Defender
Strokes
Shrihari K Asked 7 years ago
Hello, can u give me some tips to become a good defender.
Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago
Hi Shrihari,
The first thing is to become consistent with your pushing and chop strokes. Practice these a lot so that you can put the ball on the table consistently.
Then it is to develop some more defensive skills with the chop by being able to return topspin. Like any other technique in the game it is about practice and then being able to execute it in a match situation.
Take a look at our lessons on:
Backhand Push
Forehand Push
Forehand Chop
Backhand Chop
Recommended Video
Thoughts on this question
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D K Posted 7 years ago
Regarding push,how can I deal with the fact noone wants to train it as "having to push is a sign that you are too bad to attack",but I need to master it?
Not sure. See if anyone else has suggestions.
Jean Balthazar Posted 7 years ago
The game in which you push all over the table and need to hit the net to score a point is quite entertaining and could motivate them more than if you ask them to do a push-push drill.
Rohan Keogh Posted 7 years ago
They'll be the losers in the end DK. I've won more points against attackers with a push than any other stroke. If it "has no place" then all the top players wouldn't use it, but they do :)
If you can afford it, get a cheap robot. I recently purchased an iPong and it works very well for precisely this type of training/practice.
Benzene Chiral Posted 7 years ago
@DK yes, top ranked offensive players like Ding Ning not only push but chop returned trick serves from players Miu Hirano during WTTC 2017. It proved to confuse Miu Hirano quite badly as Hirano returned multiple balls into the net trying to return Ding Ning's chop with a topspin stroke.
Defensive players like Isabelle Li also use pushes.