Tactics against penhold pip blocker

Tim B Asked 14 years ago

I was up against a penhold blocker using a pipped rubber few days back. His style was rather clumsy, playing with a straight bat up close to the table with hardly any footwork. However, his strength was his ability to pick up every ball early and direct it with precision to all parts of the table. Both playing aggressively against him (high risk) and draw him into rallies (his strength) often lead to unforced errors or being pushed into unbalanced positions, both of which ultimately cost me the game.

How should one go about tackling this type of player? What kind of stroke play would this type of player find most challenging?

I use a tacky friendship 729 rubber on both sides.

Thanks

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Tim,

The best strategy against this type of player is to use a lot of topspin and play the ball quite slowly.

The faster you hit the ball the faster it comes back and the lesstime you have.

I find that heavy topspin is difficult for these players to counter with the short pips, especially on their forehand side because it is difficult to get over the ball with the penhold grip.

Give this basic tactic a try.