Reading Spin
General
Ji-Soo Woo Asked 16 years ago
Surely one of the most important skills to develop in table tennis is the ability to read spin. Certainly when returning serve, but also during rallies, you are constantly having to make split second judgements about the direction and intensity of spin and then adjusting your own stroke accordingly. Unfortunately, it is also one of the skills of table tennis that is my weak point.
Now I think I understand the elements of reading spin. Watch the direction of the opponents' racquet movement, faster balls tend to be topspin, watch the curve of the ball's arc, or actually see the direction that the ball's trademark is spinning. Somehow, in the heat of battle, actually putting it into practice is difficult. Do you have any advice to help read spin confidently and quickly, and how to adjust quickly if your reading is a bit off? Are there elements I am missing? Are some elements more important than others? Any rules of thumb? Any tricks of the trade? Thanks!
Alois Rosario Answered 16 years ago
Well, the million dollar question, how do you return spin.
You do have the basics and unfortunately now comes the hard part. Do it lots of times...
A couple of tips that may help is to keep your hand and fingers completely relaxed while returning. This will act as a buffer for the spin a little. You will find yourself tensing your hand the more you miss the return.
The other thing is to aim for the middle of the table initially which will give you a little more room for error on all sides.
The fact that even the top players in the world misread serves sometimes shows you how difficult it can be. It is a matter of building up enough experiences in your brain's database to cope with the subtle variations that occur. Keep an open mind and watch the ball off your bat even when it misses. This will help the brain to record it more efficiently.
The bottom line though is that it is just a case of doing.
How was the experience of the big tournament you played in? When is your next tournament?
Thoughts on this question
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 16 years ago
Alois
thanks for your advice. I definitely note that when someone puts heavy spin on the ball and I'm not sure how to play it I tend to tense up, hold the racquet stiffly, and be passive in my stroke (let the ball hit the racquet instead of the other way around) which I think must be THE WORST thing to do.
My experience in the Easter Classic was very educational. I beat the no.3 seeded player in the first round of division 4 and beat the division 3 opponent as well. However, I had had an intense session of table tennis the day before and my lack of stamina came back to haunt me. I think a good advice for tournament players is not to play too much in the leadup!
My next tournament is the NSW Open coming up next weekend, and then the big one...the 3 day long NSW Country Championship representing TTACT (which I understand Jeff used to be a member of). I'm currently the no.1 player in division 4 in Canberra and looking forward to moving up to division 3 next season.
Thanks for all your expert advice.
Ji-Soo
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 16 years ago
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 16 years ago
Hi Alois
I recently returned from Bathurst and have to say the NSW Country Championship was even more fun and exciting than I had expected! I was appointed captain of the division 5 team representing ACT and we ended up winning the gold medal. I also won gold in division 5 singles, division 5 doubles and division 4 doubles. I managed a silver in division 4 singles. I played table tennis for three solid days, but it will probably take more than three full weeks for the aches to subside! It really is perfect for getting some of the match toughness back. My topspin attacking game (especially off my backhand) is still MIA, but my chopping/defensive game is probably 75% of where I was back in my 'glory years'.
Kon Unknown Posted 15 years ago
Very true that reading spin is essential.
If you don't have a thorough knowledge of spin, you cannot play at a high standard
Laurens (The Netherlands) Unknown Posted 14 years ago
Hey,
I have a small trick to decide how to return sidespin effect:
Look at how the opponent hits the ball. If the opponents bat comes from \'the left\' to hit the ball (from your point of view), return the ball to the left and vice versa.
I have great difficulties with returning a service. It's my weakest point. I even lose matches on it. I am just to slow to follow the motion of the opponent. I have no problems recognizing the type of sidespin, but I do have problems to distinguish back- and topspin. I'm trying to practice as much as possible on returning 'ghostservices'.
andrew brand Posted 14 years ago