December 25, 2016 - Maximize Coverage For Your Stronger Side

Whether you are stronger on the forehand or backhand, you should maximize coverage with your stronger side. Ideally, you’ll be equally strong on both sides, but that is rare. At the very least, most players are stronger on one side in some situations - for example, better on the backhand in fast rallies, better on the forehand when attacking against slower shots.

And yet many players do not maximize the coverage of their stronger side. Analyze your game, and decide which side is your stronger side in any given situation. For example, many top players receive short serves better with their backhand, usually with a banana flip. So when they see a short serve coming, they often step over and receive with their backhands, even from the forehand corner. Others may have very strong rallying backhands, and so might cover over half the table with their backhands. Or (more commonly at the higher levels) they might be stronger on the forehand, and so cover more of the table with that.

So start training to use your stronger side to cover more of the table in given situations - because using a stronger shot to cover more of the table makes you a stronger player!