Quality of strokes

sir,

how do i improve the quality of my strokes? because everyone tells tht i have a lot to improve on my footwork and that whenever i play i have a tendency to go back n front like i go back while taking some shot.

secondly i have a great problem playing high degree spin services n chops. It just touches my racket n the ball goes out.

thank you sir.

Hi Nikhil,

Improving the quality of your strokes is mainly a matter of hitting a lot of balls with correct technique.  You need to start slowly and make sure the technique is correct.  Take a look through our lesson if you have nay queries about the correct way of doing any of the strokes.  The second thing is balance during the stroke.  If you are balanced, you will not move backwards and forwards.

Learning to return spins is probably the hardest part of the game when you are learning.  Take time to work out where the ball is going off your racket when you hit it.  Then you need to alter the angle of your racket so that the ball goes back onto the table.  You need to use your bat like a rudder.  We cover this topic extensively in our Receiving Secrets Revealed DVD.  In this we show you how to recognise different spins and then also how to combat them.

thank you sir.

i will try out whtever u have told me and let u know about my progree and any difficulties.

sir,

i have a problem when it comes to taking balls that come to my body directly.

when its away from my body i find it much easier to take shots or play strokes but when it comes at body then it becomes tough.

also sir i have a great problem of opening the face of my bat at the end of a forehand stroke which ruins my stroke up.

thank u sir.

For the middle ball you need to make a small sidestep to get out of the way and make good position for the shot.  It doesn't have to be a big movement.  If the ball is really fast you can even just move the top half of your body out of the way.

For the forehand stroke focus on the finish position.  Make sure it is finishing like you want it to.  Do the stroke slowly first and make sure the finish is correct. 

is it okay to do a backhand stroke or a FH push but a little bit flatter and a little bit less open but not turn my body. if i turn, i usually do a fade topspin but that only works 50-60% of the time.

thanks anyway!

oh, and what abut balls that curl into you or away from you and ones that just kick at you. some sometimes i find it confusing and frutrating!

The important thing is to watch the ball well.  Really track the ball all the way and you will find that you will start to see the cahnges in the flight of the ball a little earlier.