Chop Skill

Eggy Unknown Asked 14 years ago

What are the advantages and disadvantages of chop skill in table tennis game?

Jeff Plumb Answered 14 years ago

Hi Eggy,

The chop stroke in Table Tennis is a defensive stroke. The main purpose of this stroke is to make it difficult for your opponent to play an attacking stroke.

When you play a chop, you impart backspin on the ball. It is this backspin that makes it hard for your opponent.

The advantages of the stroke are that (when practiced a lot) it can be a very consistent stroke. The disadvantage is that you rely on our your opponent to make a mistake to win the point.

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Sam Quek Posted 14 years ago

Hi, Pingskills!

So I was wondering what makes a good, very defensive chopper? Is chopping the ball alot of times the main skills? Or what is it?

Hope to haer from you soon

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 14 years ago
There are two types of choppers. Defensive choppers that just get the ball back and attacking choppers like Joo See Hyuk who attack when they have an opportunity.
The best choppers now tend to take advantage of loose balls and attack them. Both types are legitimate and you can reach a high level doing either.

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago

Of course you don't have to be a defender to exploit the power of a chop. Another advantage of a chop is that it slows down the rally. This can be useful even for an aggressive player if the opponent has you on the run and a traditional drive or loop would mean an easy kill to an open court. By chopping, it gives you a chance to get back into position. Also, especially for lower levels, many opponents have a hard time if you vary spin and pace. An unexpected chop in the middle of a driving rally can really mess up people's timing and people often over-compensate for the backspin and pop up the ball.

usman rauf Posted 14 years ago

yeah i second the motion...wtever Mr. Joo is sayin abt ths shot is 110% corrct cz i most of the tim use ths shot...very successful shot and a master in turnin the tables on opponents side..once i ws loosin a game of 20 in a championship wth 15 to 9...it ws a hard tim bt thn i statd chopin almost 90% of all th shots...thn 4tunatly i won th match aftr a deuce at 20...great memory...

michael franco Posted 14 years ago

chop for me is like a hidden skill it is where you you uae this storke as if you want to steal a point from your opponent thus, chopping makes it hard to return even with a loop or topspin.

andrew brand Posted 14 years ago

i use quite fast rubbers and mainly attack, but i do occasionally chop, and i find if you do use a fast bat you can still chop well making these adjustments - against a spinny loop you need to let the ball drop more with a fast bat taking it lower, and chop much more vertically straight down towards the floor instead of any forward moving chop. it seems to me when you put forward movement into it with fast equipment that makes the ball go too long and miss the table. with a medium slow bat you can use the advice in pingskills lessons on the chop ie when the incoming ball is slow you can go more forward with your chop, and when incoming ball is fast you just need to go straight down with less forward momentum.

Luca Balzan Posted 14 years ago

Hey there.

I am a teenage table tennis player, and I am quite offensive. However, I have this friend who is a heavy chopper. He spends nearly all the game hitting heavy chops, and I sometimes find it difficult to topspin or chop back. From instinct, I always try to loop the ball, but many times it goes into the net or out. The main problem is that most of his cuts are short, so it is even more difficult to loop the ball. I try waiting for the right moment, but after 3-4 pushes (I find it impossible to chop the ball back), I end up hitting it into the net.

Do you have any tips in order to counter his chop shots? Maybe a change in the looping technique?

Thank you!

Leslie Yin Posted 14 years ago

If his chops land short, what you can do is a perform a drop shot where you push the ball just after the bounce. I believe it's in the free lessons section.

Also you should continue to practice looping so that you make it more consistent.

In terms of strategy vary the speed of your loops as some choppers prefer fast balls but may find it more difficult to deal with slow loops. If they are still getting them back, execute a drop to bring them in to the table and continue the loops.