Forehand and Backhand drive

Hello,

I have been playing/practising for about 12 months. The first six months were spent with players who have never been coached so I have unfortunately picked up a style that is nowhere close to the correct forehand and backhand drive. I can still play some really good return shots and continue to watch and learn from the league players.

They have shown me so many times how to do this correctly but I’m still struggling to master it.  Are there any suggestions how I can lose the bad habit and serve as the coach has taught me including your videos which I have watched a hundred times.

Many thanks for any advise you can give me.

Janice.

Hi Janice,

Thank you for your question. It can be tough to change habits in table tennis, but the best way to begin would be to focus on the fundamentals.  Make sure that your forehand and backhand strokes start from the same point and finish in the position we show you. From there, I would break the stroke down into its components: the preparation, the power, and the follow through. This may help you understand how the stroke should be performed and allow you to analyse any flaws you may have in your technique. To further support this process, I suggest videoing yourself and have a look at what it looks like. This can be a great tool for refining the technique, as well as helping you emulate the correct stroke.

Try first to implement these stroke in a training situation then progress it to a more challenging situation  such as a practice match and finally see if you can utilise the correct technique in a real match situation.

One other mindset to think about is that rather than trying to change a technique think about it as learning a completely new stroke.  With patience and practice, I'm sure you will improve your forehand and backhand drives. Good luck!