Tatical Awareness

Dominic Ng Asked 13 years ago

Dear Pingskills,

Recently I have been struggling with 2 types of opponents. One that only attacks on very obvious opportunities - high balls and is also very consistent never making mistakes. Their gameplay is based on pushing on the table being very hard to break their rhythm.

Another type of player I'm finding difficulty with is that is quite aggressive being all out attack. I'm struggling to create opportunities because they've mastered the backhand sidespin flick. I find that I'm forced to go into a defensive position and force them into mistakes which is too passive.

And really what tactics should be used against what types of players and how should I be adapting my game to match them.

Thanks

Dominic 

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Dominic,

With the defensive player you can use this to your advantage.  So you know that they are unlikely to attack.  So there is less pressure on you to make a strong shot.  You can wait till they present you with an opportunity and them make a fast attack.  Try to keep them close to the table and then attack the first opportunity quite fast so that you don't give them time to move away from the table. 

With the all out attacking player it is a matter of improving your short play game.  This means being able to keep the ball low and short (close the the net) so that they don't have the first opportunity to attack.  If their flick is strong then don't keep the ball too close to the net but a little further back so that they are not all over the flick. The ball still needs to be short though meaning it will bounce twice on the table.  This is a skill that needs training.  It will take some time but you will develop the touch to be able to make it happen.