Reading the Amount of Spin

Hi guys,

I find that I can pick my opponent's spin well but not how much spin they've applied. As a result, I often angle my bat too much on my blocks and counter strokes. In particular, I find I judge the amount of backspin badly and will often pop the ball up too much when blocking or chopping it back. My only hope in these situations is that I apply  enough of my own backspin to mess up my opponent's shot. Do you have any advice on how to get my bat angle better?

Owen

Hi Owen,

Great question. Firstly let me say this is a common problem people have as they start to get better at picking the type of spin on the ball.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) there's only one way to get better at this skill and that's by practicing it over and over again. Table Tennis is all about spin and subtle variations. The more you play the more you'll start to see exactly what spin is on each shot and what angle your bat needs to be at to return the ball.

The best advice I can give on this is every time you play, watch the ball intensely. A lot of people think they are watching the ball but make sure that is 100% your focus.

Now that you know how hard it can be for players to pick up on subtle variations of spin, you should start to use this to your advantage. The easiest place to start with this is on your serve. Mix up the amount of spin you put on your serve. Try one heavy backspin serve, followed by one with less spin. You can also use this on all of your strokes.

Congratulations, you are well on your way to becoming a good player!