As we age

Richard Berke Asked 5 years ago

I'm now 63.  As we age the reality is we're not as mobile/fast of foot as opponents in their 20s and 30s.   We have to cope with do the best we can while not in perfect position.   What are some points of advice you can offer?

- When to exert / attack as strong as we can?  versus let up on power and go for placement?

- If we can't move well enough to get more shots forehand, what backhand shots would be better than others?  Attack with topspin?   Backspin and hope for mistakes by opponent?  Go for more extreme angles, which are lower percentage for us to make, but lower percentage for opponent to reach and attack?

- When faced with very powerfull opponent, when is simply blocking more beneficial than countering and applying our own attack?

- Which serves which take a lot of effort are worth that effort?  If we're out of position from those, then it take a toll to get back into position to be ready for that 3rd ball attack....

Alois Rosario Answered 5 years ago

Hi Richard,

Ah, you are one of the lucky ones that is still able to play this great game.

When mobility decreases I think we can start to become a little smarter about placement, speed and tactics in a match.

First if you open up the angle, that is play the ball wide you have to make sure that it is a good shot that is going to give your opponent real difficulties, otherwise, if they get to it easily they have a lot fo angle to play with that is really going to stretch you.

Secondly, think about keeping the ball lower and slower to start with.  This can be with a push, chop of topspin stroke depending on your own strengths but the placement of these balls needs to be spot on.

Like tactics against any opponent, you need to find where your strength lies and what really troubles your opponent.  This may not necessarily be your greatest shots but may be something that they rally can't handle.

Serving from a more central position will enable you to get into position quicker for the next ball.  Doing the Pendulum serve, for example, may not be effective any more as it may take too long to get from the backhand position back to the centre of the table.

Many older players start to use long pimple or anti spin rubbers to slow the game down and give those younger upstarts something different to think about.