Forehand strokes

Maxwell Pond Asked 13 years ago

Hey PingSkills,

I have been teaching my friend(who is a penhold player) to play table tennis using all of the lessons and tips from www.pingskills.com and he has improved a lot since he started. However, he rarely if ever hits a ball with the forehand. He does have an excellent  traditional penhold backhand which I have commented on, but I told him that it is extremely difficult to actually win a point with a simple backhand block. Any tips on helping him use his forehand strokes and use them more effectively. 

Thanks again, 

Maxwell.

P.S. He was originally a shakehand player who also never used his forehand.

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Maxwell,

Try by getting him to change his feet position slightly.  He may be standing with his right foot closer to the table than his left.  If he is, get him to move his right foot back a little. This will put him in a better position to hit forehands.

During training get him to play forehands if the ball is on the forehand half of the table, so he is not allowed to play a backhand when the ball is on that side. This will help him to get the feeling of playing forehands.

The penhold grip shouldn't effect things at all.