Attack Top of bounce or after drop

Abhiram Reddy Asked 12 years ago

Hi coach.Sometimes during a rally i am caught up in a push battle even though i like to attack naturally. The problem is my indecision on where to attack the ball.Imagine a ball which is half or long with low speed with mild-to-no backspin on it. Now in this scenario should i attack this ball at the top of the bounce which incidentally occurs over the table(i usually end up hitting them over the outline even with a closed racket angle) or should i let it cross the table and do a slow loop(i have a a consistency of 50% with this stroke) after letting it drop . i can attack low balls that are medium-paced or fast-paced but i just keep pushing these slow medium-long balls.I have thought of another alternative which is flicking or counter hitting even the half-long/long balls.Which do you think is the ideal stroke in this situation.I am willing to work on all these strokes .THANKS A LOT.

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Abhiram,

Ideally play the stroke with topspin over the table if you can.  If the ball is going long, play the ball with a bit more topspin by brushing the contact more finely.

The safer shot though is to let the ball drop off the end of the table and play the ball with a lot of topspin.