Bad Habit but good reflexes

Table Tennis Training and Drills

Last updated 7 years ago

Megan Jimenez

Megan Jimenez Asked 7 years ago

Good day.

I have this awful habit of catching the ball when it goes to my backhand side. I'm guessing it's because when we do drills it has to be forehand to forehand and I got used to trying over again if it goes to my backhand. 

It's quite useful during drills because I don't have to pick up the ball much since my hand does it on it's own now, but the problem is that I bring that habit to the game which doesn't help since I immediately catch the ball when it's on my backhand. It's happened during a tournament where I nearly let down my team because of it.

Do you have any tips or tricks that could help me get rid of this habit? 


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Megan,

Yes it is important now to move on with your training.  Stop doing just forehand to forehand drills.  Start to do hitting where the ball is coming anywhere on the table.  That way you will start to track the ball better and move naturally to a position where you can play a backhand when it comes to that side.

Take a look at our tutorial on Improving Your Reflexes.  This will help you a lot.


Notify me of updates
Add to Favourites
Back to Questions

Thoughts on this question

Jean Balthazar

Jean Balthazar Posted 7 years ago

What if, during your forehand to forehand drills, when the ball goes to your backhand side, instead of catching it with your free ,hand you would shoot it back at your partner with your backhand? Then he can stop the rallye and restart, or, as we usually do when we warm up that way, he can just shoot it back into your forehand and continue. Being able to quickly switch to your backhand when you don't expect it is a good exercise for your reflexes. Being able to recover from an unexpected / weird shot and come back to the drill without stopping the ball is also a good exercise that requires good touch.



Become a free member to post a comment about this question.