When to decide to pivot

Christian , Asked 12 years ago

Hello coach,

when i pivot i'm never sure that the ball will come to me so that i can play an attacking stroke with my forehand. That's why i rarely pivot.

Is it necessary to pivot before i see the ball coming or must i wait to see the trajectory to decide to pivot ? In a match, if i wait i never have enough time.

Thank you in advance for your answer and for all you're doing for table tennis ( i visit Pingskills.com every day with pleasure).

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Christian,

You really should wait to see where the ball is coming before you pivot otherwise you can be caught trying to scramble back to your forehand corner.

This is something that you need to practice so that your movement becomes faster and you can move in time after seeing he ball coming to the backhand corner.

You can also start to make some judgements depending on where you are serving and at what speed. If you serve fast and wide to their backhand then the ball is likely to come long to your backhand.

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bertus bertus Posted 12 years ago

Like Alois says, when you see the ball coming than you know for sure that the ball comes to your BH. What might also help is to watch the paddle of your opponent closely, in particular the angle of his/her paddle. This gives you a good idea were the ball probable goes to.

Christian , Posted 12 years ago

The angle of the paddle seems to be a good idee to see where the ball should come.

I will try this evening.

Thank you Alois and Bertus