Fifth Ball Attack

Ahtesham Shami Asked 12 years ago

Hi Coach,

My question is about fifth ball attack.

I serve short underspin and then ball comes to me i attack with powerful topspin off backspin with heavy spin and speed. But when my opponent block it in fourth ball then i cannot control my fifth ball.

Because when i do topspin of block it goes high in air because my spin comes back, when i smash it then also it goes off the table but height goes low?

Second question is that often my opponent finish with punch block my third ball topspin. and ball goes extremely speedy and invisible with punch block so what should i do with fifth ball, if ball is invisible.

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Ahtesham,

Firstly the fifth ball is often tricky for this exact reason.  I find a lot of players hit the 5th ball long.  It is a small change in the swing between the 3rd and 5th balls.  You need to make sure you are coming over the ball on the 5th ball.  The mistake almost always goes off the end of the table.  Get your swing going more forward with a higher starting position.  We do have a Premium member lesson on this in our Master Classes.  Premium members can take a look at the Forehand Followup lesson.

If the ball is going too fast you need to examine what you are doing with the 3rd ball.  You need to think about placing the ball better or changing the speed and spin on the 3rd ball so that it makes it more difficult for your opponent to play a good strong 4th ball.