Backhand sidespin block

Tevia Sapire Asked 14 years ago

Hi pingskills, hope all is well.

Recently I have started developing a backhand block with fading sidespin,(for a righty, it will spin to the left) as a sort of out of position shot. I generally do it when a player has played an attacking stroke to my crossover point, and I was ready to backhand block, so to get the raquet to the ball as quickly as possible( this is in a case when  I have little time, not enough time to move and still make a good stroke) I move the raquet head sideways towards my forehand and brush the ball sideways with the backhand side of my bat. This ends up looking like a fade block stroke.

I have only seen a couple of high-level players use it, and I even saw Michael maze use it a couple times. When I do it, it actually makes a lot of sidespin, and this makes the next attack for my opponent more awkward.

So my question is: should I continue to use this unorthadox stroke as a variation? Or should I rather just practice blocking it normally and improve my footwork  and anticipation?( I need to improve these anyway, and I am working on it)

Regards,

Tevia

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Tevia,

You should continue to use the stroke but try to use it on your terms.  Ideally you want to use it when you are in position to make a normal block as well.

If you are forced to use it and it works that is fine, but see if you can improve your reading of the ball and movement so that you are in a good position to play the block.

I know that is almost impossible all the time but that is what we are aiming for.

I agree it is an effective stroke sometimes.