Changing direction of the ball

Hi Coach! :)

One of the things I see a lot while watching some of the top players either on the world stage or just in my local area and that is...changing the direction of the ball during a rally. I also noticed that the better the players are, the more consistent they are while players who are not as good tend to miss the shot a lot more often, sometimes while having plenty of time to make the shot. 

My questions to you are this...

How do you make that shot (changing direction) during a rally more consistent? Do you try the shot automatically if you see an opening on the table or what? And when you do try the shot (say in a topspin rally) what is the best way to change the direction on the ball so it lands more consistently on the table or over the net?

Thanks! :)

Hi Mike,

One of the reasons the top players are able to change direction so easily is because they are so balanced when they are playing the shot.

Then to actually change the direction of the ball you an use two things.  One is the angle of your wrist and the other is the timing o the stroke.

By bending your wrist back slightly you will be able to get the ball to go down the line or pushing your wrist forward will make the ball go cross court.

Secondly by hitting the ball later the ball will go down the line and earlier will make it go cross court.

So to do these things you need a stable base to play from.