Forehand smash down the line

Coach,

I have been playing TT now for almost 2 months, along with my 13 year old son.  So we are both beginners.   It seems like I am much better at offensive play but he is much better defensively.  I am better at power shots and he is better at finesse shots and blocks.  He seems to beat me about 70% of the time.  I have practiced my forehand smash and I seem to be able to hit it pretty well and pretty fast.  It seems always to go cross-court to my son's backhand side (he's a lefty, I am righty).  Somehow he has learned to return it a high percentage of the time.  I am hitting the ball very hard, but it's like his paddle has a ball magnet.  I am sure it has something to do with his superior hand-eye coordination and reflexes.  :)   Anyway, I am occasionally able to smash one to his forehand side and he can never return those, so I have tried to do it more often.  The problem is that I cannot seem to keep it on the table more than 1 in 10 tries.  I have tried rotating my upper body and legs more to the side I want to hit it toward, but maybe I am not doing it enough.  I don't know.  Can you offer any tips on how to smash it more consistently towards his forehand side?  I need to start evening up the win-loss columns. 

PS:  Can you recommend any TT clubs in the Houston, Texas area by any chance?

Thanks,

T

Hi Tony,

Hopefully we can start to restore some pride for us fathers!  I have a 13 year old son and I know how annoying it gets losing to him all the time in sporting events : )

To change the direction, try to use your fingers and hand more.  This will give you less predictability so that it is harder for them to tell where the ball is coming.

The other thing is to just hit the ball a little later.  This will help to get the ball down the line.

You need to remember though that playing down the line is more difficult because it is less table to play with.  Therefore you also need to put a bit more topspin on the ball to get it to dip quicker onto the table.  Give it a try and let me know how it works out.  Hopefully with some more wins.