Blocking monstrous spin

Jasper Low Asked 2 years ago

Hi alois, I recently joined a weekly tournament organised by a table tennis club nearby. And I got the chance to play against the organiser of the tournament or the main owner of the club. Everyone who first registers always starts with 1800 rating points the points will then decrease or increase every week based on the elo algorithm and all matches were played to best of 3 games. My rating was 1804 and the organiser was like 2134 or something. He is using the penhold grip. When he loops the ball to me, I remember standing low, having my racket closed to about 70 degrees and I even pressed downwards on the ball and somehow the ball still flew up. My other group members which consisted of veterans and another young player also could not handle the spin at all. How do you deal with such uncontrollable spin? surprisingly I did manage to win a game against him, mostly because of my varied serves and a surprise down the line long serve at 9-8.

Alois Rosario Answered 2 years ago

Hi Jasper,

There is no amount of spin that can't be blocked. It sounds like you are taking the right approach by pressing down on the ball. Try to be a little firmer with the contact and really hit the ball down on contact.

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Jasper Low Posted 1 year ago

Is it better to block the block the ball very early or at the highest bounce?

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 1 year ago
Hi Jasper, you can do both and in fact chasing between the two can give you better results. If you contact the ball early you are giving your opponent less time to react to the block. If you hit it at the tp of the bounce it is easier to hit the block faster as you are hitting the ball from a higher point and have a clearer path to the other side of the table.