style of play (3)

style of play
by alan 19 years ago

Re: style of play
by cole 19 years ago

Re: style of play
by Bill C 19 years ago

The following message (subject: Re: style of play) was posted by Bill C, on 1/25/2005 9:44:54 AM:

Most penholder players are strong in forehand and if combined with decent loops they can be very difficult to beat.
If they are Chinese players, you can almost well assure that they can chop and chop. Therefore, you almost have to be able to chop but more important you need to have a decent forehand loop yourself or you won't be able to do anthing with them. They love to play close to the table and are ready to kill your serve with a forhand smash. I once play in a local tournament with ALL Chinese players and I won ALL matches against ten different players. My secret is "top-spin" serve. For some strange reasons, a lot of Chinese players can handle backspin (chop) serves but not top spin serves. Therefore, you must develope a top spin serve and mix it with occasional backhand serve. Also, try to serve to the backhand side of the penholder or serve a very short chop serve as close to the net as possible. Many Chinese players I play locally are very impatient, they always want to smash you on your serve. Therefore, if you have patience and can block them at least three times, they will lose the point themselves. We have a couple of 2200+ players here, when I play with them, there is not too much I can do but just try to do my best. However, when I play with some 1800 and 1900 players, I have a decent chance of winning 40% of the time. I try not to chop at all if my opponent have very good loops. I just counterblock them and attack them. You need to figure out if you want to be a total offensive player, a half-half or a total defensive player to determine the style that best suits you. Many players in our club are still very confused with their styles and therefore they never improve. Don't be afraid to lose the match, just keep working on your skills and on your games. You must adjust your game depend on the styles of your opponents. Mental state counts almost more than physical state. Fight for every point. Even you are nine points behind, you can come back. Fresh legs are important to ping pong. Try to jog, walk or do other sports to improve the speed of your legs. Most important of all, enjoy ping-pong because it is fun.

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