Make up my own spin strokes

Table Tennis Strokes and Technique

Last updated 11 years ago

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Asked 11 years ago

Is it a bad habit to come up with my own strokes especially for a sidespin? I saw your video on sidespin and I thought it was too hard for me to do, so I changed the stroke up a bit and still came up with a decent sidespin. Do I have to do it exactly like you or can I make it my own?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago

Hi Esteban,

If it is working consistently for you then it is probably OK.


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DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

May i know what stroke did you mean and what you've changed ?

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

The sidespin stroke. You know Jan Ove Waldner? His sidespin stroke was like a stab on the side of the ball. I saw him do it in a video of his 1987ish match. I found this easier to control than doing a hook.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

What's the start - finish position ? And how you hold the bat ? As i can't watch with my phone, so please tell me :D

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

Ok. You hold it shakehand grip. Hold the bat so it's flat perpendicular to the table's surface. Imagine that your bat is like the wall. As the ball comes toward you, simply brush the side as if your trying to punch the ball. It's almost like a topspin stroke but with a little sidespin variation to it.


Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

that stroke is for the counterclockwise sidespin. For the clockwise sidespin, you reverse the previously mentioned sidespin technique. Do it as if you're taking back that punch. When I do it, however, sometimes have to spike the ball in order to generate good sidepin and sometimes I don't it's just a matter of good consistency. But as Alois mentioned in his sidespin video, the sidespin stroke lacks consistency. I thought he meant it with his hook sidepin stroke technique. But apparently, the power of my sidespin also lacks consistency. I think it's just best to practice the stroke with a good practice partner who knows how to return sidespins back to you cleanly just so you can develop the sidespin more effectively.


Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

But if you get the chance, you should youtube the video. search for the username MurrayfieldTTC and search the videos in that channel. You'll Eventually come across some old videos from the 1987 match from Waldner. If you watch those videos (especially Waldner's match against Li Gun Sang, the backspin chopper), you'll catch on some very familiar strokes (that pingskills showed in the videos) from both players as well as the sidespin I mentioned.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

As sidespin is a riskiest stroke, i rarely use it unless for the serve i only put sidespin on the ball when i' doing a wobbly shot it's different with a penhold that can put sidespin on any stroke even on a block (just like my friend that's a penhold and he like to make his bat stay and move his wrist and make sidespin on it) anyway, thank you for let me know :D

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

You're welcome :)


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

Anyway, what's counter clockwise sidespin stroke ?

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

when the ball spins leftward, I call it counterclockwise. When it spins rightward, I call it clockwise.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

oh i see... It's nice ^^ anyway, i just try to put side spin on my strokes yeah... Maybe it look cool when the ball is curving so i like it just like the chop block i change it to punch the side of the ball so the ball will curving and also for the push (you can look on the chop block and sidespin push video in pingskills) as the video said that the sidespin push make someone easier to attack, so i try to modify it that's to brush underneath the from left to right / right to left rather than brush the side of the ball it looks like have a sidespin on it and the ball is low and harder to attack i also make a sidespin stroke just like the wobbly shot but as sir alois said to brush it forward, now the ball can go low and it have a lot of sidespin and also for the block, i swing my bat from left to right make a circle (with backhand) just like curving a smash video now i try to do this not just for the smash, but for the topspin and another attack strokes but for sure, i'll not do this much in the match as this's very risky what about you ?

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

I agree with you it is a very risky shot. The reason being is that when the opponent hits the ball, the sidespin will cause the ball to naturally hit the opposite end of the table. If the opponent returns the ball, it will be uncertain where the ball will kick off the table. Besides that, the sidespin stroke in itself is hard to do.


Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

I would only apply sidespin for the purpose of variation-maybe in points where the opponent wouldn't expect it. But that's it, I probably shouldn't do the sidespin stroke all the time in a match.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

For me, it's inportant to put sidespin espexially if the opponent is in rush and they can't read the spin But don't do a lot I found that most of the ball that I put sidespin on it will go out But, I found this is fun if the opponent can't read the sidespin, I make the ball high with a lot of. Sidespin and wheb they try to smash, the ball move to side and they'll confused

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

And about the sidespin serve, I'd say it's important to make it quick and short, but with a fine contact. This way, the opponent will have less reaction time and the shortness of the serve will add pressure to your opponent, forcing him to flick. In addition to that, faking the serve would really make a difference. Though all this is way easier said than done.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

I foun that my short sidespin is easy to attack even i have to it with fine contact so i just put backspin on it sir alois, please tell me how to do a sidespin serve that are hard to attack ? Thank you very much :D

Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Frendy,

The key is disguise. If your opponent knows it is a short sidespin serve, they will be able to flick it. Backspin is definitely a safer serve.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

Can i do a long backspin serve ? If yes, is it effective ? And also can i do a really wide fast sidespin serve that the ball will land on near the net (i ever do it once but i don't know why it can happened, does it have something to do it ?) anyway, it's possible to flick a backspin ball right ? But why we just push it ? Or it only effective if there's no a lot of backspin ball ?

DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

Can i do a long backspin serve ? If yes, is it effective ? And also can i do a really wide fast sidespin serve that the ball will land on near the net (i ever do it once but i don't know why it can happened, does it have something to do it ?) anyway, it's possible to flick a backspin ball right ? But why we just push it ? Or it only effective if there's no a lot of backspin ball ?

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

Frendy,

Again, I saw Jan Ove Waldner do a long Backspin serve in that video and it was effective considering Li Gun Sang didn't see it coming.  Another thing I noticed was that his backspin serve looked similar to his sidespin serve. As Jeff said earlier-the key is disguise.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

A long backspin serve can be good as a surprise.  Waldner does it because of his extremely strong defense and blocking.  He knows that they can't topspin through him.  Where you have to be careful is if they have a strong topspin and can put you on the defensive.


DHS Lover

DHS Lover Posted 11 years ago

I see thank you very much for all ^^

Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

I also wanted to ask about the topspin. Is there a certain level of topspin where it's so strong that you have to defend? Or is it possible to keep rallying the topspin with another topspin regardless of strength? If so, how should I learn it? Will it come naturally to me over time or should I follow on a specific drill? Thanks in advance.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Hi Esteban,

If you are in good position then you can topspin any topspin back.

The main thing is to start slowly and build up.  Work on topspin against a slower ball and then as you practice more and your footwork gets better you will be able to cope with stronger topspins.


Esteban Mendez

Esteban Mendez Posted 11 years ago

And is it also good to look back at the fundamentals of the forehand stroke and work from there?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Yes it is.  All of the strokes really build on each other.



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