How to counter and block with pengrip (4)

How to counter and block with pengrip
by Kevin 19 years ago

Re: How to counter and block with pengrip
by Dave 19 years ago

Re: How to counter and block with pengrip
by Kevin 19 years ago

Re: How to counter and block with pengrip
by Bill C 19 years ago

Re: How to counter and block with pengrip
by cole 19 years ago

The following message (subject: Re: How to counter and block with pengrip) was posted by Bill C, on 1/21/2005 2:53:49 PM:

I am a penholder palyer for more than 40 years. I consider myself a defensive player with decent offenses. If your opponent has a beautiful loop, you can almost forget about doing anything about it. Fortunately, if he/she is that good, they will be a 2000+ player. The best choice to return top spin is actually using a anti-top spin rubber. Unfortunately this works better for shake-hand holder player than penholder. To return a very strong loop, you cannot wait till the ball bounce up to return it. You have to hold your paddle (back hand) face down (parallel to the table) and force the ball down as soon as it touches the side of your table. (It is the angle of your paddle vs table makes the difference). For softer and weaker top spin, you can step back and wait till the ball bounce up and slightly blocks it. One of the most common error I saw when people try to counter top spin is that they try to push their paddle forward very hard and it actually helps the opponent. Remember, it is the angle of your paddle, and not how much force you put into it that counts.

For backspin, if you can loop, that will be the best way to counter. Unfortunately, I have never been able to develope a forehand loop but have a pretty efficient backhand loop. But it takes a lot of energy to do that all the time. I believe for most backspin, you can just chop it back. However, one of the most common error of people chopping is that they are chopping down (with their paddle at a 45 degree angle to the table). You should chop with your paddle as horizontal as possible to the table and chop in a forward motion. Some rubber (like Friendship 729) can actually help you counter backspin easier. In the 70's, there are many good choppers in China. They actually chop the ball back way behind and under the table and they drove some offensive players completely nut. There was a chopper in our local club who came from Indonesia. All he did was chopped and chopped and he was rated a 1900 player.

Hope this may help.

Report Abuse