Penholder players

Hi Alois

Your latest advice about the mental state when playing table tennis was extremely useful. I played yesterday against the best player in our league and thanks to your advice I managed to beat him. I was fully focused and played every point with determination and relaxation and the miracle happened. It was a very close match but I did not drop a set. My last match was a totally different story! I played a young pen holder player with short pimple. He only used one side of the bat. I had a match point but lost 13-15 in the last set. I have played pen holder players before but nobody with short pimples and so quick. It was so frustrating. He beat me by mainly blocking especially from his back end side of the table. I tried taking the ball late and it worked for a bit. I tried using mainly topspin and it worked for a bit but I generally did not feel comfortable. Can you please give me some advice on how to play him next time? Sorry for the lengthy question.

Hi Filippo,

Glad that you found the mental state info useful.  I am sure this is something that you will be able to continue to work on.

Regarding the Penholder player, I think you are on the right track with using topspin.  Variation is a good key but I also find that playing a slower topspin to their forehand side can work against some players with this style.  It is a bit more difficult for them to get over the top of a good topspin ball on the forehand side.  The only proviso is if they have a good smash against these types of balls.  Even so if they are missing more than they are making then persevere wit this tactic.