Trouble against backspin

sa zk Asked 7 years ago

Hey Pingskills,

I've been playing table tennis for a total of 4-5 years now. I also watch olympic matches and club videos to watch how strokes are played. I position myself correctly.  I've seen all your videos.... and YET the backspin or chop troubles me. I cannot confidently return a backspin ball. Maybe it is because lifting a ball is counter-intuitive. I bring my arm straight up and I keep returning the ball into the net or lifting it so much that it goes over the table. 

I can play against topspins, blocks, punches but the backspin is giving me lots of problems. Is there a specific point on the ball that i should hit? or is there a specific area on the table that I should try to aim at? or any specific area in the air that the ball must go through so that it returns safely on the table on the other side of the net? what should i concentrate on when returning backspin?

regards,

sa

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Sa,

The topspin against backspin is a stroke that can be difficult to grasp.  Jeff talks about it being difficult for him when he was trying to learn it as well but also very rewarding when he managed to master it.

Start by focusing on the contact being a brushing contact to generate the topspin.  Get the ball to go high over the net to start with, even a meter over the net is fine to get the topspin contact correct.  Then you can think about getting the ball lower but still maintaining the brushing contact.

It will take time and concentration on the stoke to get it more and more comfortable.