Is the forehand loop the best shot to win a point?

Jeff Plumb Answered 17 years ago

Hi Willy,

Think about where you are hitting the ball before your opponent plays his stroke into your backhand. This is especially true when you are serving as you have complete control over where you place the ball. If you can first hit the ball into his backhand you may be able to gain control of the rally. And sometimes you need to actually be brave and hit the ball out wide to his/her forehand where they are not expecting it. If you do this you may catch them off guard and they might hit the ball to your forehand. 

You can also try to play a short serve or short return which would bounce twice on the table. If you can do this, you opponent cannot play a big forehand as they will not be able to have a full swing on the ball.

You can also work on improving your footwork. Once you have developed excellent footwork, it is possible to pivot and play a forehand from the backhand side of your table. This can be really effective.

Having said all of that, some players have stronger backhands than forehand and therefore would like the ball coming to their backhands more often.