Always under pressure

Rob Janssen Asked 10 years ago

Hi coach,

When Im playing a match in competition I find myself multiple times 10 feet away from the table lobbing the ball to my oponent because I just cant get them under pressure unless I am to serve so I know where the next ball comes but when my opponent recieves a serve differently of what I expected I can start lobbing again haha... I am alright at Lobbing, I think I find myself at least 20-30 rallies lobbing behind the table until my opponent misses or I make a counter attack.

The 2 problems I am having are that I have a bit of a weak backhand, I mostly only counterhit during a rally and sometimes I loop against backspin but only when I am expecting the ball. 

And the second one is that when my opponent plays differently from what I expected then I get confused and I dont know what to do anymore.

On the other side; I find lobbing a very funny way of playing and I think I make more points with blocking and lobbing then with attacking and putting pressure on my opponent.

But I was thinking about getting a long pimple rubber on the backhand and start defending. to be honest I always hated to play against those defenders but I think it would be very funny to just chop everything back to the table. since Im 80% of the rallies under pressure of my opponent and I am lobbing away from the table it would be more effective to chop instead of lob and maybe mix it up a little bit to confuse my opponent.

So do you think defending is something for me?, or do you think I would just improve my game so I can pressure my opponent more.

thanks!

Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Rob,

It sounds like you do enjoy moving back and defending.  This will also solve the problem of your backhand.

I would say give it a try.  You have nothing to lose.  You can try doing it for a couple of months.  If you don’t enjoy it, you can always go back to playing with normal on both sides and attacking more.