Beginner focus

Hi Alois and Jeff ! I started playing Table Tennis about 3 weeks ago. I play daily for 1 hour and dont play on weekens. I learned top spin back spin backspin serve and started implementing it right away in my game. Im able to top spin sometimes and I serve well but my friends keep telling me not to try any spin instead focus just on keeping the ball on table. I was wondering whats wrong if I keep practicing topspin and smashing right from the start it will improve by time no ? Should I really try none of these things and focus only on keeping the ball on table ? What if the opponent attacks then what is the purpose of keeping the ball on table ? It would be just like I'm defending but opponent is smashing on me everytime. What's useful about that ? Please tell me what should I focus more ? Thanks

Hi Samar,

It is important to develop control of the ball initially.  This will allow you to develop your strokes more effectively later on.

However, I think it is OK to experiment with spin as well as you are developing the control of the ball... As long as you are still developing control.

Take a look at our tutorial on The Most Important Skill.