The forehand counterhit is one of the most important strokes to learn. To start with try and concentrate on your consistency. Once you can hit over 100 balls on the table without a mistake you will be have excellent technique and the stroke will form the basis of more advanced forehand strokes.

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The Forehand Counterhit

The starting position of the forehand counterhit

The Starting Position

The Forehand counterhit is a fun stroke to learn. Like everything in table tennis, keep it simple. Your feet can be fairly straight to the table with a little turn to your forehand side if you feel more comfortable. Your swing start position is with your bat beside you with the full face of the bat showing to the oncoming ball. The bat is at hip height.

The finishing position of the forehand counterhit

The Finishing Position

Your swing is up and forward and should finish at an imaginary line that is drawn in front of the middle of your body. You don’t need to swing past this line as it makes recovery slower and throws you off balance. The bat should finish between shoulder and head high. There is no wrist involved with this stroke. The movement is mainly lower arm with a little upper arm.

Practice your Forehand using the Consistency Chart. Make sure to keep the ball slow at first until you have really mastered the stroke. That means you can easily hit at least 100 shots in a row without a mistake. If you can spend just 10 minutes of your Table Tennis training session doing this you will be amazed at your improvement.