Stroke adjustment

Dear PingSkills,

I noticed that when I play my forehand topspin or forehand drive stroke I sometimes adjust the stroke with my wrist at the last moment of contact with the ball to get the ball on the table. Is this a bad habit, and if so, how do I practice to prevent this? Should the wrist be firm throughout the forehand topspin?

Kenneth

Hello Kenneth,

Thanks for your question. It is good to be aware of how you are adjusting your strokes. Adjusting your wrist at the last moment of contact with the ball to get the ball on the table can actually be a good habit, but it is important to make sure that it is done in a controlled manner.  There is a trade off between control and the ability to adjust to any ball that is coming to you and being able to change the trajectory of the ball.  Initially you want the wrist to be quite controlled to see where the ball is going.  As you get more comfortable you can relate the wrist a little to allow the adjustments.  If you start to feel that you are losing too much control then just think about how you can control the wrist enough.

If you can keep the wrist flexible and relaxed you will have a lot more options and also make it more difficult for you opponent to predict where the ball is coming.

I hope you found this helpful, and keep playing and improving your game.