not just memorize something they can read in a book.

The same is true of adjusting to an opponent's strokes. If he does something strange, ignore the strangeness and just adjust to playing the balls he's giving you. (And remember that if a player has strange shots, then there's a reason they are strange shots - they are not orthodox, and so likely have major technical weaknesses in them, if you can find them.)

Once a player understands how the ball comes off an opponent's racket and strokes in a match, he can play the balls he's getting, knowing what they'll be based on how they have been coming off the racket so far. Then he can figure out how to adjust, and what type of shots he should do to get the type of balls he wants. For example, you might have trouble against the fast dead shots of a pips-out player. But then you'll realize that you have to contact the ball differently, perhaps lifting slightly more with more topspin (assuming you are a topspin player), and even noting that if you keep the ball deep, you have more time to react and adjust to these deader balls. You could read that in a book or article, but it'll sink in a lot better when you actually face such a situation and adjust, learn to play the ball your opponent is giving you, and actually make the adjustment and win!

Published:

01/19/2015 - 13:05

Author: Larry Hodges

When I throw chop blocks or sidespin pushes at my students, they complain, saying "Nobody does that!" And that's the problem - few players do these type of things anymore, and so when faced with shots that mess them up, instead of learning to do these shots themselves they point out that nobody does it - and so nobody does it!

Why don't players do these type of shots very often? Because the very best players in the world only do these shots occasionally. But that's because they players they are competing against are also the very best players in the world, and if you are one of the best players in the world, you have fewer problems with these types of shots. And yet many top players still do these type of shots. At the finals of Men's Singles at the recent USA Nationals, down 5-1 in the seventh, Jim Butler did three sidespin blocks the rest of the way, and won all three points. And if you watch the top players when they push serves back long, you'll be surprised at how often they do so with sidespin.

Sure, you could robotically attack every ball with the same straightforward shots that everyone uses. Or you could get a little creative, and mess up your opponents, and become a better player. It's great fun - both the messing up opponents and becoming a better player!

Here are some ways to mess up an opponent.

  1. Chop or sidespin block. Here's how.
  2. Push long with sidespin, usually so the ball curves out to the corners. Here's how.
  3. Last-second changes of directions with pushes. Here's how.
  4. Dummy loop, i.e. a loop that looks spinny but isn't. Here's how.
  5. Changing directions at the last second when looping. Here's how.
  6. Attack the middle. Here's how.
  7. Mess them up with deep, tricky serves. Here's how. Here's more.
  8. Vary your receive against short backspin serves. Here's how
Published:

01/12/2015 - 15:10

Author: Larry Hodges

To play at any level you have to have something you can use to win points at that level. Typically this means a big forehand or backhand, tricky serves, a strong counter-hitting or blocking game, or perhaps defensive skills such as chopping. These are a player's point-winning skills, which might be called his primary skills.

But there are also secondary skills which set up the point-winning skills. Having a big forehand loop, for example, doesn't always help if you don't have ways to set it up via these secondary skills, such as a good serve, a good receive, a spinny opening loop, a good backhand, or just fast footwork to get the player into position in a rally for the big loop.

Serves can be both a primary point-winning skill or a secondary set-up one. Players with big breaking spin serves (often long) often use them as a point-winning skill, either winning the point outright or setting up such a weak return that it essentially wins the point outright. Others have simpler-looking serves that are usually short and low, with varied spin (often backspin or no-spin that looks like backspin), that force defensive returns that might not win the point directly, but consistently set up a primary attack, usually a strong opening loop. (Receivers will generally make fewer outright mistakes against such short serves that don't have the big spinny break of a deeper serve, but because the serves are short and because they aren't always sure of the spin at first they tend to receive passively.)

Often a player seems to have a primary point-winning skill when in fact his strength is a secondary skill that sets up a point-winning one - and the point-winning one simply seems strong because he gets so many weak returns to use it against. But against stronger players, whose returns aren't as weak, the primary skill might not be so strong. These players can improve dramatically by improving the point-winning skill. Similarly, players with big point-winning skills might fall apart against stronger players who don't give them the big point-winning shot so easily. These players can improve dramatically by improving their secondary set-up skills.

Developing secondary set-up skills have a huge secondary advantage. They set the player up to attack over and over, resulting in lots and lots of attacking practice, i.e. point-winning skills, and so those primary point-winning skills improve dramatically. That's why developing good set-up serves, for example, will lead to lots of attack practice and thereby a much improved attack, leading to a higher level of play.

Examine your game and decide what your strengths are. If they are primary point-winning skills, then perhaps focus on developing secondary skills to set up these point-winning skills. If they are secondary set-up skills, then perhaps focus on developing primary skills to win the point. Often players get stuck at a level because they are missing one of these types of skills. 

Published:

01/05/2015 - 12:51

Author: Larry Hodges

In the past this was always a difficult question - should you be a hitter or a looper? It's a difficult question for many at the non-elite levels, but at higher levels there's not much question anymore - pretty much everyone is a looper. (When I refer to hitting, that includes blocking, so perhaps it would be better called a "hitter/blocker." Of course loopers also block, but not as much as a hitter/blocker style.)

Unless your goal is to be a world-class player (say, top 100 in the world), you can go either way. Players who start out young, once they've developed the basics, should probably focus on looping as their potential is high. Players who start older can also loop, but let's face it - if you start, say, in your thirties or forties, you are unlikely to be world-class. In this case it's a question of where are you more talented, and what do you prefer?

If you want to play the way the world-class players play - style-wise, not necessarily level-wise - then become a looper. If you have loose, relaxed muscles, looping will also be easier. Bigger, stronger players also tend to find looping easier. On the other hand, if you are very quick, then perhaps hitting is your forte. In some ways it's a dying style as few coaches teach it anymore except to older players - but that's also an advantage as players aren't used to playing this type of style as much as in the past. You might even consider using short pips, and really mess up some players who only know how to play inverted.

Whichever you go for, turn your looping or hitting into a weapon. Develop your serve, receive, and rallying shots to set up this shot. You want it to be a terror for opponents, who lose points both to that shot and in their attempts to not set the shot up for you - a double whammy. Perhaps work with a coach or top player on the shot, use it every chance you can in drills and games, and whether you are looping or hitting soon you'll have a true weapon.