July 29, 2024 - Strategy Requires Thought. Tactics Requires Observation.

The title is a quote from the famous Danish chess champion Max Euwe (pronounced “oo-vay”). What does it mean and how does it apply to table tennis?

It comes down to knowing the difference between strategic and tactical thinking. The words “strategy” and “tactics” (and variations such as “strategic” and “tactical”) are colloquially used interchangeably, but really have different meaning when applied to sports and games. Strategic thinking is thinking long-term about developing your game. Tactical thinking is about using what you have to win now. You need both.

To get back to Euwe, suppose you have an effective loop (forehand, backhand, or both. You give it some thought and strategically decide you need a good short backspin serve to force pushes that you can loop, with other variations thrown in (such as short no-spin and occasional long ones). That’s strategic thinking. But when you observe that your opponent can receive and block in ways that make your loops lower-percentage shots (such as quick, angled, heavy pushes, short pushes, or flips, and effective blocks against your opening loop), then you use tactical thinking to come up with a better tactic, such as changing your serving patterns (such as serving more sidespin/topspin or more deep serves) or pushing more so you can find a better ball to loop rather than go after the first one.

And then you use strategic thinking to figure out how to develop your game so that next time you won’t have trouble with that opponent’s receiving and blocking!