Hitter to looper

Mark L Asked 12 years ago

hi Coach Alois,

I am Mark. I had been drilled to play near table quick attack style from the beginning. 12 months ago, I learnt looping and had been able to deliver deadly spin on it from mid- far table. so there is a conflict in my playing style now.

when I enter a competition under intense pressure, my first learned style will surface, which is basic hitting with slight topspin at tremendous speed. something like a women playing style. I will not even realized it until I won some points. 

by then, I will try to control my 'instinct' by willing my body to do the looping style at mid table. end up: what I observed is a first good loop, follow by many subsequent loop motion stroke but still hitting. so you can imagine me starting my loop position low, and when I see the ball arriving into my hitting zone, I will hit it instead of brushing it. 

so now there is a problem, at near table, I can't produce topspin desired from a loop. instead I will be hitting through the ball. is it the lack of confidence or been 'psycho' to do hitting at near table or lack of the skill to grip and brush the ball.

right now, I am figuring out whether I had problem with gripping the ball. If that is the case, how do i solve it?

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Mark,

Changing your first instinct takes time.  It will take a lot more time in training to get the first reaction of your body to make the loop rather than a fast hit.

The more you train with it the closer you will get to making it your first priority.  In practice games try to implement the strokes. For one game see if you can only play topspins or loops. You can do this either in a practice game or in a game where you already know the result.  If you are playing someone a lot lower in standard than you or if you are playing someone a lot higher in standard you can start to implement this and focus on it during the game.