How do I become more aggressive
Table Tennis Match Strategy
Last updated 10 years ago
Joe Thompson Asked 10 years ago
I've been having trouble becoming more aggressive against more unconventional players. As a beginner, I began to play very defensively. I used heavy chops and I mostly focused on just keeping the ball on the table. When I play with one of my friends, who is around the same skill level as me, we topspin back and forth for a while. But as soon as I play people who aren't as skilled at Table Tennis, I tend to go back to my defensive habits. When I play unconventional players, I cannot seem to hit topspin shots and smashes on the table. Do you have any ideas as to how I can become more aggressive and successful against these players?
Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago
Hi Joe,
The one stroke that you need to practice first is the Forehand Topspin Off Backspin. This will allow you to topspin against a wide variety of spins and speeds of ball. If you can master this then the next step is to have the mindset of wanting to topspin any ball that comes long to you. That is only bounces once on the table.
The other important thing is to be able to relax when playing weaker players. Any tension will start in the shoulder and stop you from being able to play an effective topspin.
Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves because we feel we should win. Just take every ball as it comes and work hard to make as many topspins as you can.
Thoughts on this question
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Joe Thompson Posted 10 years ago
bertus bertus Posted 10 years ago
HI,
This sounds familiar to me. I think it has to do with confidence and that comes with time and practise. What I did was very simple, play a non aggressive player and I restricted myself to max. 3 pushes per point. Wich still is plenty of time, later on you restrict yourself to 2 pushes per point etc. When you practise this for a while you don't know any better than attack at every opportunity you get!
Good luck!
TheLittleYellowBouncing Ball Posted 10 years ago
I have known some people who benefit from using a "return board" (Look it up on you tube). This makes you hit a topspin every shot, otherwise the ball doesn't come back! This may be the only good use for one of these things however.