Trouble with opponents steparound forehand attack

Chinmay Gharpure Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois and Jeff,

I have trouble preventing some opponents from using a steparound forehand attack. When I backspin push long, they can smash(loop) the ball. When I push the ball short, they use a forehand(or backhand) flick to return my shot. What is an effective shot I can use to prevent a steparound forehand attack.

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Chinmay,

I think one important thing to understand is that just because a player has a good forehand they may not necessarily have a good forehand from their forehand corner or wider on the forehand. It is worth pushing a ball wide to the forehand and see how they cope with it.

Even if this doesn't work it will still give them more to think about. They will then have to cover the whole table with their forehand the next time because they know you can push the ball anywhere.

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Thoughts on this question (1)

Gordon L Posted 12 years ago

The easy solution is - don't push your returns

If you must push your returns, there are several things you can do:

1) Push to the wide angles

2) Vary the speed/spin/arc/depth to your push returns

3) Make the motion to push in one direction but change direction at the last second

If none of that helps, learn to block their loops/flicks