Top Spin down the Line

Abdullah Gilani Asked 13 years ago

Hey Alois,

I have been playing table tennis for over 2 years now and my game has progressed to a very good level but there is weaker side to my game, my top spin always goes diagonal and they keep blocking and blocking until I lose the point, I need to be able to do a top spin down the line to confuse them. Please make a video showing the racket angle and a good body position for this shot. I will be most thankful because I have a tournament coming up and i believe that this shot will give me an edge.

Thanks,

Abdullah

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Abdullah,

The key to playing a topspin down the line is to keep your fingers and wrist relaxed. It doesn't take much change in the position of your fingers to get the ball to go in a different direction. You don't even need to alter the position of your body. You could try hitting the ball a fraction later, that may help as well.

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Show 6 more comments

Alan Taylor Posted 13 years ago

What a nice tip and little trick. This has always left me confused why they can send me the wrong way on a loop as I used to look at the shoulders were pointing.

Excellent Keep the videos coming guys and what a Coup getting Simon Gerada onboard.

Many Thanks

Alan

Tim Sodelund Posted 13 years ago

This will help me thanks pingskills

Harikrishnan U Posted 13 years ago

amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chau Giang Posted 13 years ago

Thank you for your video Simon, Such an interesting concept: varying the time of impact to Change direction of the ball. Often you hear: 'just think of where you want the ball to go & face that direction'. This method provides a clear & more specific way to learn the shot. shall try to learn it.

Andy Liem Posted 13 years ago

Great explanation, thank you so much, it's help me alot.....

Mayo May Posted 12 years ago

Is this the same for a fade sides spin shot ?

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 12 years ago

Thanks Simon, I'll keep that in mind in the future.

Just wondering, is it the same principle for a down the line block off a crosscourt drive?

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Ji-Soo,

The same principle can certainly be used for a forehand block down the line.

William Butler Denby Posted 12 years ago

I also find that a good trick to hit down the line is to open your wrist just before you hit the ball. You don't get as much power, but if well executed, then I find that it really foxes my opponents. You also get a bit of sidespin, because you are brushing the bat across the ball sideways slightly.

Lukas Oberbanscheidt Posted 12 years ago

Or you add some sidespin.

Arun Prasad Posted 11 years ago

Great one...Thanks.

Sovan Ly Posted 11 years ago

i have been searching for the website to train me. Now I see it. thanks alot.

Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago

Is the same principle applies to the aggressive topspin against backspin?

My problem is the following. I'm trying to develop a really aggressive 3rd ball attack. I can hit the ball very strongly cross court, even if it is low and barely comes off the table. But when I try to play the same thing down the line using this technique, I feel powerless and awkward, since there is less room for turning my body and I can't engage my trunk that well. The result is usually much slower shot. So what should I do with this?

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago

Hi Ilia,

Try turning your waist and your wrist more backwards so that you can generate the spin and speed.

Dieter Verhofstadt Posted 8 years ago

I watched this video yesterday and I was confused. In our club we are taught to change our footwork in order to change the direction of the shot. So, not only are we not allowed to change direction by tilting the bat backward, we're definitely encouraged to keep the same shot overall and only change direction naturally by changing the position of the feet.

This comes at the cost of the time needed to execute the footwork. Changing the timing of the shot is faster, but also less controlled, as is tilting the bat.

What's your viewpoint on all three means to execute the shot down the line.

(somewhat contradictorily, for the backhand down the line we shouldn't change our feet position but change the inclination of our trunk)

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago

Hi Dieter,

The reality is that you never really have time to change your feet when you are close to the table. If you get a little further away then you can make that adjustment.

It also gives your opponent too much information before you hit the ball.