Weak Backhand

Shubham Chohan Asked 8 years ago

I have a weak Backhand. So the situation was like this:- 

I was 9-4 up in the first set of a best of 5 match against one of the top players of my club. He knew that my Backhand was weak. So I don't know what happened he just did a single serve throughout. It was a simple forehand chop serve I believe. He kept on doing that serve and from winning 9-4 I lost the match 11-9 . I don't know what had happened. I was just trying to receive it normally but I don't know what was not working out for me. That was a frustrating moment for me, obviously. 

Can you give me some great tips so that I could improve my Backhand.

Last but not the least, a question that many people have, how to maintain good temperament throughout the game and also how to plan your match strategy and bring out a player's weakness

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Shubham,

The main thing is to develop your backhand skills and confidence.

Start by making sure that you are standing in a way that allows you to play backhands easily.  Often when we are favouring one side we also turn our basic stance position.  For right handers this would mean that if you are favouring your forehand you would put your left leg forward.  Make sure that you keep your legs an equal distance from the table to start with.

Then focus on the strokes of the backhand.  Start with the Backhand Counterhit, then move onto the Backhand Push and then Backhand Topspin Against Block and Backhand Topspin Off Backspin.  By the time you work on all of these your backhand will start to feel more stable and you will feel more confident to use it in a match.

Maintaining good temperament is about your emotional control.  Take a look at our lessons in the Sports Psychology section for some help on this.  We also have a Basic Tactics video in our Match Strategy section.

Lots of links there for you to explore.